BJJ in Bocas del Toro

October, 2022

Panama party town and BJJ

Duration: 6 days, 5 nights

Location: Bocas del Toro, PAN

Costs: Flight 250$, Hostel 125$

Thanks to Cesar from Panama City, he hooked me up with his people in Bocas.

Luis one of the guys in the gym runs 421 Guest House, I rented an apartment for 5 nights at his place.

Training in the middle of a party town…

Getting here

There is a bus from Panama City which takes around 10-12 hours.

Lazy JP took as always the airplane, less than an hour flight.

BJJ

Bocas Fight Gym is located in the center of the town, first floor over a strength gym. The academy is around 80m2 and the mat area 60m2.

The Gym offers Monday to Saturday classes. During the week they have regular classes and on Saturday there is an open mat. Beside BJJ you can also do Yoga, Functional Training and Striking.

I managed to train four times. The classes are guided by Alex, a brown belt and the gym is affiliated to Serpente Panama.

Diving

Bocas del Toro is also a very good location for diving.

I made my dives number 11,12,13 and 14 here. The first two were reef and wreck dives. The other two a day later were cave dives.

It was the first time for me, diving in to caves. At the beginning a bit scared, because I was used to dive on reefs where you have a lot of space. But after a moment I felt in love with i

Food and drinks

There is the typical Panamanian food like in Panama City. A lot of things with rice and beans.

You will find a bit more seafood thanks to the location of Bocas. Many restaurants offer fish with rice for maximum 10$.

JJ, a guy trains as well at Bocas Fight Gym has his own restaurant at the island, JJ’s at Bocas Blended. Go and give it a try.

Nightlife

Ok here I could write another blog.

Bocas is crazy there is every night somewhere a party.

Normally its every day on another island.

The best thing to start is the street in front of Selina. There are many bars and you will soon see where everybody goes.

Fridays are special, why? Because of Filthy Friday. They are doing a party all day long on Friday`s with different locations.

Good to know

You will have done you immigrations before you reach Bocas and also fly out from another spot.

The best way to go around Bocas is by bicycle. There is a Rasta next to Bocas Fight Gym with the best rates.

The currency is Balboa (PAB) and US Dollars $. The PAB is equal to $. I used Dollars all the time.

Next stop Cartagena