Is Panama Safe for Tourists? A Breakdown of Key Areas (2024)
Is Panama Safe for Tourists? Here are my insights from backpacking through the country
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BACKPACKING PANAMA
One of the most surprising countries, Panama is home to beautiful beaches and the dense city of its own name. You maybe have heard of Boca Del Toro, the San Blas Islands and of course the Panama Canal. The thin long shape of the country makes each place easy to access and easy to get to before entering Costa Rica or Colombia. Lets backpack through Panama.
Panama City
Spanish
Balboa
BACKPACKING PANAMA BLOG FOCUS
Backpacking Panama Route
Crossing the border from Costa Rica with a hiccup or two (check our border forum to find out more). We landed in David, so from north to south we will be visiting
ROUTE
TAKE ME TO 0.2. BOCAS DEL TORO
TAKE ME TO 0.3. BASTIMENTOS ISLAND
TAKE ME TO 0.5. SAN BLAS ISLANDS - BOATING TO COLOMBIA
TAKE ME TO COSTA RICA OR COLOMBIA
PANAMA KEY SPOTS
DAVID
0.1.
David or Talamanca
Similar to Liberia in Costa Rica, David is more of an overnight stop before heading onto your next location than a destination stop. Hostels are limited and are not going to be 5 star, but they will do you for a night from David there are buses and shuttle to various locations. I feel I made a mistake here so I also want to talk about approaching Bocas Del Toro from the north of Costa Rica (Talamanca) and through border Cruce de Frontera Costa Rica, which is perhaps the more fun option! Click here for a blog post on this option
Eat
Supermarket Grab
Drink
Juice
Do
Chill
Travel
Walk
Taxi
Stay
Hostels
Time
Lay over
Where To Stay
Bambu - £9 p/n Standard Dorm
Not the cleanest or nicest place you will stay on your travels, but ... the owner is super nice and super helpful! The pool is kinda perfect after spending 14 hours on a bus! Its within walking distance from the bus stop (30minutes) but taxis are everywhere if you do not want to stretch your legs.
Hostal Familiar Argeñal - £16 p/n Standard room
Only on booking and a bit more expensive but you get your own double room, Still a not thrills experience, but, sometimes thats the fun of backpacking right?
Bambu
Poolside
Lost Waterfalls
Boquete
What To Do In David
Hike
If you do want to stay for a day or two in David then the best it has to offer is some pretty stunning scenary and hiking trails just a few hours north. Lesser know and way off the backpacker and tourist trails you will get an experience a lot of other will simply skip past! Los Naranjos has multiple hiking trails including 'The lost Waterfall' ($7USD Entrance fee) with a bus from David for just $4! Shuttles will also be available to take you directly to the trail heads if you do not fancy the public bus! Either way, with plenty of good supermarkets in David, it is a good way to load up on snacks and liquids before heading out on a path less traveled.
Stay In Boquete
If you fancy hitting a few trails then an overnight stay in Boquete would allow for this. Consider adding it to the itinery before heading back to David to get across to
To Bocas Del Toro
or
Bus Time
From David buses leave at an ungodly hour. Bambu hostel booked a cab from me for around 1am to allow me to catch a shuttle from David at around 2/2:30. Having arrived in David around 2pm after 12 hours of traveling from San Jose I spent some time in the pool before having a relatively early evening. I made sure my bags were ready to go so I could hop out of bed and sneak out the dorm. The taxi picked me up promptly and took me to what looked like a scene from a sketchy mob film where a transaction would be going down! No one around I sat on the floor near where the taxi driver had indicated until one gentleman turned up. He would turn out to be the driver for the shuttle that goes from David all the way to Y Almirante, which is the destination you want to get off at for Bocas Del Toro, its called Y Almirante but is just before the town of Almirante! This journey was frankly a nightmare (I cannot sleep on buses) so was beyond exhausted and the shuttle had tall upright seats, it was clearly a bus used by locals to get them to and from work each day, which I usually love but when this tired having the person in the seat next to you constantly change was not ideal! The journey landed me into Almirante around 8am taking 5-6 hours.
Taxi
Once in Y Almirante, take a taxi from the bus station to the dock (its super cheap around $1! But only around a 5 minute journey.
Boat
Once at the dock, simply book onto the next marine taxi for $6USD and away you go. 30 minutes later you will arrive in the super cool Bocas Del Toro where you hostel will be within walking distance. Lets get there.
BOCAS DEL TORO
0.2.
Bocas Del Toro
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This place should be called backpackers paradise. You will meet backpackers from all walks of life. Set across 3 islands (Isla Colón, Isla Carenero, and Isla Bastimentos) Bocas Town on the Isla Colón is the main hub and the springboard to get to the other islands. The town itself is laidback but lively with colourful buildings. You can both chill out to the max or party hard till sunrise. There are even surf options, but not in Bocas Town you will have to boat out to them, what a shame! Scuba options are on tap and the hiking options are fantastic! It really has something for everyone so you can tailor your stay to include a bit of everything. On the food front it also has everything from killer vegan foods to sustainably caught fish. You may have guessed this place left a mark and hopefully it will for you also. Lets get into Bocas Del Toro.
Eat
Vegan
Seafood
Noodles!
Drink
Smoothies
Coffee
Cocktails
Shots!
