Casa & Casita del Mar, Dolphin Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Inclusions of the Villa’s
The villas are equipped with all linens, bath & beach towels, access to laundry, cooking utensils as well as a BBQ Grill. Paper towels, toilet paper, trash bags as wells as some basic cooking spices, sugar, cooking oil, teas and 1lb of ground local coffee are complimentary.

There are first aid kits at both homes. We provide guests with a cell phone for local calls and there is a safe at both homes for guests to secure valuables. There is also free wireless internet.

Both properties are Eco friendly and function completely off the grid. They are powered by Solar and the water source is double filtered rainwater catchment, excellent for drinking and an additional filtering water jug is provided if you prefer. If you do not wish to drink the filtered rainwater, you will need to purchase bottled water in town before coming out to the villa. The Septic systems function normally. There is no air conditioning but ceiling fans throughout the homes. Both houses are equipped with paddleboards, kayaks and snorkel gear for guests to use during there stay.

Optional Extras
At Casa and Casita del Mar, we offer our guests a variety of optional extras rather than offering a single all-inclusive package. We found that guests like to vary these optional extras day by day. For example, 1 day you may wish to hire the boat captain to customize a day of sightseeing following by a trip to a local restaurant for dinner. Other days you may want to hang out at the villa, snorkel, swim and have a cook come and prepare meals for you (he also cleans up after!) The choice is yours and nothing need to be reserved in advance, you can decide upon arrival or on a day by day basis. All optional extras can be paid during your stay, please keep in mind our hosts only accept cash but there is an ATM in Bocas.

Locally made Panga Boats with roof and bench seating
At Casa and Casita del Mar, our boats are dedicated to each property for guests to rent with captain. Our locally made Pangas have bench seats that comfortably accommodate 8 people. The boats have a roof and are perfect for families or bigger group that want to take private custom excursions. The cost for our boats is $25 per hour plus fuel for daylight hours and $35 per hour plus fuel (7pm – 10pm) and $55 per hour plus fuel (10pm – 1am).

For the safety of our guests and due to local regulations, we do not rent our boats without our local captains. The archipelago can be difficult to navigate for those that are not familiar with the area. There are also many shallow reefs that are hard to see, so by utilizing our local captains, who also acts as great tour guides, we can continue to protect our precious reefs.

Local Cook
During you’re stay at Casa or Casita del Mar, we can provide a local cook to prepare your meals at the homes. If you request ahead of time, we can send you a list of what he would need and you can buy whatever you would normally purchase from that list and he can get creative with the ingredients you provide. The cost for the cook is as follows: $55 for lunch and dinner (cook only – not including food) Or to prepare dinner only, the costs would be $35 (cook only – not including food)

If you would like us to handle the grocery shopping prior to your arrival, we would charge 10% the cost of the groceries to cover this service plus $ 70 boat time to run to town and shop. Example of meals our cook could prepare: Local whole or fillet fish (octopus, shrimp, lobster – when in season), mixed seafood, conch, chicken, beef or pork. These can be prepared in a variety of ways depending on guest’s diets and preferences. A common, very delicious local style for seafood is in coconut curry sauce, garlic and butter, sautéed, grilled or fried. These usually come accompanied by a nice variety of salads, steamed vegetables, sautéed vegetables and of course, a choice of either coconut rice, fried plantains, garlic butter potatoes, breadfruit (when in season) and various local delicious starchy root vegetables that will be a novelty for most. The cook works out each day’s meals depending on what is available fresh at the market and also considering guests requests.

Approx. cost of food depending on meals cooked would be anywhere from $8 to $15 per person per day.

Local Masseuse
While staying at Casa or Casita del Mar, we would be happy to arrange a local masseuse to visit the home for your own private massage. The homes are equipped with a professional massage table.

The cost for your own private 1-hour massage is: $35

Additional Housekeeping
Included in a 5-night stay or longer, a single complimentary house cleaning is included. Should you wish housekeeping on more than one occasion during you’re stay, the cost would be $35 per cleaning.

Destinations and Travel time

Beach Trip:
Red Frog Beach (30 mins) Entrance fee $5 p/p
Zapatailla Island (50mins) Entrance fee $10 p/p
Star Fish Beach (50 mins)
Bluff Beach (1 hour including boat to Bocas and taxi or bus to the beach)

Tours & Activities
Chocolate Farm Tour (10 mins) Entrance fee $15 p/p
Red Frog Zip Lining (30 mins) Entrance $55 p/p
Bat Caves Tour (30mins) Entrance $15 p/p

In order to help you calculate your daily budget we suggest an allowance of about $100 to $150 per day to cover the cost of boat, captain and fuel if you would like to explore the archipelago during your visit. Otherwise there are plenty of activities and water toys for you to enjoy free of charge around the bay and the home.

There are also outfitters in Bocas that do fishing, atv, scuba diving, horseback riding etc.

Suggestions of What to Bring

• Light long sleeves and pants/trousers
• Headlamps & Flashlights for night hiking or bat caves tours
• Waterproof shoes
• Sunscreen
• Insect repentant