Bocas Del Toro - 'Casa Bocas "af Saigon Bay - Fejr øerne!

It’s a bit rustic, but a lovely view from the deck. We had a fabulous family vacation. Enough room for 10. Our host was excellent. The fridge broke while we were there and he was over right away to fix it. The breeze was lovely across the open indoor/outdoor living. Bring your bug spray!

We searched for a place where we could really relax as a family of four and we found it. We had more space than we needed and all amenities we expected and then some (such as the kayak or the dryer). While it is not as separated from the village as it may seem on the picture, you can be all by yourselves. Still, in no time you can be downtown with a cab (60cents). The kids loved to go back by watertaxi. Chris was a great manager and he reacted right away when contacted but never disturbed us in any way. If you stay in Bocas del Torro you must consider this house. It will host easily a small crowd of up to 10 people. Enjoy!

There are several positive aspects about this rental; that you can sit on the deck and be over the water, you can look through the floorboards in the house and see the water below, and the breeze off the water means you will almost always be comfortable. The floorplan is spacious, 7 of us stayed here quite comfortably, with lots of room to find a nook to read or take a nap. The kitchen is large, the bathrooms are spacious as well, the beds (at least mine) was comfortable and the linens are of good quality. There is a kayak to borrow, and plenty of beach-y items like hats, toys and ice-chests.

Not so good; the house needs a good once-over to replace what might have gone missing or never was. There are very few dishes, utensils or cookware pieces in the kitchen. Seven of us had to share 3 spoons, for instance. Not enough cups for everyone to have coffee at the same time, and wine? Two communal chalices... but hey, it made it intimate! Don't plan on cooking unless you intend to buy every single item you will need, from salt, pepper, and vegetable oil, to the sponge and soap to clean them with after.

Some have commented on walking through "the shantytown". This might have been charming for some, in a weird way, but reality is, you walk through a pretty sketchy neighborhood. I live in Central America, so I'm not assigning this classification lightly. We walked right past a crowd gathering for a cock fight (feathered variety) and the walkway to the house passes within 3 feet of people's front doors... it's hot and humid, the doors are open, you see what is going on and you hear everything.

The walkway to the house itself consists of a series of boards (in varying degrees of decay) that are nailed together to create a bridge. Quaint the first time in the daylight, challenging the second-fifth time, and plain disgusting after that when your olfactory sense and brain finally conclude the houses you're passing are dumping all their waste into the mangroves which you're gingerly treading over and hoping not to slip off the wobbly, slimy wooden walkway, into.

Then, when you have the chance (unfortunate) to be sitting outside the front door and hear something hitting the water below the house, you stoop down, and yep, directly coinciding with the sound of flushing inside is the plop plop outside. Shower well after your kayak trip, and avoid swimming in Saigon Bay.

I'm not sure where to begin this review. I booked and paid my deposit in Oct of 2014, in December I received an email saying my reservation was being canceled. After emails and international phone calls, Tyson, the prop manager, finally convinced the owner to let us stay the dates we reserved since NOTHING else was available. The house does set on a nice bay, but it is surrounded like much of the island in garbage (not really the owner's fault, just be prepared). There is only air conditioning in the "master bedroom" upstairs. The upstairs bathtub/shower leaks onto the KITCHEN counter when you use it, the guy in the office said "I know, sorry". They leave you absolutely nothing in the house except dishes and toilet paper, no dish soap, nothing to scrub dishes with, NOTHING. So be prepared to buy every single thing you might need. The water taxi is very expensive from the dock, you have to walk up the road a little to the gas station (covered in trash) to get a taxi for about 4-5 bucks into town each way. I have traveled all over the world and I mostly stay in homes. This was not my best experience. It was rather messed up from day one and filled with many misconceptions.