By Ray Jason
One of the things that I miss the most from my earliest sea gypsy days are cruiser’s havens. These were basically “the spot” to go wherever there was a sizable cruising fleet. They were usually a bar/restaurant or a marina or sometimes a combo platter of both.
Besides food and drink, they would offer other services like laundry and propane refills and swap meets and potlucks. Plus, they were “the hang” where sailors could share tales of their misadventures and provide advice on spots along the way not to miss. A welcoming hub in a subculture of wanderers who were truly ships passing in the night provided some precious continuity and community.
One of my favorites was Marina La Paz in Baja, Mexico. The guy who ran the bar there had been the sound man on the Beatles’ very last concert. He first acquainted me with the phrase, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story,” but he did slip some true ones in amid his yarns.
Then there was Los Pelicanos in Melaque, also in Mexico. There, the vivacious ex-pat sailorette, Philomena, hosted a St. Patrick’s Day Party every year that would attract sailors from a thousand miles away. Her interior walls were decorated with artistic renderings of boat names and vital info of the sea vagabonds who stopped there.
When a southerly swell was running, landing a dinghy on the beach there was practically a circus act. To make sure that nobody in the anchorage would miss witnessing a potential somersault, she would bang on a large skillet with diabolical glee.
Tucked into a sweet, sheltered cove in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica, was Isla Gitana. The bar/restaurant seemed to be staffed exclusively with folks on the witness relocation program from several countries. Awakening in that anchorage, nobody ever knew what might await them that day or night. They even had a capuchin monkey at the bar who was an ace pickpocket.
Isla Parida, in the Las Secas Islands on the Pacific side of Panama, was also a real gem. A couple of cruisers had fallen in love with the spot and thrown out the hook specifically to build a little cruiser’s haven. It featured a bar/restaurant with all the vital services and even a few nice bungalows for those seeking a bed that did not roll – except during the occasional earthquakes.
One recent evening, when I was reminiscing about these cruiser’s havens, I decided to hoist my Google mainsail and see how they are faring these days. Sadly, they are not just distant memories, they are defunct memories. Only Marina La Paz is still operating.
So it is no wonder that Bocas Marina casts such a spell on me. Located on the Caribbean coast of Panama, the Bocas del Toro archipelago is composed of nine large islands and hundreds of small, mangrove islas.
Unlike most of the modern cruising world, the anchorages adjoining these gems are completely empty. Even the three main anchorages are never so full that finding a spot is difficult.
The outer islands are configured so that they create an inland sea. On a normal day the waves are knee high and on a boisterous day they might get all the way up to waist high. The flora and fauna are sensational with great beaches, rainforests and surf breaks. The critters range from a year-round resident pod of dolphins to bright toucans and even brighter tiny frogs.
As for human delights, if your tastes tend towards the wild rather than toward theme parks, this is your spot. On the gentrification scale of 1 to 10, it is a 3 with no apparent desire to upgrade.
It has all the vitals such as great restaurants, bars, dive shops, gyms, yoga studios, grocery and hardware stores, etc. However, if you are yearning for franchise restaurants or cineplexes, this is not your spot.
“One recent evening, when I was reminiscing about these cruiser’s havens, I decided to hoist my Google mainsail and see how they are faring these days. Sadly, most of them are not just distant memories, they are defunct memories.”
In my humble opinion, IMHO for my younger readers, the Bocas Marina is the jewel of this sensational cruising scene. It truly is one of the last great cruiser’s havens. There are plenty of long-term liveaboards who recognize what a special place this is, yet they welcome newbies without any “we got here first” attitude.
The bar and restaurant are now managed by a couple who are almost emblematic of what an intriguing place Bocas is. Andy is an ex-commercial airline pilot from Boston and his wife, Paris, is from mainland China. Their gorgeous young daughter, Juliet, speaks English, Spanish and Mandarin. Their cuisine ranges from brick-oven, wood-fired pizzas to filet mignon. The Chinese food Wednesdays are a particular hit.
The same friendly and mostly bilingual marina staff have been here for years. Low staff turnover is always a good sign of a well-run, client-friendly business. They handle normal duties and can assist with check-in procedures and cruising permit renewals.
The owner, Courtney Parks, sailed here from Texas looking for uncrowded waves to surf. Once here, he realized how great this undiscovered Caribbean was, and looked for a way to support his surfing addiction. So he built a marina. He is also a world-class surfboard shaper and still builds a few boards each week.
He also recognized the beauty and value of cruiser’s havens, so he has made sure that his marina provides auxiliary activities that make it more than just a place to park your boat.
They provide propane refills and there is a great onsite wash-n-fold laundry service. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, the marina provides the turkeys and the cruisers bring pot luck dishes. There are fantastic swap meets about every six weeks and the marina even hosts a very popular regatta each year.
So, what are you waiting for? Come experience one of the few remaining cruiser’s havens in the whole, wide, wet world! Well, not all of you — because secret spots are often the best spots.
