The reserve at a glance
Take a look around
A short film of the whole reserve, so you can see what to expect before you choose your visit.
Your day at Seahorse Point
A day in a rainforest and mangrove reserve
Spend the day on Bahía Honda: climb into a tree net high in the forest canopy, walk six kilometres of jungle paths, look for sloths from the mangrove boardwalk, explore a botanic garden of over 200 named plants, look at plankton under the microscope and finish with coffee at the Seagrass Café. Wet or dry, there is plenty to do: Seahorse Point is a wet-weather location, and most of our activities run in the rain.
Included with the day pass and the full guided tour
The tree net
More than 60 feet up in the forest canopy, with two further levels. Up to six people at a time. There is no age limit, and children under 12 must be with an adult.
- More than 60 feet up
- Two further levels
- Up to six people at a time
- No age limit
- Under 12s with an adult
Included with the day pass and the full guided tour
The botanic garden
A British-founded botanic collection, registered with Botanic Gardens Conservation International, that runs from rain forest and mangrove into the seagrass beyond. Over 200 documented plants, more than a hundred of them native, and seven IUCN Red List species on land and in the water. Run by Diane Duncan, Director of Conservation and Horticulture.
- Registered with BGCI
- Over 200 documented plants
- More than 100 native
- 7 Red List species
Read more about the garden · Our garden on BGCI GardenSearch
Learn some science
Included with the full guided tour
Take a look at what's in the water
Collect plankton from the bay and look at it under the microscope with our marine biologist, Dr Howard Dryden, one of the leading authorities on the marine environment.
Plankton
Plankton are the tiny drifting plants and animals that the food web of the sea starts with. In the laboratory, take water samples and meet the zooplankton beneath a microscope.
Marine biology
Seahorse Point is a working marine laboratory, off-grid on solar. Our own research found that a product widely recommended for organic pest control interfered with the moulting of copepods, the plankton in the water below us.
Plastic pollution
In strong sun and salt, plastic pots break down and microplastics can end up in the sea. So we are moving our seedlings into pots made from what the garden grows, starting with bamboo, and we do not sell plastic bottles of drinking water. Dr Dryden's work, presented at COP26, looks at how forever chemicals and plastic pollution are harming marine life.
More to see and do
Jungle walks
Six kilometres of paths: 3 km of level gravel and wooden paths, and a further 3 km of gentle paths suitable for all ages. Paths can be slippery when wet. See the trail map.
Mangrove boardwalk and sloths
A 200 ft boardwalk through the mangrove, so you look for sloths from inside the forest rather than from a boat.
The Forest of Flavours
Our botanical garden, with over 200 named plants growing between rainforest and mangrove, run by Diane Duncan, a leading horticulturist. Read more about the garden.
Casa de Liana
Our library and information centre, a quiet place among the books to sit and watch the wildlife that visits.
The Seagrass Café
Coffee, teas, coconut ice cream and home baking, open until 4pm. Filtered water to refill your own bottle.
Explore the plankton
Collect plankton from the bay and look at it under the microscope with your host, Dr Howard Dryden, one of the leading authorities on the marine environment.
On the water
Kayaks and a quiet electric boat on Bahía Honda.
Learn something new
A coral and clay workshop, and wine and chocolate pairing.
Your visit gives back
Seahorse Point is a working site. Profits go back into regenerating the environment and into educational classes for local people.
How your day works
- 1Boat pick-up from 10am
Transport is included in the activity. The boat collects you from the Bocas Docks at 10am, the Old Bank municipal dock at 10:15am and Red Frog at 10:30am. From Bocas Town it is a 15 to 20 minute ride to our Panga Dock.
- 2Guided introduction
You get a guided introduction on arrival, then explore at your own pace or with a guide.
- 3Boat home at 3pm
Each boat carries 10 guests. If more than 10 guests are booked across all activities, the extra guests go on a second boat that picks up at 11am from the Bocas Docks, 11:15am from the Old Bank municipal dock and 11:30am from Red Frog, and returns at 4pm. The café stays open until 4pm.
Seahorse Point is a working nature reserve and botanic garden, not just a tourist attraction. We are a profit for purpose business: the profits go back into regenerating the environment and into educational classes for local people.
We keep our groups small, and it helps us greatly if you book in advance. Someone who knows the reserve will be with you and can give you a detailed tour or, if you prefer, you can explore on your own with our pre-prepared tour pack. The pack holds the information our visitors have found most helpful, and we update it whenever new points of interest emerge.
How to book
- 1
Choose an experience below, then the number of guests and a date.
- 2
Pay by credit card. You go straight to payment. To add more experiences to the same booking, use "add more experiences" on the payment page.
- 3
Minimum numbers. Some experiences only run when a minimum number of guests has booked. For those we hold your card and take payment only when the minimum is reached; if it is not reached, we release the hold and you pay nothing. Experiences with no minimum are charged straight away.
- All prices are per guest, in US dollars, and include ITBMS (7% tax)
- On site we accept cash only
- Dates are open about eight weeks ahead. Planning even further ahead? Message us on WhatsApp
Admission
Visiting the Seagrass Café is free. For the trails, the mangrove boardwalk, the tree net and the gardens, choose a day pass or a tour below.
