The capital, known as Bocas Town, is a popular tourist resort and scuba diving destination. As in many Caribbean coastal towns in Central America, Bocas del Toro has a significant black population Humidity is high. Stories about getting robbed on Wizard Beach by machete-wielding Rastas are overblown. The only time you'll be hassled by a local is when they ask you to purchase their weed.
Bocas has some great aquatic life. Really, really easy! Typical backpacker-type strategy is the ticket. Be loud and aggressive. Make sure people really notice you.
You'll find someone willing to take you down. For this reason, I recommend it. A score of ghastly dreadlocked hippies. There are hot tourists too, don't get me wrong. Attractive domestic tourists come from the mainland too, so that helps bump the average up slightly. The town truly doesn't have enough residents to pass any kind of meaningful judgement on attractiveness, although I did see a couple pretty fine black girls biking around the neighbourhood.
However, approach them I did not. Possibly free if you want to work for them, I'm not sure. Are there bars in Bocas del Toro? Are they full of locals? German and Scandinavian tourists is what you'll find. Bocas town is expensive, so many Panamanians who work on the island probably don't live there. That's not to say you can't pick up a waitress working the nightshift, but she's got a better chance of being from Pittsburg than Panama. I recommend: Aqua Lounge.
For those who have been to Bocas, this will come as no surprise. Located about a two minute water taxi ride from Bocas town, the Aqua Lounge is where tourists come to have sex with one another. This exchange is facilitated by the fact that the Aqua Lounge rents rooms too It's the most popular spot on the island. I think it's a fucking disaster.
