Snorkelling at Bocas del Toro

Because the Bocas del Toro coral reefs are mainly quite shallow, there are many more sites for snorkelling than for scuba diving. The same mooring buoy system PROMAR are installing will also be used by the marine tour operators for snorkelling boats to moor to. Some of the snorkelling sites are also scuba diving sites, because many of the reefs go down up to 60 feet (20 meters).

The best places for snorkelling are in Admiral Bay (Bahia de Almirante), the waters are calmer, the coral reefs are more protected, waters usually clearer

• Hospital Point off Solarte
• The Garden off Solarte
• Mangrove Point, Isla Colon
• Big Baight, Isla Colon
• Boca del Drago, Isla Colon
• Crawl Cay
• Cristobal Light, Cristobal Island
• Cristobal One, Cristobal Island
• Zapatillas Cays, in the Bastimentos Island National Marine Park
• Ola Chica, and nearby Wild Cane Cay, off the Caribbean beaches of Bastimentos can sometimes be snorkelled. These reefs, facing the open sea, form walls from 10 to 40 feet high, with small caves which harbour fish and crabs.
• The outer part of the Zapatillas Cays reefs are not so easy to snorkel, because the prevailing north wind creates large waves that break on the reef.
• A different kind of snorkelling can be experienced in mangrove islets of the Marine Park. Due to the clear waters, snorkellers can see the beauty and colors of marine life around the mangrove roots: sponges, fire corals, casiopeas, starfishes, crabs. Other fish find refuge in this underwater forest which is a fish nursery of many species.

Bocas del Toro Information