Visit the Seagrass Café
You are very welcome to visit the Seagrass Café without a day pass. The café offers coffee, teas, coconut ice cream and home baking. Most days we have our Sommelier cold infused teas in four flavours, and Bocas, Panama coffee. If you are a group of more than four and book in advance, we can prepare a light lunch. The café is licensed for alcoholic beverages. The café closes at 4pm.
We do not sell plastic bottles of drinking water. All the water in the Café is filtered by UF ultrafiltration down to 0.03 microns and is available to fill your own water bottle.
Day pass: self-guided visit
Boat transport included · pick-up details
10am to 3pm. Includes the trails, the mangrove boardwalk and tree net, Casa de Liana, our library and information centre, the Forest of Flavours, the pond, a guided introduction on arrival, the Be a Tree Detective worksheet, and coffee at the Seagrass Café. Minimum one person. Bring a refillable water bottle, sun protection, insect repellent and shoes you can walk in.
Full Guided Tour
Boat transport included · pick-up details
Per guest. About two hours with a guide, then the rest of the day to explore. From one guest. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and Sundays by appointment.
Your booking gives you the full day on site, 10am to 3pm, including use of the tree net, the botanic gardens and the forest walks. The guided part of the day takes in four stops, listed below.
Plankton under the microscope
Collect plankton from the bay and look at it under the microscope with our marine biologist, Dr Howard Dryden, one of the leading authorities on the marine environment.
The mangrove and the sloth walk
A guided tour of the mangrove and the sloth walk with a local Ngäbe from Bahía Honda. You are almost certain to see up to 5 sloths, and maybe iguanas, parrots and other animals.
Casa de Liana
Our library and information centre, a quiet place among the books to sit and watch the wildlife that visits.
The Forest of Flavours
The botanic garden of Seahorse Point, with over 200 named plants growing between rainforest and mangrove. See the botanical gardens, the permaculture systems and the nursery, where we are moving our seedlings out of plastic pots and into pots made from what the garden grows, starting with bamboo. The collection includes species we record with Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Along the way, meet the shampoo ginger, which grows its own shampoo. The garden is run by Diane Duncan, a leading horticulturist.
Caribbean Coral & the Leafcutter Clay Studio
Boat transport included · pick-up details
We make the clay from soil dug out of the ground by leafcutter ants, mixed with clay from the Forest of Flavours.
Corals need something to grow on. We gather and fire our own local clay into the right shapes and sizes, and return the hand-made coral sculptures to the reefs of Bahía Honda.
Led by our coral specialists and the artist Louis Hiemstra, you learn how corals communicate in colour, why they are nurseries to a quarter of all marine life, and how to shape your own platform to leave behind for the ocean or take home as a keepsake.
To finish the workshop, you help us plant the new coral sculptures in the water around the dock at Seahorse Point.
Understanding coral, making it with your own hands from leafcutter clay and returning it to the sea: there can be no better way to connect with and understand nature.
Three to four hours, including planting the sculptures around the dock. Minimum of four people. Maximum eight people.
Archipelago to Andes: Wine and Chocolate Pairing
Boat transport included · pick-up details
Per guest. 48 hours notice. Minimum four people. Maximum eight people. Guests must be 18 or over.
Four organic wines from South America against single-origin Bocas chocolate, and the chemistry of why the pairings work.
The chocolate is locally sourced and processed in our kitchen, with flavours from our own garden: ginger, chilli, sea salt, honey and herbs.
We don’t produce the wine. Your host Diane has chosen four wines from South America to complement the flavours of the chocolate.
The Outdoor Kitchen at the Seagrass Café
Boat transport included · pick-up details
Sundays. 72 hours notice. Minimum six people. Maximum eight people.
- Traditional Tamales of Panama with Martina
Forage on site, make them together, eat them for lunch. Three hours. Book online: your card is held, not charged, and we take the payment when six guests have booked. If six are not booked by the notice deadline, we release the hold and you pay nothing.Choose a date $90 per guestSun 8 NovSun 15 NovSun 22 NovSun 29 NovSun 6 DecSun 13 DecSun 20 Dec
On the water
Boat transport included · pick-up details
Kayak bookings include entry to the reserve, so you do not need a day pass. The electric boat tour is booked with a day pass.
Kayaks
Paddle the mangroves and the seagrass meadow of Bahía Honda, self-guided for four hours or with a guide for two hours. Your kayak booking includes entry to the reserve.
Self-guided, four hours: In the mangroves and the seagrass meadow. No minimum group size.Choose a date $65 per guestFri 30 OctSat 31 OctThu 5 NovFri 6 NovSat 7 NovThu 12 NovFri 13 NovSat 14 Nov
The Seagrass Seahorse Paddle: Guided, mornings only. Two hours. Minimum two guests, maximum four. Paddle into Bahía Honda and up the mangrove tunnel, and out into the seagrass meadow to look for the lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus) and the longsnout seahorse (H. reidi), with a guide who surveys the meadow first. We never promise a sighting, we never handle them, and every animal we find is logged to iNaturalist.Choose a date $85 per guestFri 30 OctSat 31 OctThu 5 NovFri 6 NovSat 7 NovThu 12 NovFri 13 NovSat 14 Nov
Safety: Use of the kayaks is at your own risk. You must wear the life jacket and protective gear we provide at all times on the water. Kayaking is not permitted if it is windy or visibility is poor, and we will tell you if the plan has to change.
