Jaunted

The easiest way to reach "Bocas" is the 1-hour flight from Panama City (about $60 each way).The tiny (seriously) airport is just a three-block walk to the main drag of "Bocas Town," the only part of the archipelago where you'll find a concentration of hotels, restaurants and shops. Despite the rapid development, Bocas Town still has that quintessential chilled-out beach town vibe. One local real estate business bills it as "what Key West was 40 years ago."

Probably the only stressful thing that's happened in a week on Bocas was trying to find a room upon arriving. Most of the hostels and backpacker-type places don't take reservations for some reason, but fill up each day as people arrive. We got off our 3pm plane to find all the early arrivals had filled the hostels, and we had to book into a rather overpriced hotel.

So if you're going the dirty backpacker route, we'd recommend taking the early flight to Bocas to try to get your pick of the cheap-o accommodations. On our second day, we got up early and booked a room at Hostel Hansi – one of the better hostel deals we've come across anywhere. A sweet double room with a balcony and private bath that's cleaned every day…for $25. We could get used to this.

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· Where to find WiFi in Panama [Jaunted]