Whimsical Treehouse in Dolphin Bay on Cacao Farm

Treehouse in Isla San Cristobal, Panama

  1. 4 guests
  2. 1 bedroom
  3. 3 beds
  4. 1 bath
Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars.120 reviews
Hosted by Dorien
  1. 9 years hosting

Listing highlights

Ocean and garden views

Soak up the views during your stay.

Great host communication

Recent guests loved Dorien's communication.

Furry friends welcome

Bring your pets along for the stay.
Some info has been automatically translated.
Our whimsical treehouse in Dolphin Bay on the quiet Isla San Cristobal awaits nature-loving & romantic souls...

You can fill your days with free activities & go snorkeling, hiking or paddling in a cayuco, a traditional wooden canoe made by the Ngöbe natives. Fun paid activities: our chocolate workshop (from tree to bonbon!), horseback riding and Papito's exciting night tour, or trips to the beach.

The space
This is the perfect place for a romantic getaway, and a unique chance to share a tree with a sloth.

Remember this is a treehouse & this may have some disadvantages you need to be aware of:
-the rainwater we catch is stained by the tannins in the leaves. This can give the water a yellowish tint but there's no health risk involved. We provide drinking water from the store for brushing your teeth etc.
-if you drop food or sweet stuff in the room, the ants will find the room and your food quickly

On the upper level of the treehouse you'll find the main bedroom & two small balconies from where you can enjoy the seaview. It has a double bed with semi-orthopedic mattress, cotton bedding, a ceiling fan and mosquito netting. Downstairs you have access to a screened-in relaxing area & an outdoor deck, hammocks,... The perfect place to chill or play a game of domino!

If you come with 3 or more persons, we will get the bunk bed in the screened-in relaxing area ready for you too.

Alternatively you can also rent our over-the-water cabin and/or Treehouse XL (check our other listings) for a total capacity of 13 people (with 3 bathrooms).

The wonderful, spacious semi-outdoor bathroom with flush toilet, shower & sink offers privacy & jungle views at the same time. It's located at the bottom level of the treehouse.

Guest access
- You have access to the shared over-the-water rancho, dock & our garden, as well as to various walking trails leading to scenic views from the hill, jungle paths, a pond full of caimans or a nice snorkeling spot (bring water shoes & a good balance to enter the water, or go by cayuco!)
- You have access to the jungle terrace at the main house to watch the birds, monkeys & sloths
- Breakfast (from 4 USD à la carte) , lunch/snacks (8 USD) & dinner (12 USD) are served daily in the Jungle Café on the terrace of the main house. You can also pre-order delicious desserts (4 USD & up) & enjoy fresh juices (2.50 USD & up) & cocktails (4 USD & up). All of this is made with a farm-to-table approach using fresh ingredients from ourselves or other farmers as much as possible. For dinner we have a few oven dishes available.
- Our guests can use snorkelling gear free of charge.
- We have a locally made dugout canoe (cayuco) for 2, another one for 3 and a one-person sit-on-top kayak our guests can use free of charge.
- Guests have access to internet (up to 4 mbps) via WiFi on the "jungle terrace" of the main house, on the benches along the path & at the shared dock. The Treehouse XL has the best WiFi inside the room. You can pick up the WiFi signal from the outside decks of the Whimsical Treehouse & the Cabin over the water.
- Fun paid activities: we organise exciting night tours (25 USD/person), cacao tours (20 USD/person), chocolate workshops (learn to make chocolate from tree to bonbon!) (40 USD per person) & horse riding tours (20 USD per horse) at Finca Montezuma. Papito can also take you on boat tours to any of the beaches (e.g. Playa Estrella, Red Frog Beach, Islas Zapatillas), to the bat cave, to Monkey Island, to our favourite snorkeling spot in Dolphin Bay... You name it!

Other things to note
We offer a scheduled, shared pick-up service in Almirante or Isla Colon for 45 USD.

The schedule:

^Pick-up on Isla Colón: Departure at 3R Mall on Isla Colón at 1.30 pm
For pick-up in Old Bank Bastimentos/Solarte/Red Frog, just add 15 minutes.
^Drop-off in Isla Colón: Departure from our dock at 12 pm (noon)
^Pick-up in Almirante: Departure from Restaurant Tropical Happy at 10.30 am
^Drop-off Almirante: Departure from our dock at 8.30 am

Please reserve your spot at least 12 hours in advance. Pick-ups or drop-offs outside of this schedule or last-minute requests (less than 12 hours beforehand) will cost 60 USD each way. Before 7.30 am or after 6 pm there is a surcharge of 10 USD, bringing the cost to 70 USD.

All prices above are for transport one way and per cabin (i.e. not per person, nor per boat). This can be paid cash or through the Airbnb Resolution Center.

It's also possible to organise your own transport with a private water taxi from Isla Colón, e.g. with Castillo Charters who know where we are located. See below for instructions for other captains that don't know our location.

HOW TO GET TO OUR PICK-UP SPOTS

From the bus station of Almirante, take a regular land taxi to the Terpel gas station by the sea. You can sit at the Restaurant Tropical Happy right next to it where we'll pick you up by boat to bring to our accommodation in Dolphin Bay on San Cristobal Island. Don't let anyone take you to Taxi 25, BMT etc. as they will put you on a public water taxi to Isla Colon (not our island!).

