One of Clayton’s Hostel advantages is its convenient location. It is close to popular tourist attractions including, The City of Knowledge, The Miraflores Locks, The Natural Metropolitan Park, and Camino de Cruces National Park. The United States Embassy, National bus station, and Marcos A. Gelabert airport are also nearby. So, if you want to visit the Panama Canal’s Miraflores Locks, just take a short walk. Or rent a bike at the hostel and enjoy a beautiful bike ride to the locks.

Clayton’s Hostel has four room styles available. They all offer cable TV, free wireless internet connections, air conditioning, ceiling fans, and bathrooms with hot showers, telephone and telephone cards available for purchase at the hostel’s lobby. Clayton’s Hostel offers four room offerings are:

1. Double with a shared bathroom for only $11.50 per person

2. Double with a private bathroom for only $15.00 per person

3. Rooms with a bunk bed (top bed is a single and bottom bed is a double) and a shared bathroom.

4. Rooms with 2 bunk beds.

This wonderful hostel offers a laundry service and a fully equipped kitchen. Bike rentals, taxi services, music equipment, telephones, phone cards, fax and copy services are available in the lobby.

To book your reservation at Clayton’s Hostel click here.

Of all the quick trips from Panama City, Panama, Isla Grande is my favorite. Isla Grande is 2 hours, instead of the 1 hour trip to the Royal Decameron, Playa Blanca, Coronado or Punta Barco. It also includes a long and bumpy ride down the last stretch of road into the parking lot at the marina, but I think it’s worth it.

You’ll find crisp, clean water, wonderful people and some great restaurants, bars, hotels and resorts. At Banana’s, you’ve got bargain style resort life with amenities that include kayaks, a small bar and a small and not so clean beach. But if you’re traveling on a budget, it’s a good place to stay that gives you access to Isla Grande and Portobelo.

There are also several other hotels on Isla Grande. One is Sister Moon and another is Hotel Isla Grande, they’re both clean, comfortable stays with hot water, but Bananas Village Resort excels by also having a much better view and being further removed from the noise of the parties that can sometimes go on late into the night.

You can find some great scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing and sightseeing in Isla Grande. There’s also surfing, but it’s a short, close out, reef break that I’m not fond of, though there are locals that love it. For the best surfing in Panama, I suggest Bocas Del Toro.

Banana’s Village Resort

Phone: (507)263-9510 Fax: (507)264-7556 www.bananasresort.com Enjoy the comfort Banana’s 28 suites provide: queen size beds, hot water showers, a private balcony with a hammock, air conditioner, panoramic view of sea….and include additional amenities such as home theater, and a CD-DVD player. Recreational Activities add: use of swimming pool, snorkeling equipment, kayaks, billiard table, volleyball, and fishing from the pier.

According to the Banana’s website: “All major expenses are incorporated for fees of up to $155 a night, and include: boat transportation to and from Banana’s private main land base and three meals a day.” However, be aware…one reviewer notes that he paid a higher room rate, and additionally paid for meals and his panga boat trips to and from the mainland. He contends: “After having done the ‘all included’ thing at Decameron, it felt like we were getting nickeled and dimed to death. But, in the end, it works out to about the same cost per person, per night (about $90) as a stay at either Decameron or Barcelo”.

This excellent hotel, of harmonic construction with the surrounding nature, has 28 comfortable suites, all with ocean-view balcony, air conditioner, hot water, satellite TV, safety boxes, king or queen sized beds. A private villa and four new suites right on the reefs add new dimensions to this vacation destiny, providing extra privacy and petite luxuries such as mini bars, home theater, cd/dvd player, rainforest showers. The food is an integral part of this fantasy world. In our restaurant you may enjoy the gastronomical delicacies of local of international cuisine prepared with excellent products selected fresh from the sea daily.

Hotel Sister Moon

Tel. 507 – 226- 9861 Cell: 507-6661-6740 Fax: 507-6525-7884

The island has a number of small hotels and restaurants. Isla Grande a good place to go to if you have a bunch of people who want to have a good time, or even if you’re looking forward being on the shores of Isla Grande next full moon, when you can sit back and watch the moon shine on the calm waters of the Caribbean.

Be sure to bring some “water shoes” to Isla Grande, if you want to go out into the water you’ll be walking on rocks and reefs. It’s good snorkeling territory when the tide’s in, with lots of bright tropical fish to look at. But, if you don’t have the right kind of foot protection you’ll take two steps into the water and then head right back to your beach chair.

In the province of Chiriqui, near the border with Costa Rica, are the highland forests of Volcan Baru National Park. They are home to Panama’s highest peak, an 11,300 foot high extinct volcano. The spectacular scenery in the village of Boquete includes rain forests, coffee farms, a river and some of the friendliest people anywhere.
Ascending nearly 3 and a half kilometers, from tropical torpor to mountain cool in an hour, you will feel exhilarated. At a moment like this it’s important to have plans for good lodging. You will be able to relish the remarkable change in the oxygen levels of the air you’re breathing and treasure being surrounded by beauty. Plan ahead so you can enjoy it.

