TABOGA, PANAMA


Taboga is a great day trip to escape Panama City. It's a colorful little island dotted with restaurants and B&Bs, only a five-dollar and 45-minute ferry ride from the end of the Amador causeway. (Any Angelenos out there, think of it as Panama's Catalina) At low tide, a sandbar connects Taboga to a smaller island, creating an awesome double-sided beach. Fishermen pull up boats full of fresh langostinos and sea snails that you can bring home to eat for dinner, or have prepared for lunch and brought to you right on the sand.

skeleton of a boat
the sandbar at low tide
langostinos
sea snails

The ferry leaves at 8:30 every morning and returns at 4:30pm, which leaves you a nice long day to relax on the beach, or hike to the cross at the top of the mountain.  You can bring a cooler with a nice picnic, but be prepared for quick changes in weather. If you find yourself caught in an afternoon storm like we did, you can easily slip into a restaurant and nibble on some ceviche, fried fish, patacones and yuquitas (fried green plantains and yucca fries) while you wait out the rain.

the sandbar at high tide