A nice terrace with a view, hostel looks on the picture better than in real life.

We were first time in our lives bitten by bed bugs, this was very disappointing. The bed is uncomfortable and really short and as 1.70 cm adult I didn't fit. The room is very small and loud. On the island there is nothing you could do without the boat. Next time I would stay on the main island.

The hostel El Jaguar is a great place to stay. My husband and I had a great time there. The view from the hostel deck is stunning, sometimes at night you can spot some manta rays swimming next to the hostel.

The bedroom was nice, but the sea view they promised on booking was actually facing the exact spot where the sewage is dumped on the sea water. You notice that there's no sewage system in the island, that's why it is not safe to drink or cook with the water from the tap. We bought bottled water for everything, which made the stay more expensive than it already was. The staff was mostly nice but some of them didn't seem very keen to help. Also, wifi only works in the main living room which is next to the kitchen and where the boats arrive/leave. It doesn't work in the bedrooms. Boat Taxis are mandatory to go absolutely anywhere it costs $6, which it seems pricey for the distances they cover. El Jaguar is close to the Wizard Beach, you may go on foot (20min walk) but if you want to go to Red Frog, then you might need to get a boat taxi.

beautiful surroundings. Hamocks on the pier, bar area including kitchen for own cooking. Great value.

The typical things that you would see in a hostel like people not cleaning their dishes and leaving it in the sink.

Location was great! Definitely recommend staying here for a few nights over a bocas town hostel. The hammocks and deck was also lovely to relax

Kitchen wasn't great or consistently cleaned

Amazing location and friendly price

Can be a bit noisy in the mornings

It was calm and at night it was nice to fall asleep to the sound of the waves. The staff was nice and very helpful, there are two kitchen's in the common area whefe you can prepare food or store it in one of the fridges. The common area was nice too, right on the water and there's a nice view to other islands from there. The room is simple, but clean and enough to spend the night as I was out during the day. It's also easy to get a water taxi from there as they know that guests need to get a ride to bocas town and always pass by and check if anyone needs a ride. They pass by on a regular basis (especily in the morning or during the day) all you need to do is wait for a few minutes. The town is very small, not much to do there. You need to take water taxis to get to places. You can walk to Wizzard beach which is very nice, but the road was very muddy when I was there and the beach was not the best for swimming as there were lots of vawes. It would be suitable for surfing though.

None of the tours start from there (if you book tours in bocas town, you always have to pay forr a water taxi to go there - this is not hostal's fault, though. Just have in mind that you will need to plan your tours in advance. The hostal does offer some tours and i guess they do pick you up from there). The other annoying thing for me were sand flies (or some other insects) that were biting me for two nights in a row. It was fine the first night and I am not sure what happened the other two nights, but in the morning I woke up full of bites from bugs that itch like crazy.

Prices and location were great, I did an amazing tour of bioluminescent algae (which was 50% the price of places I found online).

I think the no outside liquor policy is a little weird if it is outside of the hours where the bar is open, but other than that, the stay was great!

On the water

A bit difficult to find the entrance.

An interesting location with the entire building situated above the sea. They had a nice spacious terrace out the back, where you could eat, or sit in a hammock. They also have a bar where you could get drinks at decent prices, especially during happy hours. The owner was a nice, friendly host with a good sense of humour. He also spoke English. The location was very quiet after 22:00 PM. You could only hear the small waves underneath the rooms, which was quite terrapeutical.  There are lots of water taxies around to take you where you want. The host can also call one for you.

There was no hot shower, and there was no internet connection. The place itself was rustic and not quite neat or well organized. The walls in the room had holes in them and they were poorly maintained. I saw a couple of big cockroaches in the room, which was unsettling. You are dependant on water taxies to move around. Overall, it was an average location, but it was cheap. At that price you cannot have very high expectations. The terrace was its biggest asset in my opinion, as it was relaxing

it was nice to hear the ocean (when you could hear it)

Where do I begin? I can’t believe this place hasn’t gotten worse reviews. We arrived in our room which was upstairs so NO WIFI. We couldn’t hear ourselves talk inside the room as there is a bar about 3 meters from the window that blares terrible dj music that you can literally hear all over the town. Except imagine it’s right next to your window. We requested a new room instantly and they just ignored us. There are ants inside the room so every morning we woke up to ants in our bed or coming back from town we would have to clean all the ants off our bed before using it. our airconnditoner broke and they never came to fix it when they said they would. The staff were MISERABLE. The main guy in charge has a son who is in charge of transport stuff who is so rude and absolutely hates all the tourists (we made sure it wasn’t just us). this is a common theme of old bank as this is a very very poor residential area who are not friendly or welcoming at all. It feels like we are not welcome on this part of the island so I suggest going to red frog area if you do want to stay on this island. The kitchen is absolutely disgusting with little bugs and critters everywhere. All the pans are bent or unusable due to the terrible state they are in. The fridge is plugged in with the other appliances so often gets unplugged. We had to personally plug it in multiple times. In turn, our food went off and they did not care at all. We reluctantly went on a tour with the hostel which was as I guessed the worst tour I’ve ever been on. To see the dolphin, all the boats chase down the dolphins which was just terrible. one boat was not even a foot away from a dolphin in front of it going full speed. It was terrible to watch. The guy barely spoke and when he did it was in Spanish and he didn’t inform us he would be dropping us off on zapayallo island for 2 hours (we had nothing) and there’s not much shade. He gave us no snorkeling gear which says is included.

Nice place, very calm, small market close :)

Quiet hostal away from the busy Bocas town. Good, comfortable bed with a fan in the room. Bathroom was comfortable and clean.

Ants in the kitchen and needing a water taxi every time you need to go somewhere off the island (a lot) as the island is very quiet. It would have been good if someone told us the walk to Wizard beach would be so hard when we asked!

very nice Hostel with a really cool vibe. the outdoors area was really inviting and the staff were always very helpful. they have two kitchens with everything you need for preparing a meal. could not have chosen a better hostel especially for that price! However the watertaxi to the main island does cost 5$ per person (4$ from the hostel) and we were not able to find a cheaper price anywhere (we tried😂)

Beautiful communal deck with hammocks overlooking the water, comfortable and clean double room. Access to kitchen was great as the restaurants on the island are expensive!

You could hear a lot of the noises from the corridor and outside due to the thin wooden walls.

Old bank was the perfect location for us to stay for 3 nights. It is a small town, not so touristic and not so expensive as we imagined. The hostel himself has a huge kitchen and hamacs to chill looking at the sea. They also offer cheap kayak service (15$) for two for the entire day. Which allowed us to go everywhere around for cheap. The private bedroom and the bathroom were perfect.

The only bad point would be the music that was a bit too loud sometimes, and with a questionable taste 😂 it depended on the staff working during the evening

I really liked the setting, it was very cozy to spend time in the hammocks enjoying the views. The room was fine and the staff was always willing to help.

I think that the kitchen could be more clean and tidy, although it does not depend directly on the property efforts could be made.