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A sunny day, 30°C and air humidity so high that breathing feels like waterboarding. Perfect conditions to go to the beach! Just some hours by car in the province of Colón north of Panamá City, you can find Isla Grande. This island is your typical small Caribbean island with clear waters and palm trees. From Muelle de La Guaira the crossing by boat just takes some minutes with the speedboat and costs less than $2.

Isla Grande is a rather touristic place with plenty restaurants and small shops at the coastline and a hotel right at the dock. Sadly, many tourists, but also Panamanians do not value the natural beauty as much and leave their trash behind. That's why you need some time to find a spot at the coast where there are no empty bottles or plastic wrappings lying around. But once you find that, it's good to relax!

In summer time, the surfing conditions here are perfect. A little more far from the beach there is a strong current, so take care! However as the algae surrounding the island form a natural barrier, you usually don't come into a dangerous area unless you deliberately swim through them.

Surprisingly on a Sunday there weren't many people. Near the dock, probably because of the proximity to the hotel, it was hard to find a good spot. After that the coastline was just plain dirty. After some minutes of walking, however, the view was nice and the trash was gone to the greatest extent.

All in all, Isla Grande is a nice place to visit and relax. It certainly is cleaner and more peaceful than Panamá City. Far away from the masses crammed into the streets and noise of the cars it offers a great chance to enjoy the sun and enjoy the waters with friends!