Panama has a good domestic air network, and the prices are low. You can fly from Panama City to David – a city only about 20 miles from Boquete – for about $50. From David you’d hop a bus or taxi to Boquete, for about $20. It is important to know that Panama City’s domestic airport was moved last year, and is now at a former American military airport in the Albrook community, about 25 kilometers away from Tocumen (PTY) Airport. If traffic is bad, it might take an hour to get there…so schedule your flights to give yourself plenty of leeway.

Remember that most room rates do not include the required 10% IPAT-TAX (tourism). It will be added to your total bill at the end of your vacation in Boquete. Ah….one less surprise! That’s a good thing.

Hotel Isla Grande

Isla Grande, Portobelo, Colon PA, Tel: 507-225-6722

A cabin/room at the little Hotel Isla Grande cost $45/night for singles or $60 per couple. In addition to swimming, you can dine, dance and shoot pool in ‘Bar el Coral’, the little island’s version of a night club with neon lights.

You can also check out Isla Grande’s beachfront Bob Marley Bar, decorated with painted blotches of red, green and yellow with a big mural of Marley with his tunes blowing on the breezes; there you can meet Pupy, the owner and Sheriff of Isla Grande.

Hotel Isla Verde

Tel.: 507-720-2533
Fax: 507-720-2751
Email: islaverde@cwpanama.net
Web: http://islaverdepanama.com

Isla Verde Hotel is a large property with very unique roundhouses and suites, located about 3 minutes from the center of Boquete. Due to the serene and tranquil nature of this tropical paradise, children between the ages of 2 through 10 are not invited; although Infants and supervised children over the age of 10 are happily welcomed.

Roundhouse rentals include a living room, dining room, full kitchen, with a variable number of bedrooms and baths. Electricity and water billing are included in the rent and the units are fully furnished, with bedding and towels provided. Each unit has its’ own television with Direct TV, and free high-speed wireless internet access is available. Full laundry service is offered and Isla Verde is hosting Spa in Boquete for on-site massage therapy services.

The Isla Verde website offers an extensive and interesting list of recommendations for tours and activities at:

http://islaverdepanama.com/photos/index.htm

Traveler reviews at:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/krisandmarilyn/southcentral/1116774600/tpod.htm

Extended stay lodging is a narrow niche of the hospitality market in Panama – but is one that can be advantageous to you, if you’re planning to stay in an area for more than a few nights. We’ll start looking for a ‘paradise dream destination’ in Bocas Del Toro province, next to the Costa Rican border. There you can surf some of the most explosive waves on the Caribbean, or snorkel over magnificent coral reefs of The Marine National Park on Isla Bastimentos . (More later on sports and fishing destinations).

Lounging on pristine white beaches is encouraged, but perhaps you’ll chose to explore a picturesque tropical reserve on the mainland, the huge International Park La Amistad. The park is home to 90 recorded mammals and more than 300 species of birds.

Whichever activity is your choice; there is a Bocas Del Toro innkeeper ready to fill your needs and take pictures of you, with a big relaxed grin, in your tropical paradise. So take your pick – ordinary tropical paradise or extraordinary tropical paradise.

US Phone: 1-561-459-3689

Panama Phone: 011-507-700-0352

Cell Phone: 011-507-6487-4332
email: Gardenofbocas@aol.com
Way off the beaten path, you can enjoy an exclusive “adults only” retreat on a private island for the most amazing vacation of your dreams. There are three light and airy rooms with queen size beds, hot water baths and remarkable Caribbean balcony views. The light ocean breezes keep it just right, so they do not have, nor need AC.

Instead of sharing a resort room; think of renting your own island! Garden of Eden is a perfect base of operations for trips and tours, or for those who want to relax and enjoy what Solarte offers. Packages are available which include your lodging, meals and transportation to and from the Bocas Del Toro Airport, via taxi and small boat.

The Garden offers superbly fresh meals and snacks, and a full bar, all delights – served within a playful, relaxing lifestyle; while the secluded pool offers the most daring sun bathers privacy. As you paddle your kayak around the island, watching your last sunset in Boca Del Toro, you’ll be glad you visited paradise – lost along the Caribbean coast of Panama – no matter what the cost.

Renting a Small Home in Boquete – Fine Casita Living

Phone: (507) 6614-9514 (Please add 011 for calls outside of Panama)

Come and visit Boquete for cool breezes, clean air and crystal pure water. This is a mountainside paradise, high up in the cool mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The neighborhood is quiet, yet only 5 minutes from the town center. The owners of this private casita – or little home – have created a secluded retreat for two. This extended lodging unit has one bedroom and one bath, and its rate include all utilities. The weekly rate is $300.00; the monthly rate (including weekly housekeeping service) is $1000.00.