Electric boat tour
Per guest. Two hours with a skipper in a quiet, zero-emission electric boat. Glide down Bahía Honda, the deep bay, past the Ngäbe villages in the mangroves to a freshwater river, then motor about 1 kilometre up the river under a mangrove canopy. Minimum of two people. Maximum four people.Choose a date $65 per guestFri 30 OctSat 31 OctThu 5 NovFri 6 NovSat 7 NovThu 12 NovFri 13 NovSat 14 Nov
Sailing dinghies
We have two Zest sailing dinghies, which can be sailed by one person or two. Hire is $150 for four hours. We have no rescue boat, so only competent sailors with a sailing certificate can hire a dinghy. This is usually an RYA or US Sailing certificate, or the equivalent. Book a dinghy below, or message us on WhatsApp at +507 6741 7104.Choose a date $150 per boatFri 30 OctSat 31 OctThu 5 NovFri 6 NovSat 7 NovThu 12 NovFri 13 NovSat 14 Nov
For boat tour companies
Sloth Point and Boardwalk
- about 30 minfor the visit
- 200 ftmangrove boardwalk
A stop for panga tours on their way between the islands. Walk our 200 ft mangrove boardwalk and look for the sloths from inside the mangrove, rather than from the boat. The walk runs at 11am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and group bookings are by appointment. Pay online for a block booking or by cash at the gate. If guests just want to visit the Café, then there is no charge.
Your guests get a closer view, and the boats stay out of the seagrass and the mangrove roots. Visit the Seagrass Café while you are here.
Tour companies book ahead on WhatsApp, +507 6741 7104.
Getting here
Seahorse Point is on Bahía Honda, Isla Bastimentos. Transport is included in the activity, except for visitors to the café and the 30 minute Sloth Point boardwalk. The boat picks you up at 10am from the Bocas Docks, 10:15am from the Old Bank municipal dock and 10:30am from Red Frog, and brings you back at 3pm. Each boat carries 10 guests. If more than 10 guests are booked across all activities, the extra guests go on a second boat that picks you up at 11am from the Bocas Docks, 11:15am from the Old Bank municipal dock and 11:30am from Red Frog, and brings you back at 4pm. The boat ride from Bocas Town takes 15 to 20 minutes, and boats land at our Panga Dock. There is no mobile phone reception at our location, but the main area by the café has wifi. Please confirm your pick-up point or arrival time with us on WhatsApp before you travel.
Boat pick-up points (Bocas Docks, Old Bank and Red Frog) and Seahorse Point. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Seahorse Point site map
Seahorse Point site map. Select the picture to see it full size.
Good to know
How do I get there?
Transport is included in the activity, except for visitors to the café and the 30 minute Sloth Point boardwalk. The boat picks you up at 10am from the Bocas Docks, 10:15am from the Old Bank municipal dock and 10:30am from Red Frog, and brings you back at 3pm. Each boat carries 10 guests. If more than 10 guests are booked across all activities, the extra guests go on a second boat that picks up at 11am from the Bocas Docks, 11:15am from the Old Bank municipal dock and 11:30am from Red Frog, and returns at 4pm. See Getting here for the details.
What if it rains?
Seahorse Point is a wet-weather location. Most of what we offer runs in the rain, so we do not cancel for wet weather. Paths can be slippery when wet, so wear shoes with good grip. Kayaking is not permitted if it is windy or visibility is poor, and boat trips also depend on the weather. We will tell you if the plan has to change.
Is it suitable for children?
Yes. The gentle paths suit all ages. There is no age limit on the tree net, and children under 12 must be with an adult.
How easy are the paths?
There are 3 km of level gravel and wooden paths, and a further 3 km of gentle paths suitable for all ages. They can get slippery in the wet.
What should I bring?
A refillable water bottle, sun protection, insect repellent and shoes you can walk in. We refill bottles with filtered water.
How do I pay?
Online by credit card when you book. On site we accept cash only.
Can I use my phone?
There is no mobile phone reception at our location, but the main area by the café is covered by wifi, so you can use your phone there. Please confirm your arrival time on WhatsApp before you travel.
Can I bring a group?
Yes. We welcome private family groups, executive groups and small bespoke tours. See Education and nature experiences, or message us on WhatsApp.
Can I stay the night?
Yes. Our hotel offers half-board stays of two nights or more, any night of the week. See the stays.
Ready to visit?
Please contact us on WhatsApp at +507 6741 7104. There is no mobile phone reception at our location, but the main area by the café has wifi.
Message us on WhatsAppYou can also email us at nature@seahorsepoint.org.