Panama City: So Much More Than a Staging Point

For too many cruisers destined for the South Pacific, Panama City is a short stop used to fill up on fuel, provisions and supplies before the trip to the Galapagos or French Polynesia, but the city has so much more to offer!

Having 21,000 miles and 3.5 years of cruising under our belts, we have learned the valuable lesson that many longer-term sailors have learned; stop and smell the roses, or in Spanish, disfrutar del momento. We had grand plans of travelling up Panama’s western coast for exploration and diving, but in the end, we spent an impressive 3 months enjoying Panama City.

We expected to spend some time there as we waited for the French Polynesian Long-Stay Visa application to be processed by the French Consulate, but the longer we stayed, the more we realized how convenient it was to get around, and just how much the city had to offer as a vibrant, world-class destination.

The people are friendly and welcoming. Because it is such a large city, the one or two hundred cruisers in town at any given point are barely noticed as we don’t put any strain on the local community’s resources.  Spanish is the predominant language, though many people know some English, and in our experience everyone was very happy to muddle through a conversation with Google Translate. It is actually an ideal environment to improve on your Spanish as it is immersive at times and almost like a classroom at others.  One of my favorite expressions while visiting was “Mi escuela de español es Uber”.

Since we all love noforeignland, I’ve created a shareable list of all of our favorite stops.  I’ll highlight some of them in the following sections, but use the link to see all of them and their details and reviews within noforeignland.

Arriving at Amador after the crossing

The Amador Causeway, built from Canal construction rubble to connect the islands that have existed for eons, is the typical first stop for just about every cruiser.  There are two main marinas and a multitude of restaurants and shops to explore, not to mention a mini amusement park, an outdoor high-speed go-kart track and enough bike, scooter and ATV rental options that a person could use a different type every day of the week. Some stops are quite touristy, as the cruise ships that visit Panama City berth at an impressive cruise ship terminal near the Flamenco Marina, but the causeway is still frequented by Panamanians throughout the week.

Many cruisers will visit much of this area, and for good reason.  We didn’t hit every place available, but here is a list of the important ones and our favorites:

Amador important spots

• La Playita Marina: Nice, basic marina. Hard to get in touch with, but very friendly
• La Playita Anchorage: Very rolly, manageable for catamarans. Watermaking possible.
• La Playita Marina Dinghy Dock: Very nice dinghy dock.  Paid, but fair given the quality.
• Las Brisas Anchorage: Usually very calm, but dirtier water and hard to go ashore.
• Las Brisas Dinghy Dock: Almost non-existent when we visited; I consider it unusable.
• Flamenco Marina: Used by a lot of rallies; can be hard to get a spot.

Amador restaurants

• Alma Marina: Restaurant with very good food – Chicken and Waffles!
• Haciendas Columbiana: Nice Columbian comfort food restaurant with large portions.
• La Eskinita: Brick oven pizza, very good and they host a cruisers night with food and drink specials.
• Mi Ranchito: Consistently good, reasonable restaurant, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Amador attractions

• Punta Culebra Nature Center: Great Smithsonian run museum and very close.
• Biomuseo: Great way to spend hours in a very nice museum, long walk or Uber/taxi.
  • Restaurante Pencas – This is a nice place to stop after a visit to Biomuseo.
• Sloths in the Trees: Check the tree on the west corner of the traffic circle.

Amador shopping

• Felipe Motta Wine and Deli: Great selection for being close and surprisingly fair prices.
• Amphora Duty Free: Good place to stop to stock up on wine, liquor, chocolate, etc.
• Abernathy Fishing and Marine: Friendly and amazingly good prices on tackle. Stock up!!

Old Panama

The Casco Viejo area of Panama City is one of the oldest areas one can visit and it is a very inexpensive Uber (Hint: consider an Uber One subscription while you are in Panama City!), taxi or bus ride from Amador. Note, walking from Amador is not suggested as there is an area you would need to walk through that puts you at high risk for being a crime victim. Also, be aware that rush hour in the morning and evening can double or triple the time and Uber expense to get to and from Casco Viejo.

Once there, you will find a preserved old city, complete with brick roads, museums, trendy restaurants and rooftop bars that blend the architecture of the 1700s with the finest cuisine and craft cocktails, as you would expect to find in any major metropolitan city. Believe it or not, the best meal I’ve had in my 50 year and 26 countries was in Casco Viejo (La Barbara)!

• Fish Market / Mercado de Pescado: Large fish market
• San Felipe Neri Fresh Market: Great place to get meats, vegetables, spices and juices.
• Panama Canal Museum: Learn about the extensive history of the Canal and railroad.
• Molas Museum: Nice exhibit that shows much about the tapestry and the culture.
• The 1920 Speakeasy Bar: Tiny, but very friendly hidden speakeasy in Casco Viejo.
• La Barbara: Super cool speakeasy and Sushi restaurant. Amazing drinks and dishes!!

