from Dublin to........Mirissa, Sri Lanka: Surfing in Bocas del Toro, Panama

It is hard to know where to begin to start describing Bocas del Toro. Perhaps the fact that most people who arrive stay much longer than they had anticipated and even then depart reluctantly, as if they are leaving behind a small of themselves, says enough about the place. I saw this on many occasions and experienced it myself.

Bocas is by no means the most idyllic place you can imagine. Bocas Town is rather shabby looking, the local village behind the hostel on the island I stayed on was representative of third world living conditions and the amount of rubbish that has accumulated in various pockets is astounding. Nevertheless, it is still an amazing place to spend a lot of time. And so many people do. There is something about living on a small island and catching water-taxis everywhere....to the bar, supermarket, beach, surf break....it was just awesome.

A significant proportion of people visit Bocas to surf, or a least learn like me. There are typically waves for beginner to intermediate surfer unless the swell is completely non-existent. When there is a massive swell, one break, Silverback, rears its ugly head. It needs 20+ feet for it to be surfable and has at times had Red Bull surfers come down for filming and spat them out cowering after sending them through the reef blender. I opted for a different break.

I stayed at Gran Kahuna Hostel which had a fabulous location on Isla Carenero which is a 2 minute taxi from the main island. We were lucky to get a hostel with sufficient room for all of us given it was Carnival weekend in Bocas Town. The hostel has so much potential to be a brilliant place to stay, not to say it isn't good but some things caused some frustration at times, not the least that we didn't have running water for almost four days, ran out of beer (unforgivable) and staff were difficult to find at times. But it had some cozy communal areas, a guitar, a restaurant, surfboards for hire, a private pier and it was right on the water in a quiet area. I planned to stay for a week....that turned into 12 days.

It was a rather crazy first week and that was probably the fault of the amiable Chileans who were staying in the hostel and drank heavily EVERY night.

Despite being there for so long, I didn't see or do half the things I could or probably should have:

* Mono Loco Surf School - A good surf school located on the main island. I had three lessons there with Mauri. We had to wait a few days until there was adequate swell to earn on. The school uses Black Rock break to teach on, walking distance from the hostel but requires a decent paddle out over shallow reef to get there - a bit too far for a beginner. It is a reef break that affords a long ride, both left and right. The reef is usually deep enough that you don't touch it but at low tide you can if you ride it all the way to the end on a long board. Our instructor Missy was great. Amazingly enthusiastic. Great job though. I was so knackered after each lesson. So much paddling. Be careful paddling in/out - make sure you know where to go otherwise you'll end up over the very shallow reef between the beach and the break trying not to cut your hands.

* Wizard Beach - A popular surf spot about 15-20 mins boat ride away. Went there one day when there was little swell and it was rather messy. I didn't surf but took a few photos of the others. A bit further along is Red Frog beach which is supposedly smaller but really nice (and yes, it has red frogs there).

* The fishmonger on our island - There is a house at the back of the island that sells fish, prawns and lobster (mostly frozen but freshly frozen!). Ask around about it - there is a plank leading up to the house. Walk around the side to the rear where the freezers are. There is a lovely senora who will serve you. Once I found out about this place I was back there almost every other day buying lobster. I hadn't cooked any meals in a long time so it was great to be back in the kitchen eating well. The lobster ranged from USD6-13/pound for the tails depending on the size. Go for the smaller ones as it is much more economical as the shells don't weigh much at all. You can also buy bags of lobster meat (legs, claws etc) and an amazingly cheap price. We had a few communal lobster dinners that cost USD5-6/head. Bargain.

* Barco Hundido - Very good local bar (also Tropical Bird restaurant during the day) set over the water that plays Caribe music. Not so many tourists there and some complain about the locals getting preferential treatment at the bar. Drinks are exceptionally strong.

* Aqua Lounge - This place is unbelievably also a hostel. It is insane. Music blares until 3am almost every night and the dorm rooms are right next to the dance floor / bar. Ridiculous. You can hear the music clearly in our hostel which is a 5 minute walk away. That said, it is quite a cool place (not so much for the music though). It is also built over the water and has three holes in the decking that you can jump into and have a swim (all hours of the day and night). The dangerous addition is the three swings that drunken people violently swing back and forth on before letting go and plunging (hopefully) into the water. Not everyone quite gets it right. Ouch. If you drink enough tequila before heading there you will see tequila frogs instead of the very large crabs which have a huge pincer.

* Iguana Bar - On the main island. Also partially set over the water so you can get a water-taxi straight into the waterfront lounge area. This place didn't grab me. The music wasn't to my liking and the DJ kept incessantly playing a mash-up of all the popular songs you can think of but only playing around 60 seconds from each. Annoying.

* Bibi's Restaurant - A few minutes walk towards Black Rock from the hostel. A nice place to start the day with breakfast and supposedly dishes out some of the better seafood in town. It wasn't too bad but not quite in the league of my garlic butter lobster or lobster spaghetti. Perfect location though. Be careful talking to any Canadian girls there, especially Sally from retail, Alex (or was it Alexa?) and the girl who retired on her scratchie winnings (unheard of!).

* Carnival in Bocas - Music playing almost 24 hours a day kind of sums up the four days that were Carnival. We ventured in one night but didn't really like it too much so didn't bother going in again. There wasn't too much to the parade - it is after all a relatively small town. It was eerily quiet heading into town the first day after the festival. Much more pleasant.

* Book Bar - Never made it here disappointingly. A small cafe/bar (with books) and a table tennis table - there is a resident female table tennis shark so watch out!

* Casa Animal - The closest thing to a traditional club in Bocas. I didn't like it one bit. Others did.

* Salsa lesson on the pier - Came back from my surf lesson and on the pier Elisa and Anja were having a salsa lesson with a local guy....so I joined in to even the numbers up. He was of course more focused on assisting the girls, as you would be.

* Another place I never made it to was Bluff Beach on the main island. Hire a bike and ride the 45 minutes or so out there for great sunsets and well, a nice beach.

Bocas del Toro is not the cheapest place (for your typical backpacker) to stay but can be affordable with a little forethought. Food is the major expense so self-cater as much as possible. There are however some affordable eateries serving decent menu del dias.

Another tip (from a local) is that many of the tours that will be offered are rather shit, especially the snorkelling and dolphin-watching ones. They typically take you to rubbish locations or go at the wrong time of day to see the most wild-life. We got shafted on one. If snorkelling, pay the extra and go to the furthest snorkelling location (can't remember the name) as it is the best by far.

Met some great people here and got to spend a lot more time with the Germans. Happy days....until they all left.