Hotel Heliconia Panamá

We stayed at Hotel Heliconia for three nights in conjunction with a 3 day Cerro Hoya hike and a 1 day Coiba trip withTanager Ecotours. Tanager Evotord and Hotel Heliconia are run by two Dutch biologists, Case and Loes (pronounced Case and Loose). These trips leave early and they provide a scrumptious breakfast (with homemade yogurt and bread!) beforehand. Hotel Heliconia is clean and comfortable and a good value. Kees and Loes treat everyone as family and the best part of our stay was sitting around the dinner table chatting with Kees and Loes and their other hotel guests.

Amazing experience we will never forget! We joined the Coiba Bahia Honda tour. The Helicona B&B was lovely. Relaxing in a hammock, watching hummingbirds flying by in the garden. The hosts were super friendly and everything was well organized. We got a tour in their backyard, which is actually a new grown forest planted by the hosts themselves, who are biologists and have so much knowledge about the nature. We learned more than we ever heard on any tour. The next two days we went to Coiba island for nature hikes and snorkeling, which was superb. Seen a lot, done a lot and learned a lot, in this very special place you may not find elsewhere. And no crowds! The hosts also did a lot to take into account my food allergy. There was a special case with food for me, and they had really investigated before that it was absolutely safe for me. We went with a small group on the tour, which we really enjoyed. We slept on another island called Bahia Honda, which was not so far from Coiba, so we had plenty time for the nature hikes and snorkeling. But saying that, we wish we could have stayed much longer!

Loos and Kees are 2 biologists who have lived in the area for many years and have an extensive knowledge of the Flora and Fauna of the area. They are also very invested in the community. We stayed a few days with them at the B&B and also took a 2 day tour of Coiba for wildlife and snorkeling. The trip was well planned and went without hitches. Kees is so knowledgeable and we learned so much from him. My daughter is an avid birder and she cannot believe how many different species we saw- around 85. Back at the B&B, we really enjoyed spending time with the 2 of them. Loos is a phenomenal wildlife artist and she shared with us many of her drawings and projects. My favorite time was before the shared dinners where we would all enjoy the insane amount of hummingbirds that came to the 6 feeders they had set up. It was unbelievable! The rooms are comfortable with AC units and fans although you did not need them. The food is fresh and delicious with plenty of ripe fruit and veggies. The road to the house (from the Pan American highway) was newly paved last year so there are no issues getting there. It takes about 5.5 hours from the airport in a private car. I highly recommend staying with this lovely couple if you are interested in seeing some amazing wildlife.