Bocas del Toro

Christopher Columbus sailed into these waters on his fourth voyage in 1502 and named Bastimentos, "provisions", across the channel from today's town. For centuries afterwards Spanish control was thin, and Bocas grew apart from the rest of Panama in language and rhythm, shaped by migrants from the West Indies.

In the early 20th century American fruit companies, above all the United Fruit Company, planted bananas on the mainland, built the port of Almirante across the bay and brought in West Indian workers. In 1904 a fire swept through Bocas, and the town had to be rebuilt; its population fell in the late 20th century, and its corregimiento counted only about 4,000 people in 2000.

Tourism brought a turnaround. In the 1990s the government declared Bocas del Toro a zone of tourism development of national interest, and the archipelago became one of Panama's main tourist areas, with more than 150,000 visitors a year to Isla Colón. The marine park was created in 1988 to protect the reefs, mangroves and turtle beaches, and the Smithsonian opened its research station just outside the town in 1998.

Bocas Town mixes Afro-Caribbean islanders, mainland Panamanians, Indigenous people, foreign residents and backpackers. Many islanders descend from West Indian migrants and speak Bocas del Toro Creole, a variety of Jamaican Patois, once dismissed as "guari-guari"; Caribbean Protestant churches reflect the same roots. The province borders the Ngöbe-Buglé comarca to the east, and Ngäbe people live on both sides of the Cordillera, and many work on the banana and coffee farms.

The town has a reputation as a party destination, with bars and clubs on stilts over the water, but its older life runs in parallel: the main park and the government building, churches, the market and the docks. Bocas also celebrates the national carnival.

The sea shapes the culture. Boats are the main way to get anywhere beyond the town, the island has a strong boating community and several marinas, and surfing, diving and snorkelling draw visitors year-round, with national and international surf competitions held on the breaks. Old Bank on Bastimentos, a short boat ride away, keeps a more local Caribbean village life.

About 6,700 people lived in Bocas del Toro in 2023, and the whole archipelago has about 13,000. The town is the administrative and commercial centre of the province and the seat of a Catholic diocese. Relatively few Panamanians live on Isla Colón, where housing is expensive; many who work on the island live on the mainland and commute by boat.

Tourism is the main industry. The town has more than fifty hotels, many restaurants and tour operators, and many small businesses depend on visitors, while fishing goes on under seasonal rules for shrimp and lobster and a ban on taking sea turtles or their eggs. The day follows the boats and the weather, and in the evening the bars and restaurants of the main streets fill up.

Basic services are stretched. A generator plant supplies power to Isla Colón, Carenero and Bastimentos, there is a public health clinic but limited medical care, and the town lacks a water treatment system; both the drinking water and the sea near town have high levels of bacteria.

Bocas eats like the rest of the Caribbean coast. Rondón, a stew of fish or seafood with root vegetables cooked in coconut milk, is the signature dish, and coconut rice, fried fish and patacones, twice-fried slices of green plantain, are everyday food. Lobster appears in season, which runs from March to July under the fishing rules. Fresh coconut water and local beer are the everyday drinks.

Street food is simple and cheap. Food carts in town sell empanadas, fried chicken and patacones, and the price depends on where the cart stands and whom it is aimed at. For a sit-down meal, the main streets of Bocas Town have restaurants serving seafood and steak alongside the cooking of its foreign residents, from Thai to Italian.

Across the channel, Isla Carenero has some of the archipelago's best-regarded restaurants, and Old Bank on Bastimentos has a few small places cooking for the village. Fish, coconut, plantain and rice remain the base of island home cooking, whatever the visitors' menus offer.