This Wide Wonderous World: Bocas Del Toro Day 3 and 4: Playas El Drago y Estrella

We had arrived on a Wednesday afternoon to Bocas del Toro. On Thursday we visited Punta Hospital and for Friday and Saturday we planned an overnighter to one of the best beaches, some might say the best beach, in Bocas. We wanted to feel like we were staying "by the beach". The beach near our treehouse, Ismito Beach, wasn't great. There are no trees there and its dirty. There wasn't much memorable about Ismito and we never really saw people swimming there. We never even went walking there. Bocas just seemed like a dirty place, with its trash everywhere we looked.

We had decided in advance to make a little "get away" inside our "get away". And I'm so we did because Playas El Drago and Estrella were some really nice beaches. These two are at the very top of the main island of Colon. Can you picture Isla Colon running north and south, with Bocas Town at the southeast tip and Estrella and El Drago on the northwest side? It was only about a 20 minute or 10-mile cab ride from Ismito, the main beach near town, to the end of Colon, where the road ends in dirt at El Drago. We checked into our room, essentially right on the beach, around noon and ate some typical food for lunch in one of the two available sodas. Then we changed and took the 15-minute walk to Estrella.

El Drago Beach right in front of the hostel where we stayed.

Pano view. There were very people here.

An interesting seed?

Driftwood with snails

The hairy bark

Looking down the dirt road outside the hostel soda (cafe)

The building had this sturdy thatched roof.

Lunch. They love French fries in Panama.

Fried chicken.

Clark had prawns and patacones. I wanted to show the ensalada here. It was like chicken salad pasta? Think tuna casserole? It was room temperature. I wasn't sure if it was meant to be served hot or cold, but it was suspicious and for food safety reasons, I didn't eat it and was glad Clark isn't generally a fan of this type of dish.

A beautiful villa on the point of the island. Later I learned it is Villa Drago, and it can be rented for about $600 a night for up to 12 people. Check it out in more detail. I LOVE historic houses! This one is WOW! Casa Drago, Boca del Drago (updated 2025 prices)

A smaller house behind the main house, likely served as a kitchen and servant quarters in the past.

This fruit again.

Beach along our walk.

A small dock near Villa Drago. I joked with Rose about "walking the runway".

On our walk to Estrella the beaches were pretty and quiet.

Crab

Interesting grove of trees that felt swamp-ish

Seedpods

Rickety "bridge" on the trail

Mangroves alongside

Wow...pretty beaches!

More interesting seeds.

This vine

A resident sloth at Estrella Beach!

There is a large cove here, so the water is super calm.

So clear. The water is over my knees.

Clark loved this beach the best.

Why this is called Estrella: Spanish for star. There are sea stars EVERYwhere in the water. We were told to respect the wildlife and NOT TOUCH or move. Ok I might have gently touched one.

The water is unreal. That looks super shallow but it's at least 2 feet, maybe 3 feet of visibility.

A crab I discovered because I accidentally stood on it where it had buried itself and when I felt something scratchy on my foot, probably its claw warning me, I moved my foot and the crab ran out. Surprise!

Snail

Abandoned toilet left from where a bathroom used to be. Pretty typical for Bocas. Clark wondered if because Bocas is an archipelago, they have no way to dispose of what they throw away.

Our pina colada. The best pineapple is in Costa Rica and Panama!

Spotted foliage and what's Craig up to?

Aw! Crabs!

Near to the "bar" where we bought our pineapple, there was an entire yard of just crab holes everywhere. All the holes were occupied with crabs poking out. Its kind of creepy because when you move, they run into their holes. You can't see them until they move but there are hundreds of them. When you hold still, they creep back out. Craig amused himself with this.