After our tour of Colombia, Ed and I enjoyed four nights at Casa Cayuco, an eco-adventure resort on the Bocas del Toro archipelago in Panama. It was a delightful chance to snorkel, enjoy nature, and relax.

As an all-inclusive resort, we simply had to wait for the call of a conch shell which indicated it was time to proceed to delicious locally-sourced breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Nice! The resort is right on the water, and our “Tortuga” cabin had easy access to the beach.

Even more important than the luxury of the resort, was the impact that this lodge has on the local community.10% of the current profits at Casa Cayuco go directly to Salt Creek, a local Ngöbe Bugle village with around 1,000 residents. The proceeds go directly to the directors of the school, who manage the funds. On our final day at the resort, we took a short boat ride to visit the village, which was nestled in a deep patch of mangroves.

A Visit to the Local School

The village school, the heart of the community, is supported by donations from Casa Cayuco–in addition to minimal government funding. All lodge guests are encouraged to visit the village and bring school supplies for the classrooms. We were happy to contribute to this effort.

Not all the students were in class during our visit; some just peered through the windows. (Apparently, there had been some problems with the water supply during the last few days.)

Two new high school classrooms are being built with the funds from Casa Cayuco. The number of high school graduates has soared from 0 in the past, to 5 in 2017 to 25 in 2018 and will continue to grow. (The government supplies the teachers now that classrooms will be available.)

Tourist dollars spent at Casa Cayuco have a big impact on a local community. Many volunteers also support the village though community service projects.

Not only does the resort provide employment for locals, but the school leaders are also able to direct how the resources from the resort are used to benefit the community. Everyone benefits from this approach — especially the next generation!

Snorkeling in the Clear Waters

As visitors to this remote area, we also enjoyed the incredible snorkeling. We set off in a private pontoon boat, expertly commanded by José, a skilled free-diver and boat handler who lives in the nearby Salt Creek village with his large contingent of children and grandchildren.

The first day we jumped off the boat and explored the Zapatillas islands, a national marine park where all the underwater life is protected. The fish were colorful and plentiful.

José joined us in the water and was able to catch and release octopus, lobster, starfish, and many other sea organisms. José can free dive for over a minute and a half (!); we think he might be half dolphin!

Another day we snorkeled around mangrove islands and were astonished at the rainbow of colored coral and sponges growing on the mangrove roots.

Since José is an expert boat handler, he was able to maneuver the boat into Dolphin Bay and create some waves that encouraged the local dolphin population to come out and play in the waves. (Note: we were not quick enough on the trigger to catch any photos of dolphins leaping, but are including this one from the Casa Cayuco website since this is what it looked like!)

José is also an expert fisherman. He used a hand line to catch this huge barracuda, right from the dock.

The Casa Cayuco resort can host up to 24 guests. Joining us at the resort were a delightful couple from Denver celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and a group of 12 students from Pitzer College on a study-abroad trip.

Marine Biology at the Resort

The accompanying biology professor, Cheryl Baduini, took the underwater pictures shown above and shared them with us. She has been studying the marine life in Bocas del Torro for 15 years and is an expert in identifying the creatures and the coral.

The students worked on independent projects during their stay, and we observed their final presentations. Who knew we could partake in a college level marine biology course in Paradise?

Casa Cayuco has been owned by an American couple (Dave and Suzanne) for the last five years.  Recently, they added Mina, their 3-year-old daughter (who was born in Panama) to their board of directors … so the hotel can be considered to be run by  local!  Below, she is concentrating on hotel strategy and marketing, by critically observing the marine location:

So, this combination of beauty, learning, and giving back to the local village was a winner!  We loved our stay at Casa Cayuco and were delighted to be a part of a community that cares about giving back to the local area,  supporting the local culture, and preserving the beautiful natural environment.  2021 Update:  Dave and Suzanne have sold the resort but it looks like the new owners are keeping the traditions alive! 

The Panama Canal

And, no trip to Panama would be complete without a trip through the Panama Canal.  We enjoyed our small boat tour through the canal and marveled at the engineering foresight from 1914!

On our trip, a group of local indigenous people joined us … complete with their cell phones.

The original gates in the locks operate 24/7.  The journey is quite spectacular.

It was very windy during our transit through the canal and we had to either remove or hold on to our Panama Hats! It was quite the ride.