The Bocas del Toro One Day Tour will have you island hopping along the beautiful Caribbean coast off southern Costa Rica and northern Panama. En route, you’ll cross through the Panamanian border before stopping for breakfast. When you arrive at Almirante Port, you’ll board a boat that will take you out to several islands for dolphin watching, snorkeling, and lunch. You’ll be accompanied by certified bilingual tour guides throughout your day.
The tour begins with pick up service from your hotel in Cahuita or Puerto Viejo before being driven about an hour to the Panamanian border. At the border, you will be required to show your passport as well as proof that each member of your party has a return ticket home. A combined total of approximately $17 in U.S. cash will be needed to pay for both border crossings. Border fees are subject to change so best to confirm the cost when you book your tour. NOTE: The fees are not included. Your certified guide will help you through the border process.
After the border crossing, you will be taken to a Panamanian town for a hearty traditional breakfast. You'll continue with your travel guide to Almirante Port where the water taxis depart for Isla Colon, one of the main islands. From there, you’ll visit Dolphin Bay to watch for playful dolphins. Afterward, your guide will head over to Mangrove Island where you’ll be provided with gear to go on a snorkeling adventure. The water in this protected national marine park is typically crystal clear over the living coral reefs with schools of many varieties of colorful tropical fish and other sea life.
Next, you'll be treated to a truly fresh seafood lunch at Coral Key Restaurant. After lunch, you’ll enjoy a brief tour of the island before embarking on your return trip back to the mainland by boat. You’ll once again go through the border crossing before being returned to your hotel in Costa Rica. It is not uncommon for your certified tour guides to change during this tour due to international travel.
This full day, action packed tour includes roundtrip bus and boat transportation, bilingual certified guides who will also assist you with border crossings, park admission, snorkel equipment, breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
REMINDER: At the border, you will need to present your passport and proof of a return ticket home for each member in your party. The current cost of exiting Costa Rica at the Panamanian border is $8.00. To enter Panama it cost $4.00 plus an extra $1.00 stamp, then you'll need another $4.00 to leave Panama. The combined cost of exiting Costa Rica, entering Panama then coming back to Costa Rica is currently $17 per person and subject to change. The border fees must be paid in cash in U.S. dollars and are not included in your tour package.
The Bocas del Toro One Day Tour is available from Cahuita, and Puerto Viejo
Latitude: N 9° 21' 59.1"
Longitude: W 82° 14' 9.96"
06/29/2019
The guides on this tour was great. Titi (our guide in Panama) made it his mission to make sure we were able to see all types of wildlife (dolphins, fish, sloths). My only complaint that there wasn't really a bilingual guide when it was time to take our boat back to the mainland to catch our transfer back to Costa Rica.
09/13/2018
Itinerary provided in the description was very clear about how many tour operators were going to be included in each country, each representative was very nice despite not speaking much English. HOWEVER, our first pick up was about 40 minutes late. We were instructed to be ready for 6am, however, we were picked up much later than that and one of the guides spent some time in the bathroom. They did not seem in a rush and did not let us know how this would affect the rest of the day.
We shared the transportation with only one other couple, who were picked up before us and they were staying close to us. The couple told us that they had to call the tour operator to make sure they were still being picked up, and only after awhile, did the tour operator arrive.
This delay set the entire day back because we missed our boat departure time (supposed to be 10:30am or perhaps earlier?). The day involves a lot of traveling between destinations either by land or boat and so there was very little time for snorkeling activities. I think our total time for snorkeling/beach was only 1.5 hours total!
One suggestion for this trip: please let the tour operators/drivers know that they can inform the guests of a certain timetable. For example, we stopped for breakfast before driving to the scheduled 10:30am boat transportation. We spent too much time at breakfast and had to take the next boat at 11am but if we had known that we needed to leave by a certain time, we would have eaten faster to ensure we could make the boat time. I know most guests would much prefer to spend more time on snorkeling/beach activities than on meals so please, please let the drivers/tour operators know they can inform us of the timetable and we would be happy to accommodate!
All other transportation and tour operators were punctual and did their best to accommodate the delay, which I feel was not their fault at all, but we had a poor experience because of the start of the day.
09/08/2018
Guide in Panama, Tete, was amazing!!!
11/27/2017
Would definitely go back to Bocas but this excursion would be better as an overnight or multiple day trip. It was a lot of travel from place to place without a ton of time at each. Transfer and border crossing went smoothly. Guides were very friendly and helpful. We were the only two that day so we have a completely private trip.
03/09/2016
Loved it!