Our Story
How a family came to run an off-grid eco resort in Bocas del Toro: the people, the island, and how it actually works.
Off-grid by design
Isla Cristóbal, Dolphin Bay, Bocas del Toro
Dolphin Blue Paradise is an off-grid eco resort on Isla Cristóbal in Bahía Delfines, 20–30 minutes by boat from town in Bocas del Toro. No road reaches it. You come by water. The island is hilly, with plantations, farms, primary rainforest, and the Ngäbe-Buglé villages of Bocatorito* and Aldana. In the bay out front, about 80 bottlenose dolphins live year-round, and most mornings you can spot them before breakfast.
We bought the property on June 15, 2022, and have been building it out since. The whole island runs on solar; the generator is only a backup. Drinking water starts as rain, caught in tanks, then run through reverse osmosis and UV before it reaches your tap. Yuh plans the menu each week around what the 5-acre garden gives us and what the panga brought in. None of this asks you to rough it: organic-cotton linens, a ceiling fan instead of A/C, and the nights run cool enough that you won't miss it.
Stay a few days and you'll see where your money goes. We buy cacao and nutmeg from Roque's mother's Ngäbe-Buglé co-op on the mainland, sell the kra bags the women weave there, and carry them coconuts from our garden for their oil. Roughly 60% of our staff come from the surrounding villages. Families, couples, solo travelers, LGBTQ+ guests: everyone's welcome here. It's closer to regenerative travel than to a resort, really.
Our team
Yuh Schabacker-Koppel
Owner and creator of Dolphin Blue Paradise. Yuh plans the menu each week around what the garden gives us and trains people from the villages in cooking and growing food. Her first kitchen was a French steakhouse in Copenhagen; she built this one peanut-free for her two allergic sons.
Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD
Responsible for boat and fishing tours. An avid deep-sea fisher who has fished oceans around the world, Marcus has a sound understanding of sustainable fishing and boat safety. He is an Auxiliary US Coast Guard member and volunteers with Floating Doctors providing essential health care to indigenous communities.
Oscar Santos
Oscar joined us in 2024 as a trainee and now works across F&B and guest experiences (from bookkeeping to tours) while developing his talent for fine cuisine. Guests love Oscar's smile and helpful spirit. He leads our popular medium hike from Dolphin Bay to San Cristóbal, a three-hour route crossing two rivers that he walked daily through high school.
Roque Small
Roque has worked here 24 years and cut the trails on the southern part of Isla Cristóbal. He can name nearly every plant and animal in the archipelago, and his mother's Ngäbe co-op supplies the cacao and nutmeg we serve. Walk the rainforest with him and you'll see how much of it you'd have missed alone.
Our promise to you
Personalization
With only a handful of rooms on one bay, we plan around you. Yuh builds the week's menu from the garden and your dietary needs; tell us 48 hours ahead and the kitchen works around them. Want the three-hour hike to San Cristóbal or a slow morning watching for dolphins? Either way, we sort it.
Sustainability
Solar runs the island; the generator's just a backup. Rain feeds the taps after reverse osmosis and UV. The garden grows much of what's on your plate and the panga brings the rest. The cacao and nutmeg come from the Ngäbe-Buglé co-op we buy from on the mainland.
Comfort
Organic-cotton sheets, a ceiling fan, no generator hum after the system goes quiet at night. Off-grid here is a choice, not a budget ceiling. We could have run a generator; we'd rather you heard the reef. The nights get properly dark, and that's the point.
Our partners
Ngäbe-Buglé Indigenous Communities
We partner with Roque's mother's chocolate-nutmeg co-op on the mainland, procuring cacao and nutmeg directly from indigenous cooperatives. We also sell kra (traditional Ngäbe bags) from the ladies at the coop and bring coconuts from our garden so they can make coconut oil for our guests. We employ and train indigenous staff from surrounding villages.
Local Farms & Fishers
We grow as much produce as possible and plan menus with our garden team around what thrives in the area. We catch our own seafood and source fresh ingredients from local farms.
Floating Doctors
Our team volunteers with Floating Doctors in our free time, providing essential health care to indigenous communities in Bocas del Toro.
FIND YOUR PLACE BETWEEN THE JUNGLE AND THE SEA
Experience personalized eco-comfort in one of Panama's most biodiverse destinations.
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