I had heard of this spot from one of the reception people at the Purple House as a fairly nice area to go.  definitely not the best place to go, but certainly one to check out.  I had also read in the Lonely Planet that it was a nice place to go.  The main boasting point for Boca Chica/Boca Brava is that there is only one hostel there.  And it is on a remote island that is reachable by boat only.  So I thought I would give it a try…

Perhaps it was the weather, or perhaps my mood, but I wasn’t at all impressed by any portion of part of the trip.  It took several hours and different buses to get there, a private taxi and then a water taxi to get to a hostel high on an island cliff.  The weather was dull and overcast, threatening the look of rain but never producing.  Everything felt dank and dull.  The hostel itself was nothing spectacular.  It honestly was mostly a safety hazard as the paths were made of mosaic design of glass pieces which made everything very slippery.  I opted for a hammock as the beds seemed quite dangerous to sleep on (dirty and potentially moldy and were kept on the floor of the room that had no screens on the windows so you literally were one with nature).  The price to stay there was quite expensive for what they offered as was the trip just to get out there!  All in all I probably spent $60 on this dull detour that I could have done without.

Were it not for the hike I took to one of the beaches once the weather finally shone through with some sun, I would have seriously regretted the detour.  But I did enjoy the beach time as there were hundreds of crabs on the shore to chase and watch, and a troop of howler monkeys came by to chill by the waters with me.

I was literally the only guest at this hostel, so again perhaps it was just poor timing all around, but nothing about this area impressed me.  I slept that night in my hammock and rose early the next day to head to Boquete.