Panamá City Favorites

Favorite thing: We visited at the end of March, it was extremely hot and humid during the day but being near the water on a couple of the days made it feel slightly less hot. One of our guides said the rainy season would be starting soon and that would be a time when you wouldn't want to visit, he said that the roads sometimes flood and become unpassable.

Favorite thing: Panama seems to still be a largely cash society, some of the restaurants did take credit cards as did some of the tours but mostly we paid cash for things including the Embera tour and most of our meals. The US dollar is the legal currency, sometimes you will get back Panamanian coins but they have equal value with the same US coins.

Credit cards, as noted in my warning tip, may be frozen for suspected fraud so be sure to contact your card issuer before leaving home to notify them that you are in Panama. We were able to use it for our hotel and meals at a couple of the mid range restaurants. Taxis are not set up for credit cards.

I used an ATM once, both ATMs that I checked were in hotel lobbies had a $3 fee, I felt a little safer using a hotel lobby ATM. At least there was no foreign transaction fee since I was taking out US dollars.

Favorite thing: I live in Panama for 8 months for work and done some traveling around, and am tourist for the last 20 years. My experiences about this country...

GOOD, is relatively safe for most areas, nice ocean like San Blas-Kuna Yala for snorkel, I heard it is one of the best places in the world for diving. I liked the indigenous sites, like the emberas, where you visit the natives in their huts, eat their food and experience their culture. I am glad they want to preserve their traditional ways of living, although very poor conditions.

BAD, public transport requires a lot of patience, city is putting new modern buses, but the diablo rojos-what is called for old school buses that comes from the US and are transformed into public buses in Panama, it sucks!
Constant rip-off just because you are a tourist, they think you should pay more for taxis, entrances to sites, it is just expensive to travel here.

UGLY, the worst part of being an Asian in Panama is that they are constantly calling you china, even though you are not. They shout from streets, call you stupid, mock you... it is very racist people and never seen anything like it.

Resuming... Panama is not cheap, trashy in most areas, tourist rip-off, bad customer service, rude people and come here only if you have to.

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Favorite thing: Depending on How long you will be staying, you can find excelent options, you can browse in www.encuentra24.com but you will need to read spanish, If you write me direct I can contact you with a real state agent friend of mine. ebolivar@cableonda.net

In Night Life there are lots of option, but you must visit ZONA VIVA in the causeway of Amador, when you are there, drop in Karaoke SHOT, thats my Bar, Im always there from thursday to saturday after 10pm.

See ya!

Favorite thing: It is imperative that you learn Spanish if you plan to go out and about in the city. A few people know english and you might get by without spanish but if you at least learn some general terms, that would help you big time.

Favorite thing: The official unit of currency in Panama is the Balboa. It is equal to one US dollar. However it is only minted in coins less than one balboa. Above that value, US dollars are used as the means of exchange.

Favorite thing: In case other people are having this same problem:
I tried to pull money out of 4 ATM's and I wasn't able to. It didn't deny me outright, but the machine went into this strange loop of me entering my information over and over until I gave up and hit cancel. I figured something was up with the local banks because I called my bank and there was no problem on their end. So I was on my way to a Scotiabank, to see if I could draw money out there when I came across a Western Union location with an international ATM that worked perfectly for me. (And it didn't charge me a fee!!) So if you have problems with the ATM's, find an American/Canadian bank or a Western Union!

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Favorite thing: Modern Panama is quite a sight from the distance... not beautiful but surely interesting. It's a long skyline of towering skyscrapers... which clearly serve you as a reminder that big money DOES transit through this city. If you were to be transported there without knowing where you were, you would think you are in a large US metropolis.

Fondest memory: Modern Panama is a center of finance, conventions, trade, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and casinos. Basically it's a place to have fun, but in particular it's a place to spend money.. loud, brash, fast. it's one of those places that I am happy to go and visit, and even happier to leave, heading towards quieter destinations. A must-see but a must-not-return, either.