Do
Party
Beach Days
Snorkel
Surf
Hike
Travel
Walk
Water Taxi
Bicycle
Stay
Hostels
Hotels
Time
4-6 Days
(could be more)
Where to Stay In Bocas
I am going to leave this one down to our post on top five hostels under £20. During my time I stayed at Selina Bocas Del Toro, which has a great kitchen but felt more like a hotel than a backpackers hangout and Bambuda Bocas Town which I really enjoyed as it was close enough to the action but also better for a more quiet night sleep with comfortable beds!
Bambuda Bocas
Hostel
Bocas Town
Vibe
What To Do In Bocas Del Toro
Sunrise/ Sunset watching
Bocas has beautiful sunrises and sunsets, its always worth findind the time in the morning or evening to catch the spectacular sunsets. Just imagine sitting on a dock with some new friends, a cold drink in hand and an orange/ pink sky over the archipelago! Need we same more!
Get your PADI
If you are wanting to learn to dive then why not learn in the coolest of places. You can also take the formal course to be accredited as a diver from the first level (about $265) to the most advanced (Dive Master, for about $755.)
Scuba
If diving is not your bag then there are of course plenty of scuba options, if you dont want to take them on formally then just grab some goggle and hit the beaches, where you will find fish and coral scattered everywhere.
There are as plethora of options for surfing across all the islands in Bocas, I am going to link you to a blog post from the Panama tourism board here as they have it covered, just click below
This is a must in during your time in Bocas Del Toro. I stayed 2 days in Bocas town before spending an entire week on Bastimentos! I was feeling a little under the weather so wanted to do nothing but lay on beaches, swim and walk to get better! It really worked well and felt like a holiday from backpacking! Isla Carenero is just over the water from Bocas Town (2minutes in a water taxi) and you can walk around it in 30 minutes. Hop across for a day to check out the beaches. There are also some cool spots to stay here and there is also a party hostel if you are wanting that flex!
Surf Flex
Swell
Want to explore your own way? Bocas Ebikes hire out 2 bikes for 9 hours from around $75USD. Pack your snacks and drinks into your day back and hit the road to discover the beaches and take in the Colon Island.
How about an island hopping party? Much like Sunday Funday in San Juan Del Sur, Bocas attracts a crowd just for this one event. Tickets are around £40 and as you can guess ... its on a Driday evening
A Pirate ship party! Yes you heard me right, for $45 on a Saturday you can jump on board the Black Magic where you will sail out into the waters and party into the night.
Hikes
There are a lot of hiking trails some more formal than others. In Bastimentios you can probably take most on with your sandals, along your way you will pop out to unreal beaches! If you are staying on Bastimentos then walk to Playa Coco. The walk is stunning and the beach even more so! Scroll down to the Bastimentos section to see some video snippets.
Trails
Bocas Del Toro
Where To Eat & Drink In Bocas Town
For the Vegans this place knocks out great Falafel in a nice spot by the water
For cheap local tacos this place on the central square is a very popular choice!
Restaurant Tom (local Cuisine)
Modern fresh food including smoothies and veggie burgers.
El Patio
Vegan options available and a great smoothy, can be a bit slow on the service, not a bad place for morning coffee/ breakfast.
Amaranto & Café Del Mar
Next door neighbours both these options are a little more expensive but they are worth the costs. Fresg ingredients, fresh coffee, smoothies, and vegan options. Both usually busy, if you cant get in one simply go into the other for a good meal and drink
Bastimentos
or
BASTIMENTOS
0.3.
Bastimentos Island
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If you want to feel like a real cast away then Bastimentos Islands is the place for you. If is a place where it feels like the world disappears and what you are left with are gold beaches, crystal clear waters. Time spend here feels like a holiday from your backpacking! There are largely two places to stay. Selina is a cheaper for accommodations but Palmers is cheaper for food (and probably better). Although the accommodations is also pretty awesome at Palmers. Naturally with all things backpacking it will depend on your wants and needs at the time of your stay! But one thing is for sure, be prepared for the ultimate chill.
Eat
Vegan
Drink
Smoothies
Cocktails
Do
Beach Days
Snorkel
Surf
Hike
Travel
Walk
Stay
Palmers Beach Lodge or Selina
Time
2-3 Days
Where to Stay In Bastimentos
Palmers Beach Resort
This beautiful beachresort really is just meters away from the beach. You will be able to grab some good food here however there is no kitchen if you are trying to be a bit more frugal. There are morning yoga classes and there are some pretty beautiful rooms if you are not on a shoe string budget or travelling as a couple.
Selina
Selina is a walk from the beach, only about 3 minutes through beautiful beach forest though so not really a problem! The Selina does have a kitchen ... and a pool table ... and a pool! It also has rooms with AC if you go when it is impossibly hot! Selina organise evening activities here so you be able to meet your fellow backpackers!
Tip
Palmers will not let you cook or take food, so if you want to try and budget ... grab food from the mainland of Bocas Del Toros before you head over and you hostel will be the Selina! There is one shop and it is outrageously expensive (for obvious reasons I guess) but this little hack should stop the requirement of needing to eat out for breakfast lunch and dinner.
Palmers Beach
Lodge
PANAMA CITY
SAN BLAS ISLANDS TO COLOMBIA
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