Going to Panama? Here are some tips
This is part 4 of 4 posts covering some travel tips for Central America.
Two years ago I did two months of travel through Central America with my boyfriend. I documented all the countries we went to in a book format to share with my friends, but it seemed logical to post it here too in case anyone chances upon it.
Bear in mind this is a budget travel plan; you could obviously go for hotels and flight transfers but this itinerary focuses on the other end of the spectrum.
We mainly chose to visit Panama because of the dive course we wanted to do. Here’s how we made our way around.
Panama City
We stayed in Panama City twice because of flights. We flew in from Nicaragua and stayed in the modern city area for 2 nights. The hostel we stayed at was called Hostel Villa Vento which has free breakfast, a pool and AC in all the rooms. It was $17USD each per night.
Naturally we visited the Panama Canal which is pretty amazing to see in action. The best place to view it is from the Miraflores Locks. It costs $15USD for access to the viewing deck and the museum. The best time to visit is around 3pm when the ships are passing through, although it’s worth checking this as I’m not sure how often the times would change.
The second time we came to Panama was right before we flew out. We stayed in the Old Town which is probably a more preferable location. The architecture is more interesting, the roads are all cobblestone and there are a lot more food options. We stayed in a dorm at Pan Americana which had really high ceilings, lots of space and good air flow. It cost $14USD each per night.
Aside from visiting the Canal and wandering around the old town, we weren’t overly taken by Panama City. You could easily get away with staying here for a night or two and just doing day trips to see the main sights.
Bocas Del Toro
Right up by the border of Costa Rica is the small island town of Bocas del Toro. We came here on an overnight bus from Panama City which cost $25USD each. It wasn’t the most comfy journey but it takes 10 hours so you sink a whole day if you don’t do the night trip.
We came to Bocas specifically to do our PADI Open Water Diving Course. We completed this with The Dutch Pirate for $225USD each — in New Zealand it’s more than double that to sit the course even after the conversion.
While the diving isn’t as crystal clear as in Mexico it’s still awesome and there’s so much sea life about. Even if you’re not into diving Bocas del Toro is a worthwhile place to visit as there are several islands all with lots of great beaches and reefs you can snorkel at.
After we finished our course we caught a shuttle to Bocas del Drago — a beach on the opposite side of the island to the main town. It cost $5USD each return and was great because there was hardly anyone there. The beach is scattered with fresh coconuts too. We managed to crack one open to try the water which was tasty, but our friend chipped of some of her front tooth in the process. Thankfully Costa Rica has a great dental tourism industry.
The place we stayed at was called Hostel Hansi and it was by far the best accommodation of our whole trip. We had a private room with a huge bed and ensuite for $25USD per night. Reviews on Trip Advisor say it’s so clean you could eat of the floor — and they’re not wrong.
There are lots of food options in Bocas too. Super Gourmet is a Jewish Deli that does great sandwiches for $5USD and Bocas Blended is amazing for fresh smoothies. We were there while the World Cup was on and stumbled across a bar called Bocas Loco that was filled with TV screens playing sports and heaps of team jerseys pinned to the walls. They even had a Crusaders one. There’s also a little Indian joint on the main road called Cafe Om which had good curries and naan.
The San Blas Islands
Getting to the port where you boat out to the San Blas Islands takes about 3 hours from Panama City and you have to go by 4WD. It’s worth reading up about the area before you go as it’s not like anywhere else we’ve ever visited.
The islands are almost independent from the Panamanian government and the indigenous people, The Kuna, govern the area with their own rules. A portion of the islands are a complete no go zone for tourists and even those which are have certain protocol you have to abide by. There are a couple of islands which have accommodation on them but we never really looked into this option much.
I’d highly recommend doing the San Blas the way we did it with a private boat charter. We had a great time with the tour operator we used called ‘Carpe Diem’ although recently found out that the guy who hosted us has been flagged as a con artist! It was pretty crazy reading this because our trip was awesome and we weren’t ripped off or anything. In fact, we still talk about it as one of the best things we did on our whole trip.
Because of our skipper’s relationshup with the local Kuna, one night we even went onto one of the islands where they cooked us a traditional dinner of smoked fresh fish and rice with coconut oil. We ate on the ground with one single flame for light and not a single word of common language. So as far as cultural experiences go, that was pretty up there. But given what we’ve read on the internet recently, it might be worth finding another operator.
If you are looking at doing a boat trip I’d recommend about three nights. The San Blas Islands are so far away from the mainland and there are times when you’re sailing that you have no sight of land at all, so too much longer and I think you’d start to feel a bit lost at sea.
