Isla Colón on Panama’s northwestern Caribbean coast is the jewel of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago. The island is home to some of the area’s best beaches and tourism attractions, as well as the capital city of the islands: Bocas Town.

While Bocas Town is known for being a busy and bustling hub of tourism in the islands, the greater area of Isla Colon is covered in untouched rainforest and stunning beaches. Popular areas for travelers to visit are Starfish Beach, Boca del Drago, Bluff Beach, and Paunch Beach, with popular activities on Isla Colon being surfing, scuba diving, hiking, horseback riding, and riding ATVs.

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Map of Bocas del Toro

Read our other island guides: Isla Carenero | Isla Solarte | Isla Bastimentos

How to get to Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro, Panama

The 3 main ways to get to Isla Colon in Panama are: 

• Flying with Air Panama from Panama City on one of their daily, 50-minute flights (PAC to BOC)
• Taking the bus from Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City, day or night, for a 10-12 hour journey
• Traveling across the border from Costa Rica (4 hours from Puerto Viejo or 10 hours from San Jose)

It’s possible to get to Bocas del Toro from basically anywhere in Panama just by relying on the public bus system. So, if you are in Boquete and need to get to Bocas del Toro, you can just take the bus, or even a private shuttle.

Read our more detailed guide on how to get to Bocas del Toro.

Panama City Layover: Read – 5 Best Hotels and Things To Do in Panama City

The Best Things To Do in Isla Colon, Panama

Isla Colon has a variety of things to do for travelers visiting Panama. You can spend days at the beach and in the water, or exploring the rainforest and observing monkeys and sloths. There’s surfing, scuba diving, biking, ATVs, and horseback riding. Isla Colon is also the center of nightlife in the archipelago, so you can practice your salsa or fist bump until 4 AM if that’s your thing. 

Here are some of our favorite things to do on Isla Colon:

TOP PICK: Spend an Afternoon at The Floating Bar

The Floating Bar is our Top Pick for what to do on Isla Colon. Get there by taking a $2/2-minute water taxi from Bocas Town and enjoy the cool breeze, cold drinks, and yummy food. It’s a simple joint, but they got just what you need: a friendly and relaxed vibe, beers and margaritas, tacos, ceviches, and quesadillas. There’s swimming, snorkeling, Live Music on Mondays, and a diving board on the second story so you can practice your belly flops after too many shots of tequila! Open every day from December 1 – April 30!

• Horseback Riding/ Spending the day at Bluff Beach
• Flying Pirates ATV Rental
• Visit Boca del Drago and Starfish Beach
• Rent Bicycles and Explore the Island
• Visit Mimbitimbi Beach
• Visit the Plastic Bottle Village
• Experience the Nightlife of Bocas Town
• Practice Yoga in the Rainforest

Read about all the best things to do in Bocas del Toro

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Surfing on Isla Colon

Panama’s Isla Colon is a very popular destination for surfers who want warm Caribbean water, palm tree-lined shores, and pumping surf. Bocas del Toro has been known for around 20 years to be one of the best-surfing destinations in the Caribbean, and Isla Colon offers several of the region’s best waves. 

The best waves on Isla Colon are:

• Tiger Tails
• Paunch
• Bluff Beach

Surfing on Isla Colon is different from other islands in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago because the best surf spots can all be accessed by roads. This means you can stay pretty much wherever you want on the island and be able to take a land taxi out to surf. Many accommodations are within walking distance to surfing, and some visitors will enjoy riding a bicycle to get to the waves. 

Read our Bocas del Toro Surf Spot Guide.

The Best Places to Stay on Isla Colon Panama

Isla Colon is a big island and features several main areas in which you can stay to enjoy a variety of atmospheres. 

Do you want to stay on a deserted beach, surrounded by rainforest and away from it all at Bluff Beach? Or do you want to experience the local side of the islands on a calm bay with amazing sunsets in Saigon Bay? If an active social scene, bars, restaurants, and shopping are your thing, then maybe Bocas Town is the right fit for you. 

Below are the best areas to stay in, as well as our picks on which accommodations to choose in those areas on Isla Colon.

Bluff Beach

Bluff Beach is located about a 30-minute drive from Bocas Town and is a popular area to stay in for nature and beach lovers. The ocean here can produce very powerful waves, so swimming isn’t always possible. Many accommodations in this area have swimming pools, so you can still cool off in the water if the waves are too big.

