The Province
Bocas del Toro is the Panamanian province closest to Costa Rica, and a staggeringly beautiful place. Booming during the 19th and early 20th century, exporting marine turtle shell and bananas, it fell into economic decline and until relatively recently, remained undiscovered.
Now it has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Panama.
The Islands
Click on each island to find out more.
The islands of Bocas Del Toro offer the visitor a number of attractions: luxurious rain forests with an abundance of fauna and flora, sunny islands, beaches that compete with the Caribbean best, coral reefs in crystal clear water, mangrove islets in a lake-like scenery, guaymi indian villages and a national marine park that protects examples of the ecosystems and natural resources coexisting within the Archipelago boundaries, as a tribute to our future generations.
The islands belong to the province of the same name and is located in the eastern side of the country in the Caribbean sea. The archipelago is formed by 9 islands, 52 cays and more than 200 small atolls. There you will appreciate the beauty of its bays, lagoons, coral reefs, mangroves, wild beaches fringed with jungle and the diverse marine life.
Christopher Columbus discovered this region in 1502, in his forth and last travel to the New World. Columbus was amazed with the beauty of Bocas del Toro. During XIX century black population from the Antilles and the Colombian islands (San Andres and Providencia) arrived as slaves for the plantation owners. They mixed with the indigenous population and created small communities of subsistence fishermen and farmers. During this period the United Fruit Company established itself in Bocas and created the boom in the banana industry.
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