Isla Taboga Things to Do

1 more image

There are great beaches in Taboga to either side of the ferry dock. Went to the better one to the right. It is a beach with a sand bar. On one side there are a lot of waves. On the other, it's more calm. You decide.

2 more images

The beaches on Taboga are not large or dramatic, in any sense, and nearly non-existant at high tide! But the locals come to get away from the dank, dreary, drab life in Panama City and have a little fun in the sun.
You can rent a beach umbrella for $5 for the day or a picnic table for the same.
There is a fruit stand on the passageway to the beach, but it is expensive!
There is also a restaurant near the entrance that specializes in Chinese food, that is OK, and cheap! They also sell beer and liquor there for slightly higher prices than the mainland.
There are also showers and rest rooms there, but they charge 50 cents to use them.

2 more images

The Impressionist artist, Paul Gaugin, lived on Taboga for three months in the summer of 1887. Had he been able to scrape together the money to buy a place on the Island, he may never have gone to Tahiti, because he liked it here. He worked on the Panama Canal for a few months to get the money to buy some property on Taboga, but when he came back, he found the prices had increased dramatically. Dejected, he left Taboga and Panama, and headed to the South Seas, and the rest, they say, is history. Imagine what would have happened had Gaugin been able to afford to stay here? The town is restoring the building where he stayed for that brief amount of time. There is also a memorial to him there and a copy of one of his Tahiti-inspired paintings across the street on a wall.