When we were purchasing tickets for the water taxi out of Bocas, I met two girls. They were in line in front of me and they were having some difficulties with their own ticket purchase. They had every coin they owned on the counter in front of the sales woman like kids purchasing candy with every last cent from their piggy bank. One girl turned around and asked me if I was going to Panama City today. I told her I was and she shared that they were short $5. She asked to borrow money and assured me that she would pay me back on the bus (once you get off the water taxi to Almirante, you take a $1 land taxi to the bus station and then catch the 10 hour bus to Panama City).

I didn't have money on me at that moment. Michael was with the kids by the water taxi trying to get our luggage onto what he has called the 'coffin ship'. We thought by leaving at 6:30 a.m. we would avoid a crowded water taxi. Not so. It was packed and we needed to get on that boat. I knew the girls were going to be a while there since they didn't have enough money and I couldn't really start our ticket transaction, so I went and got the money for our tickets. I gave the $5 to the girls and they enthusiastically thanked me. While we were waiting I had a chance to talk to the girls and asked them how they liked Bocas. They had thick accents and knew some Spanish, but I couldn't place where they were from.

One of the girls told me that all of her visit to Panama was sitting. Sitting on buses, in taxis, restaurants and at beaches. Michael and I had noticed that we hadn't moved much here either. If we hadn't chosen to hike off the ATVs we wouldn't have moved much at all. The rest of our trip in Bocas was spent getting to and from beaches and restaurants. Don't get me wrong....there's definitely nothing wrong with that. It seemed this girl just had enough of it. I don't know how long they were there, but we were finishing up our week and that was enough for exploring beaches and restaurants.

I had mentioned before that there was a ton of rain in Bocas prior to our arrival. Well, it still rained, and it worked out well providing our breaks between beach days. The two main beaches we visited were Starfish Beach and Red Frog Beach. Starfish beach was about a 25 minute taxi ride to the other side of the island. The beach was very calm and lived up to its name. It was more crowded because it was a weekend and more local families were there. We found a spot further down the beach and had to pay $5 if we wanted a chair.

Yes, that is in the water....it's that clear

Liam snorkeling but not paying attention to the boat

On our rain day between beaches, we took a water taxi to another island for lunch. Bibi's is a great little spot on the beach that we wouldn't have found without a recommendation. There was some music and nice views and lunch was delicious. Also, the kids got to try out the paddle boat for free since we ate there.

We were dropped off at a pier and walked down the beahc to the restaurant here

Red Frog Beach was a bit further and required a longer water taxi ride. It was a smaller beach with rougher waves. It got its name from the poison red frogs which can be found in the forest areas surrounding the beach. Apparently there are Caymans too, and I'm glad to report we didn't run across either.

Once you get off at the pier and pay the entrance fee to the private beach, there is a short-5 min walk to the beach

Lots of hand holding....route back to meet the boat

So aside from the beaches we had visited many restaurants. We were glad we had recommendations from Victoria, my friend Val's niece. We met her at Alberto's for pizza one night. That was great because not only did they have some unique pizzas, but they had some games and an area for kids to play. The best by far though was El Ultimo Refugio. Victoria told us it was mostly a seafood place, but that they had some delicious vegetarian options. There was live music and a great view! A perfect ending to our beach week. Thanks Victoria!