Bocas Del Toro, Panama

If it's the beach vibe that you dig along with somewhere entertaining to go every night, Bocas is definitely a place that you would enjoy to go. In Bocas Del Toro I decided to invest 3 days of my time to get certified for SCUBA.............. again.... since I never finished my dives years ago and all the classes that I had took were now expired. I was glad that I did take the classes because it had been so long that I really didn't remember everything that I needed to, plus it came with 6 dives all at the cost of $200 dollars. Although the diving was fairly murky, we saw a shipwreck and as I came over the top of a sunken ship I saw a fish right by my head that was definitely the biggest fish I have ever seen in my life! It had to weigh 3-400lbs and even the dive instructor who dives there every day was saying that was a rare site to see. Unfortunately while I was there a guy staying in the hostel next door to where I was staying died while swimming in the ocean. Bocas is a place most people traveling through Central America funnel to, and from the time I got to and left Bocas I had ran into at least 25 people that I had met over the past 2 months. I am not sure if I had met him but my condolences go out to his friends and family back home. They have a lot of warnings about the rip tide out where he was and I guess it happens a few times a year, got to be careful! Well, you can't achieve life by avoiding death I guess. Visiting some of the beaches out in Bocas Del Toro are just ok, but there are a few that you can take a boat out to that are as pristine as it gets and...really what you would imagine if you were to think of paradise. I met a couple friends that were from Colorado, hung out and relaxed, and ate a ton of ice cream during my visit to Bocas. On a last note while leaving I ran into the guys from California that had one of their bags stolen on the bus in Costa Rica. He had a new passport, a better attitude, and was still out to finish his trip! Good luck Matt and Jeff.