Where to Stay at Bluff Beach

• The Hummingbird – Good food, comfortable rooms, swimming pool
• Island Plantation – Bali style eco-resort, swimming pool
• Oasis Bluff Beach – Good food/ restaurant, swimming pool, nice rooms
• Bluff Beach Retreat – Family style lodge, great hosts, swimming pool

Paunch

The Paunch Beach area is popular with tourists and ex-pats alike. This area features a slim coastline of sand and not many areas to actually swim, but it does have some of the best surfing in Bocas del Toro. The rainforest here is also full of howler monkeys and also many tropical birds, like Toucans. Swimming pools are also popular here and several accommodations have them.

Where to Stay at Paunch

• La Coralina Island House – Balinese style resort with luxury houses and a huge swimming pool
• Casa Botanica – AirBnb luxury villa located in a Botanical Garden, sleeps up to 10 people, 5 minutes from Bocas Town
• Surf Break at Paunch – Stylish rooms in the jungle above Paunch
• La Selva – Tree Lodge with Yoga and a Pool
• Skully’s Hostel – Popular hostel right on the water with a swimming pool, small beach, and restaurant/ bar
• Jungle Tree House – A real, actual treehouse!

Saigon Bay

Saigon Bay is the real side of Isla Colon. It’s heavily populated with locals and is a great place to stay if you are looking for some cultural immersion. The bay here is almost always protected from the wind, so kayaking and paddleboarding are great activities. Saigon bay also faces the west, so you’ll have amazing sunset views as well as views of the mountains of mainland Panama.

Where to Stay in Saigon Bay

• The Sunsetter B&B – Overwater B&B with nice hosts from Canada
• Saigon Bay B&B – Overwater B&B with well known local hosts

Bocas Town

Bocas Town is the most popular area to stay in all of Bocas del Toro, and hotels and hostels abound. It’s busy and bustling but still in a laidback Caribbean way. You won’t find high-rise hotels here like in other parts of the Caribbean, with the tallest buildings being capped at 4 stories. Staying in Bocas Town will give you easy access to the shopping, nightlife, restaurants and bars, and you’ll easily be able to jump on a water taxi to visit other areas of the archipelago.

Where to Stay in Bocas Town:

• Tropical Suites Hotel – Overwater Hotel with an overwater pool, deck, and restaurant
• Bambuda Bocas Town – Overwater Hostel/ Hotel on the good side of town, newly refinished and upgraded with amazing rooms and views
• Diver’s Paradise Hotel – Newer scuba diving-centric hotel with great reviews and views
• Lula’s B&B – a staple Bocas Town B&B

Read our Where to Stay in Bocas del Toro Guide, here

The Best Places to Eat on Isla Colon

Isla Colon offers some of the best places to eat in all of Bocas del Toro, and there are a lot of them. Whether you are looking for breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails, or late-night street food, there is something for everyone. Asian, Indian, French, American, Mexican, Argentinian, and Italian cuisines can all be found here, as well as classic Caribbean and Panamanian fare.

Here are some of our top picks of where to eat on Isla Colon:

• Renny’s Pizza – Our favorite pizza
• Arboloco – Creative Caribbean Seafood and BBQ
• La Neta Caribe – Authentic Mexican food, amazing tacos
• Amaranto, Cafe del Mar, BDT Coffee – Bocas Town – Good Coffee Shops and Cafes
• Buena Vista – Open all day, every day for Caribbean cuisine
• Octo – Authentic Bocas del Toro Grill, famous for their Octopus
• JJ’s @ Bocas Blended – American style cuisine – big portions and big flavors
• Om Cafe – Authentic Indian cuisine that can compete with Indian food anywhere
• Ultimo Refugio – Caribbean cuisine with a great overwater location
• The View at Oasis – British cuisine at Bluff Beach
• Tequila Republic – Dirty Burgers

Some of the Best Local Food is also found around Bocas Town:

• Restaurante Tom’s – Near the fire station, some of the best food in all of Bocas with one of the best views
• Chitre – Over the water seating and cafeteria-style Plato del Dias (you can pick what you want)
• Rosti Pollo – Over the water near the Ferry dock, big and tasty Plato del Dia
• La Chomba Food Truck – Next to Isla Colon Super Market, I am addicted to their empanadas. I need help, but I don’t want it.

