After a terrible night, we did find a great hostel in Bocas Town today. Holy mackerel I need a good night’s sleep!

Stage set-up in the park – outside our hostel

Last night at the Coconut Hostel was insane in a completely bad way.

Bad night, so moving on

We had thought we had a good deal with our private room on the top floor. We figured it would take advantage of any breeze with its low walls and big windows screened from about six feet high and up to the ceiling. However, it was also perfect for conducting sound.

It was like the party was going on in our room. We could clearly hear hostel residents on the ground floor talking and the party music from all over the town wafting through our room until 3 AM. At times it sounded like people were standing outside our window on the balcony, but that was just the unfortunate sound conduction.

Our morning ride to watch the dolphins

First thing in the morning I walked over to Hansi Hostel.  Not only to get a place to sleep, but to also get away from weirdo Biff, I would have taken what they had site unseen, but they had a room available and we’re happy to show it to me. A gorgeous three-person suite that is super clean and the bathroom is gorgeous. They are also around the corner from the park, so less noise to worry about.

Out to see the dolphins and fish

The day was fun. We signed up for a package with dolphin viewing, snorkeling, and a stop at our old haunt, Red Frog Beach on Bastimentos Island. I should mention we shopped around for the cheapest package, but we forgot to ask if our guide would speak English. He didn’t. After several days separated from Spanish, it felt a little strange having to work our skills again.

Be in the know: Obviously, that’s a good thing to consider when scheduling a tour package – does the guide speak your language! 

I could use some more swim lessons

The driver took us to two different restaurants. Neither one had coffee, what!

Part of the tour included snorkeling. I was excited and a little nervous to go. Turned out I had a little panic while snorkeling. I’ve been working on getting over my fear of being face down in the water.

I started last year with taking swimming lessons. Today the water was a bit choppy and sloshed into my breathing tube and got me a little nervous. However, I overcame my fears by focusing on the fish.

Personally, if I could do it again, I wouldn’t go on this excursion. I did enjoy it, but yesterday I saw dolphins for free, the snorkeling was okay but not fantastic, and we had already been to Red Frog beach. We could have saved some money and spent the day exploring the town a bit.

But at least we have a great hostel in Bocas Town to sleep in tonight. I’m looking forward to some rest.

Rebecca thinks we stayed too long in this area and she’s probably right. Tomorrow we head to Boquete, Panama!

Want to see more:
Day 15 Isla Bastimentos and Bocas Town, Panama
Day 17 Boquete, Panama

I’m Sonja Dewing. I’m an award winning creative writer, a published author of Toy of the Gods, an adventure in the Amazon. If you’d like a free copy of the prequel, Ire of the Gods, sign up for my email list and you’ll get it right away.