Info Bocas del Toro
How get Bocas?
By plane from Albrook domestic airport with www.airpanama.com, 3 to 5 flights per day following the seasons in Foker 50 with twin engine propellers. Becarefull, for return flights, plan a sufficient hourly margin due to risk of delay to not miss your correspondence.
By bus from the national terminal of Albrook, an average of 10 hours drive to Almirante. Provide a warm clothing and cap or hood, as the air conditioning is very much below 20 ° as a rule. From Almirante, if you go on Isla Colon, you will take a water taxi to Bocas. On the other hand we will pick you up with our boat if you decided to reside at <a href="http://www.nathylodge.com" target="ma._blank"> Nathy Lodge </a> on Isla San Christobal. But also from San José, the capital of Costa Rica, you can reach Bocas with www.natureair.com. If you plan to come by rental car, you can leave it in a guarded car park in Almirante because on Isla Colon, it will serve you little. However, you can make the crossing from Almirante to Bocas by putting your car on the ferry.
Why invest in Bocas?
Bocas del Toro, in Central América, is an archipelago west of Panama in the Caribbean Sea, bordering Costa Rica. Consisting of 9 major islands, numerous islets and mangrove meanders, Bocas del Toro is a place of character to discover.
An ambiance

Prices

The nature

La Flore
There are nice babes, and the kindest!
There are the gentle vegetables, and the worse!
Well, the plants, there are not many bad. Some, with thorns that one does not necessarily see, cutting grasses, toxic berries, do not eat the first seed found! The Indians still know the nature around them, they can be good advice.
The Mangrove
The Mangrove, which border our shores of the islands and also by numerous clusters often forming islets, occupy the land-water-air ecotone and the mangroves are one of the ecosystems the most bio-productive in the world. These are the only major species to survive on anoxic vases. They constitute a real wood reef which becomes the support and shelter of a large fauna, and which protects the unstable coasts from the assaults of the sea and the storms. The only species that can live in salt water, the mangrove is highly protected by the Panamanian authorities and elsewhere in the world.
As a result, it is strictly forbidden to cut it, and the law is hard. Do not destroy it massively. However, it is allowed to cut it to facilitate the dock access to your land, and house that is behind the mangrove.
It is also allowed to cut the branches down to restore a see view, and facilitate the passage of air, but do not cut the trunks or the roots.
The Fauna
Babies is another story!
There are many that are so beautiful or enjoyable to observe. Monkeys, sloths, birds, butterflies, dolphins, snakes.
Oh, it gets complicated.
The archipelago is home to 7 dangerous snakes, which we must learn to know. They go out mostly at night to go hunting. So, caution. The boa, it is not dangerous, except the big crapes, which stifle these prey. It has a superb dress, which can be confused a little with the spearhead which on the contrary must absolutely avoid.
There are the scorpions that are often found in dead woods and spider-tongue spiders that live in a terrier, and that give a fever.
Hornets which are in small groups, but whose sting, especially the yellow is very bad.
In the water at certain seasons, jellyfish and micro organisms.
Then, finally, in the air, the mosquito, with populations in quite limited number, and very little vector of viruses, at least on the islands of the archipelago of Bocas. On the other hand, we have the chitras, sand fly or nonos, or yien yien, to mention only these names in order to speak of those little insects that are scarcely seen, which come out mostly in the morning and evening. One wonders what these insects are in the food chain! Always it is necessary to learn to manage them, to repel them, to protect themselves. They are not carriers of disease, to our knowledge.
All the paradises have defects and qualities, it is enough to know what everyone is looking for.
The weather

Sécurity, insécurity

Tricks and Tips

Lancha

House boat

driving license

Life jacket

Garbage

The great question of the solar

Batteries

Sailers in search of an island sheltered in Caribbean, Panama Bocas of course.

Build to live in Panama, easy

Different types of wood to use

Treated pine
There is an alternative that we used for Nathy Lodge construction: This is the treated pine.
Plantations are made in a forest management. They then are planted to be cut, then renewed. These woods
do not have the mechanical strength of nispero for example. But chemical treatment allows a perfect resistance to
termites, main pest of wood. You should avoid the treated pine exposures to hard weather since it
is not very resistant to rain and sun. This is why it is always advisable to cover the terrace,
to first bring shade and cool at home, but to avoid as the wood may spoil quickly.
The woods are calibrated, linear, easy to use, easy to find and usually available. Warning
very often they are still green when they arrive on the archipelago. So it should be dried in particular
for flooring and cladding, as drying they will retract and lose their caliber creating spaces.
The cost is similar to that of a local wood, although it is operated on site, not cheaper than a
treated pine imported from the US or Nicaragua. But at least you contribute to the local forest preservation.
Right of Possession, how does it work?
Here in Bocas del Toro, many properties are in Right of Possession.
This means that the state owns the land. You have a recognized usufruct of the land with documents
Administrative authorities.
It is for life, redeemable and transferable.
These state lands, unoccupied at the outset, were invested one day by a person who settled there,
Closed and maintained it. Then after several years, he claimed the plot and made it
Registered in its name or in the name of a company, surveyed and measured.
Official documents are then issued by the administration. The right of possession is official.
But since it is a land of state, there is no tax levied on it.
The government has put in place a series of laws to facilitate the titles of these lands.
So, with the help of a lawyer or on your own, it is possible to get the titled land.
Obtaining a title
To obtain a title, several inspections are carried out, as well as a survey. It takes 2 years. The help of a lawyer is necessary, but can also be achieved autonomously.
For example, 2 ha to be titled on the continent would cost about $ 6,000, along with attorney's fees. It varies from one
Lawyer to the other, the area of the land and its location.
Recommendations
Caution, acquiring a Right of Possession having no official documents can be dangerous. He must be
Always occupied by its owner, and maintained regularly. Do not install a guard
Permanently, after 5 to 10 years, he could claim the space he occupies, with difficulties
Expel it. A Right of Possession with all the administrative documents, recognized since
at least 10 years, occupied by its owner regularly thus presents no problem.
Maritime concession
The Maritime Concession is different, it is a rental of a maritime space, necessary for an activity
commercial over the water (hotel for example). You have a lease with the fixed term, renewable, you pay a fee.
Property title
The Title is exactly like in France, in the US or elsewhere, and you pay a property tax.
Inheritance

new hospital is coming
A new hospital is under construction, funded by Taiwan, a long-time friendly country with Panama, to the tune of $ 22 million. The local population will have access to quality and expanded care in new premises, but it will also be reassuring, for expatriates, settled and future, who are used to a high standard of care, A medical structure of a higher level.
This hospital will suddenly give rise to an economic boom if we consider the management, medical and maintenance staff of the establishment who will have to live and consume on the island.
An establishment to consume as rarely possible of course!
Power is coming on Bocas

A new airport