There are a lot of restaurants to choose from on Isla Colon, and these are places that I have eaten at and had great experiences with. There are many places I have not eaten at, and I encourage you to explore those as well!

When to Visit Isla Colon in Panama

The best time to visit Isla Colon is December – March, which can be the driest months of the year and the busiest months for tourism. 

The driest months in Isla Colon are generally considered to be from January to March, but the high season for tourism is November through April, and all of these months can see very dry and beautiful weather, or also some rainy days. 

It is important to understand that Bocas del Toro has a Tropical Rainforest climate, which means it is wet and humid year-round. We still get weeks without rain throughout the year, but typically you can expect at least a little bit of rain during your trip.

Public holidays, like Christmas, New Year, the national holidays in November like independence day, as well as Carnival at the end of February, and Semana Santa in April, are all big party times. These are the peak tourism times when it can be hard to find a room in any of the good accommodations. It’s not uncommon that around Christmas and New Year, literally everything can be booked.

Read our When to Visit Bocas del Toro Guide, here

Isla Colon Panama Real Estate

Buying Real Estate on Isla Colon is a good investment and could possibly be a good place for you to retire or ex-pat to. We definitely see property values increasing over the next 5-10 years, as they have rapidly in the past 5-10 years.

If you came here in the late 90’s or very early 2000’s you would have been able to find some jaw-droppingly stupid deals, like $3,000 for a titled beachfront lot that would be $300,000 today.

Those deals don’t exist anymore, but you can still find cheaper properties, they are just farther away from the center of the islands. We wrote a few blogs about Real Estate in Bocas del Toro which you can see at the link below!

Read our Buying Real Estate in Bocas del Toro Guide, here

Crime in Isla Colon Panama

The main form of crime in Isla Colon is theft, which mainly happens when you are away from your property. Bike theft is very common, and if you leave your backpack unattended on the beach for an extended period of time, it might not be there when you get back. 

Is Isla Colon Safe?

Yes, Isla Colon is a safe place to visit for travelers or to live in as an ex-pat from a foreign country. In general, if you are a smart traveler and take care of your things, you should have a perfectly safe time while visiting Isla Colon.

Here are some crime safety tips for Bocas del Toro:

1. Don’t leave your things unattended on the beach, or really anywhere in a public space.
2. Lock up your accommodation at night and when you leave.
3. Don’t drink too much or use illegal drugs.
4. Avoid the street hustlers.
5. Only use water taxis and tours from certified operators.

Read our Safety in Panama Guide, here

Can you drink the water in Isla Colon?

No, you should not drink the water on Isla Colon unless it is filtered rainwater or coming from an otherwise purfied water source. The town water supply is not potable and will make you sick if you drink it. Small amounts, like for teeth brushing, are reportedly fine. Just don’t chug a few glasses of it to rehydrate after a long night out!

Here are some other health tips:

• Be very careful with the powerful waves and riptides at the beaches
• Stay hydrated
• Disinfect your cuts, even small ones
• Avoid risky behaviours as good healthcare for serious problems is far away
• Boats are the biggest danger in the water, do not swim or snorkel in areas with boat traffic

Is Isla Colon Expensive? 

Isla Colon can be expensive, obviously depending on things like where you chose to stay, activities you want to do, and how you want to eat. A good way to save money is to avoid anything that is mostly purchased or used by foreigners. Eating and staying local will definitely save you a lot of money. If you want to ball out, you can. And if you’re just backpacking your way through Panama, you’ll also be able to live cheaply.

Here are some generalized prices for common things below:

• Land Taxis: 60 Cents anywhere in Bocas Town, up to $15 total to Bluff Beach
• Water Taxis: From $1-$2 for Isla Carenero, $3-$5 for Isla Solarte, $5 – $8 for Isla Bastimentos
• Dinner: $30+ (per person) for dinner/ drinks/ tip at one of the good restaurants
• Lunch: Local plate of the day $5, or $10 at a place for foreigners
• Hotel Room: Low end: $60+, High End $150+
• Hostel Dorm Room: $15+
• Local Beer: $1-$2
• Group Tour: $25-$35 per person
• Overwater Bungalow: $269 per night

Read More About Bocas del Toro from Our Blog:

See our full blog here