Where is it?

Bocas del Toro is a province to the north west corner of Panama, bordering onto Costa Rica and the Caribbean Sea. It is a land of thick rainforest, hills and mountains, banana plantations and, of course, the archipelago of hundreds of large and small islands in a huge bay.

Access is by Sea (a safe harbor for yachts as it is NOT in the hurricane path), road (10 hours from Panama city) and air (1 hour from Panama City with regular flights twice a day, plus flights to other Panamanian destinations).

The main island is Isla Colon (named after Christopher Columbus who came by this way). This is the island that is most built up, has the provincial capital, Bocas del Toro town, and the airport. Large condominium developments are underway on Isla Colon, and also on the next large island, Bastiementos, which is where the beautiful Red Frog Beach can be found.

Most of Bastiementos is reserved as a national park, as are the beautiful Zapatilla islands with their clean white sandy beaches.

The three big islands, Isla Colon, Bastiementos, and Pope protect the inner waters from the large swells and waves of the open ocean. Once inside these islands, the water is much more protected, though it can get quite choppy when the wind gets up.  Good windsurfing and kiting, though, as yet, there is practically no one who does either of these.  In these stretches are hundreds of small and tiny islands, many of them mangrove covered. Fantastic for exploration by boat or canoe.

The entrance to Dolphin Bay, also known as Laguna Bocatorito, is protected by a band of small mangrove islands. Xanadu is one of these. Because of this second line of defense, the deep waters of the bay remain flat and wave-free, like a lake, even when the wind gets up. Often the water is as calm as glass, especially between the islands at the entrance to the bay, making for some very smooth and scenic waterskiing or wakeboarding.