Medical care in the city

One aspect of Panama City that can’t be overstated is the access to high quality and affordable medical care.  For many of us, this will be the last easy place to get medical services for 1-2 years, so it’s an opportune time to get that dental cleaning and checkup, skin check, the always exciting colonoscopy or even advanced medical screenings. Sue was even able to discover and be treated for an iron deficiency that left her winded from short hikes and more prone to feeling unwell on a crossing. Our experience puts Panama healthcare as among the very best we have experienced in all of our travels.

Do your research, but these are the people and places that we used:

• Clínica Doctores de Ycaza: Modern dentist office. Dentist and some hygienists speaks English.
• Clínica Veterinaria Lapenta: Small but great veterinary office with very caring Vet and Assistant.
• Paitilla Medical Offices: Many doctors/specialists in this office complex.  We used Dr. Suescum as a General Practitioner.

Access to Amazon (not the river)

Love it or hate it, Amazon has become a very convenient way for cruisers to get supplies, when they can receive a shipment! There are several freight forwarders in Panama City that have a warehouse in Miami, FL, USA that receive your Amazon orders, put them on a plane, import them into Panama and charge a flat fee of around $3/lb (with no other fees).  In our experience, the package would be available for pickup within 3-7 days of arriving in Florida.

When you are outfitting with spares for the next couple of seasons, this is invaluable! One thing that is lacking in Panama is access to extensive marine supplies, especially for sailing vessels. You can find the main things (though any Dyneema seems impossible to find), but if you need a specialty part, ordering from the US is the way to go.

Here are some of the freight forwarders, chandleries and supply places we came across:

• PTY Shipping: This is the freight forwarder we used. Sign up online and start shipping.
• Air Cargo and More: Another freight forwarder popular with cruisers.
• Abernathy Transístmica: Marine store that focuses on fishing gear.
• Centro Marino: Not in the best area, but the largest supply in one store
• DiscoveryCenter: They are not a marine store, but they have EVERYTHING. It’s a spectacle to see, even if you don’t need anything.

Shopping, dining and other tomfoolery

As a major metropolitan area, there is no limit to entertainment options throughout the city.

One of the things we miss about living in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA is the easy (too easy?) access to craft beers.  Every once in a while, we will come across an option in the Caribbean, but they are very few and far between.  That is not a problem in Panama City!  There are probably about twenty micro-breweries and even two brewing supply stores. We were very fortunate to be around in Late February during the Annual MicroBrew Fest (Festival de Cerveza Artesanal) in Cuidad del Saber (City of Knowledge), located within walking distance to the Panama Canal Museum at the Miraflores Locks. (Makes a great two-fer!)

There are also two very large shopping malls which are great for getting out of the heat and hitting your favorite stores (Decathlon anyone?).  We even caught an inexpensive, first run movie, in English (Project Hail Mary, or Proyecto Fin del Mundo in Spanish), while we visited since it would also be an unlikely option for a very long time.

Restaurants abound all across the city, and because of the sheer number and distance from Amador, many of these are not yet noforeignland locations, so turn to Google for some of the recommendations:

• La Rana Dorada: A regional medium size brewery of quality beers – Multiple pubs throughout the city
• Cerverceria 3 Gatos: A small brewery in a trendy neighborhood with a wide range of beers
• Albrook Mall: Very large and closest mall to Amador
• Multi Plaza: A three story mall in the city.  Movie theatre and a lot of stores (some ultra-high end)
• La Casa del Jamon: A great place to provision with a lot of quality Spanish products and, of course, an array of ham.
• PriceSmart via España: Central and South American Costco – Membership required, but delivery is possible.
• Rey Supermarket: Closest, nicest grocery store to Amador.  A little out of the way.

Inland day trips

What we learned after our time in Panama is just how much the entire country has to offer, and how much that offering varies from place to place.  Travelling across the country from Panama City to Colón is relatively easy and many opportunities from drivers on the WhatsApp group will arise. It is just as easy to venture further outside the immediate Panama City area for day trips.

We visited the town of Capira during Carnival, driven there by a driver that buddy boaters were introduced to during another trip with that same driver.  We all ended up spending the entire day together, spending several hours at the town’s Carnival and then another hour at a local river where locals gather to swim, hang out and picnic on the weekends.  These are the cultural experiences that make being a liveaboard cruiser like no other lifestyle in the world!

• Miraflores Locks Panama Canal Visitor’s Center: Amazing movie and museum (closed for renovation during our visit)
• Capira Carnival: Large celebration in a small town.  45 minutes away, but known to be one of the best places to experience carnival.

Sanity by balancing chores and tours as you prepare

Panama City was a very memorable visit for us and, while it was a very extended stay, we don’t regret it in the least.  We as cruisers often have an ever-changing list of “To Dos” to keep our floating homes functioning, but I think it bears remembering the reason we are living this way (and it’s not boat projects!).

We found it much easier to balance boat projects with exploring here than in many other places, simply because the city is so accessible and offers so many great options.

So, from one cruiser to another, consider making your stay in Panama longer; we think you will be glad you did!