After a day exploring Bocas Town on Isla Colón (the only metropolitan area in Bocas del Toro Province, Panama), it became very clear to us that the most magnificent parts of the region were located on the surrounding islands. While Bocas Town is very cute, it consists entirely of about three streets of pricey restaurants and bars, which we were able to thoroughly explore in a few hours. So, we looked to the sea.
We had heard that Isla Zapatilla, an uninhabited tropical island about fifteen miles off the coast of Isla Colón, was an amazing place to visit. While there are a handful of tour companies that offer full-day group tours that include dolphin spotting, snorkeling in a coral reef, and a few hours on Zapatilla for around $30-$35, we had read on multiple blogs that these groups all follow the same route, resulting in an extremely crowded experience that defeated the purpose of going to an uninhabited island in the first place. So, we started asking around to get an idea of how much a private boat tour would cost, with the idea that we could beat the tour traffic by going directly to Zapatilla, and hit the other attractions on the return trip home.
While most companies immediately turned us down or quoted us outrageous prices ($150-$200 per person), we did find one vendor who was willing to entertain our request. After a haggling process that included us walking away for about twenty minutes, we were able to negotiate a boat and driver for the (fairly) affordable rate of $100 for the day. Reasoning that we could survive off of instant noodles and peanuts for the rest of the week to even our budget out, we accepted.
We met our driver, Bernardito, at 10am and hit the water. The trip to Zapatilla itself took about forty minutes, so we were on the island by 11. Just as we had hoped, the island was nearly empty and we were able to enjoy it alone about an hour and a half before the rest of the tour groups arrived and the island was flooded with tourists.
The beauty of Zapatilla’s beach is indescribable. Imagine a tropical paradise with the bluest water, whitest sand, and greenest palm trees you’ve ever seen, combine it all… and you’re halfway there.
While our two hours of exploring the island flew by, we were ready to head out by the time 1:30pm rolled around, so we flagged down our driver who was chilling about 400m from the coast. We quickly grabbed our stuff, climbed in the boat, and headed off to our next adventure – snorkeling the massive coral reefs that lie nearby. We spent about thirty minutes swimming around, completely alone again, admiring the colorful corals and fish that make it their home.
Afterward, Bernardito asked us what we would like to do for the rest of the day, as we still had the boat for a few hours. We went on to explore Isla Perezoso (Sloth Island), where we saw five sleepy sloths, hanging around in the mangroves, followed by a quick stop at another island with an abundant starfish population. Finally, tired and happy from a day of sun and sights, we set back in to port.
All in all, I would say that the experience was a great value even with the expensive price tag. After seeing Zapatilla when all of the other tour groups had arrived, I have no regrets about paying the extra $15-$20 per person to be able to soak in the full magic of the island in relative solitude, even if it does mean we don’t get the chance to do much else here in Bocas.
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