Complimentary kayaks and snorkel gear are provided for your use when you are a guest at Casa Cayuco. There are great snorkeling spots easily accessed from our beach. Our location offers unlimited hiking options where you can walk through the rain forest to the other side of the peninsula on our jungle trail or stroll along the beach on footpaths that parallel the coast on both sides of the island. You can explore the rainforests of the island, and hike or kayak to a nearby indigenous village.
Explore the natural beauty of the surrounding area. Casa Cayuco offers a guide service to many interesting locations nearby. Choose from a variety of guided excursions for some real adventure. All our guides are fully trained and carry first aid equipment with them. When our trips take us away from the lodge for several hours, we pack picnic lunches, snacks, and beverages. Minimum two adults per trip. Prices include equipment, guide, and park and village fees. Gratuities not included. Per person prices for each excursion are listed below. Children under 12 are half price.
This is one of our guests favorite trips. Hike or kayak from Casa Cayuco for 40 minutes to the local Ngobe village, Salt Creek. There you meet your guide, Solino, whose family has developed the Cayman Trail. He will take you on an hour or so hike that is filled with information about the local flora and fauna. You will learn about the medicinal plants, most likely encounter cayman, red frogs, monkeys, sloth and numerous bird species along the way.
This hike is another Casa Cayuco favorite. You hike from Casa Cayuco to the Salt Creek village, where you are met by Alfredo Taylor, who is a local Ngobe guide with a heart of gold. Alfredo provides an initial tour of the community, before heading over the rain forest hills from Salt Creek to the gorgeous Caribbean enclave ‘Los Pelicanos’ . After a lunch stop and dip from the beach, you continue along the beach trail to complete the loop back to Casa Cayuco. This trip can be challenging due to the steeper and sometimes slippery hiking over the hills, so we recommend more supportive footwear than flip flops.
Known in English as Long Beach, Playa Larga is one of the most important sea turtle nesting habitats in the Bocas. Several species of turtles nest there at different times of the year. We go first to Salt Creek, and then hike to the ocean side of Bastimentos, through the National Park. The trail winds through the heart of the island’s tropical rain forest. Along the way we stop at a picturesque jungle waterfall. Once we reach Playa Larga, we can hike back the way we came, or complete a circuit route by following a beach trail back to Casa Cayuco. This is a very adventurous day of hiking!
Discover the beauty of the white-sand beaches on the two Zapatillas Cays in the National Park. These islands offer opportunities for relaxing beach walks and interesting jungle adventures. They are surrounded by breathtaking reefs, full of sea life, that are perfect for snorkeling. Most of the reefs are only a short swim from shore. Your local guide, Sebastian Guerra, is a local legend, who is known to free dive 200 ft. A quick boat ride is all it takes to access this pristine and beautiful national park.
Visit the mainland inlet of Dolphin Bay, where a pod of dolphins resides. Watch them feeding and playing. We can also go ashore and visit a working chocolate farm. Tour the farm and learn how chocolate is produced. The locally produced chocolate is available for purchase. Following the Chocolate tour we will then snorkel up to three amazing sites amongst the mangroves on our way back to Casa Cayuco. Considered the nursery of the sea, the mangrove soft corals are by far some of the brightest and most diverse ever seen.
Take a boat ride to Bahia Honda, near the center of the National Park. There we travel by motorized cayuco up a small creek. Sloths, monkeys, caymen, and numerous bird species live along the creek. From where we disembark from the cayuco, we hike through the jungle a kilometer to the extensive island cave system, where we enter the caves to marvel at the thousands of bats making their home among the stalactites.
A fascinating area for kayaking and snorkeling! We head across Chiriqui bay in the boat towards Punta Valiente. Just off this long mainland peninsula lie numerous rocky islets called Los Tigres. Schools of fish dwell along the edges of these rocks. We kayak and snorkel around them. A couple have arches and caves that we can paddle or swim right through!
If we go farther into the bay by Punta Valiente, we can dock our boat and hike over the peninsula to the most pristine ocean beach around. It is Indian comarca land, and quite remote. The village children love to join us for a soccer game on the beach. The surf here is usually excellent for body boarding and beginning/intermediate surfing.
Go fishing with a local Ngobe guide in his motorized 30 ft cayuco that handles 3 guests. First you will net for the sardine bait fish prior to heading out to catch dinner. No need for fancy and expensive fishing gear on this excursion. You will use the local hand-line method to catch progressively larger fish. We have landed some 40 lb. snapper on these trips, and to experience pulling in one of them by hand, while rocking around in a hollowed out log for a boat, provides an unforgettable experience and a tasty dinner as well.
($180 for the boat ‘inside’ bay fishing, $225 for the boat outside’ bay fishing).
The most colorful way to experience the coral reefs, which are home to an enormous variety of aquatic life is at night. From sea cucumbers to parrotfish, elkhorn coral to eagle rays, all can be found a short boat or kayak ride away. We provide the snorkel gear and lights, while the fish provide the fun.
Bocas Del Toro boats a number of excellent surf breaks that cater to all levels of surfing abilities and interests. From sandy bottom beach breaks perfect for beginners to picturesque Caribbean reef breaks for advanced surfers, we can take you where you want to go! Click here for more detail of the area´s breaks and surf trip options.