From the airport on Isla Colon (BOC) take a taxi to the cement dock of 3R Mall. We'll pick you up at their dock.

If you need pick-up or drop-off on another island, just let us know.

-A flashlight, walking shoes or water shoes & bug repellent always come along handy on this jungle island.
-We have a cat, dogs, sheep, horses, chickens, pigs & ducks on the property, but of course none of those in your rooms, imagine a horse in your bed :)

Where you’ll sleep

What this place offers

Bay view
Garden view
Waterfront
Wifi
Free parking on premises
Unavailable: Carbon monoxide alarm
Unavailable: Smoke alarm

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4.7 out of 5 stars from 120 reviews

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Overall rating

  1. 5 stars, 76% of reviews
  2. 4 stars, 18% of reviews
  3. 3 stars, 6% of reviews
  4. 2 stars, 0% of reviews
  5. 1 stars, 0% of reviews

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars for cleanliness

Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars for accuracy

Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars for check-in

Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars for communication

Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars for location

Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars for value

Where you’ll be

Isla San Cristobal, Bocas del Toro Province, Panama

Discover a different side of Bocas del Toro in Dolphin Bay... Enjoy the tranquil waters on the seaside & explore the jungle in the back, whether you're an avid birder or just an adventurous traveler.

Some birds spotted on the finca: mealy amazons, keel-billed toucans, collared aracaris, montezuma oropendolas
Some other animals spotted on the finca: kinkajous, sloths, howler monkeys, possums, caymans.
Spotted from out dock: dolphins, rays, bioluminescence
Some interesting trees/plants found on the finca: giant granadilla (passiflora quadrangularis), jackfruit, mamey sapota, cinnamon tree, vanilla orchids, soursop trees,...

Finca Montezuma (the name of our cacao farm) is part of the Finca Buena Vida community. Our guests have access to the various shared walking trails of the community through the jungle or to a small lagoon where you can spot caymans. We have another property close to the lagoon, where our private trail will lead you up the hill so you can enjoy wonderful views over Dolphin Bay with its many mangrove islands.

There are a few restaurants in the neighbourhood, but most need to be accessed by boat unless you are in pretty good shape. On the (limited) opening days of these restaurants we often offer our guests a ride. We'll be serving you breakfast, homemade soda's, fresh juice, chocolate & desserts in our Jungle Café at the main house as well, and we can make you a delicious lunch or dinner.

Papito opened "Papito's Caribbean Bar" in August 2019 on a neighbouring property. He serves ice cold beer for 1.25 USD, ceviche, soup, fried fish with patacones,... at very reasonable prices. We have created a walking trail that will bring you there in 10 minutes, and you can also paddle there. The place to be for a good game of domino! (CLOSED until further notice)

Meet your host

Host
571 reviews
4.74 out of 5 average rating
9 years of hosting
Born in the 80s
Speaks Dutch, English, French, and Spanish
We're a Panamanian-Belgian couple who had a mutual dream to design & build a unique, cosy haven in the trees... Our first treehouse was born. We started renting it out on Airbnb in November 2016 and since then built a cabin over-the-water too. Our second treehouse is under construction & we can't wait to show it to you! Together with our kids, we look forward to hosting you here at 'Finca Montezuma' - an old cacao farm we bought 4.5 years ago. Apart from the cacao trees nothing else was here & since then a lot has changed. After a good clean-up it is now an active cacao farm that also produces pumpkin, papaya, pineapple, yucca, plantain & banana, amongst others. Our "finca" is still young so we have a wide variety of tropical fruit trees that are not bearing fruit yet but we strive to be as self-sustainable as possible in the future. We also have friendly horses, pigs, chickens & dogs (in a fenced area far from the treehouse). Papito has cows & sheep on his neighbouring farm as well. Dorien's dad used to work in the famous Belgian chocolate factory Callebaut when she was young, and ever since she got to visit the factory she has been fascinated by (and perhaps a little addicted to) chocolate. No wonder her favorite Roald Dahl book was 'Charlie & The Chocolate Factory'! It's a dream come true to now be able to make her own 'single-origin' chocolate from scratch. Make sure to try one of Dorien's very chocolatey creations: brownies, chocolate mousse or... chocolate ice cream, mmm! Papito is a real jungle man & cut most of the wood for the treehouse himself & constructed it together with both local workers and volunteers from all over the world. He has excellent knowledge about the fauna & flora of the region. He'll also be your captain during your stay & knows how to cook great Caribbean meals too! We're more than happy to share our slice of paradise with visitors who want to learn more about an off-grid lifestyle or about harvesting cacao & making chocolate or who simply want to relax in a peaceful, natural environment!

Host details

Response rate: 100%
Responds within an hour
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Things to know

Cancellation policy
House rules
Check-in after 2:00 PM
Checkout before 12:00 PM
4 guests maximum
Safety & property
No smoke alarm
Nearby lake, river, other body of water
Climbing or play structure