CITIES VISITED:
- Panama City – great starting point to any itinerary, Panama Canal, beautiful old town
- Valle de Anton – hiking town located in the base of an extinct volcano
- Santa Catalina – beach town known for its diving!
- Boquete – hiking town up in the mountains, including the tallest point in Panama
- Bocas del Toro – popular beach town where you take water taxis from island to island
PRO TIPS:
- No visa needed for US citizens as of March 2025. Both the airline & the immigration did ask for what date I was leaving the country but never actually asked for hard proof. YMMV.
- Panama uses USD so that made it very easy for me. I brought some USD with me but also it’s easy to go to an ATM & get more without worrying about a bad conversion rate.
- Panama wasn’t SUPER expensive, but it wasn’t cheap either. Meals were often $10-15 and hostel beds were $15-25 depending on how nice they were.
- If it makes sense (aka you’re not a solo traveler) renting a car seems like a great way to travel. Roads were great and gas was cheap!
CITY: PANAMA CITY
HOW LONG: 1 NIGHT
ACCOMMODATION:
Eden’s Garden hostal – nice free breakfast and a few hammocks. No social vibe at all. Barely met anyone but luckily a couple arrived at the exact same time as me so we ended up hanging out! Iโve never seen this before but the bunks were handmade and you could completely enclose and lock the entire bunk. There was also room to keep your bag up in the bunk at the foot of the bed. Great for privacy and securing your bags but not great for social vibes in the room. Also it was pretty dark. Neighborhood felt safe but I wish I had stayed closer to Casco Viejo (luckily itโs only a 15 min / $5 Uber away). I would try somewhere else next time I was here. 6/10
WHERE TO EAT:
In Casco Viejo, I tried Mahalo for a cacao banana smoothie. Very aesthetic cafe & beautifully decorated.
Al Alma– small brunch chain based in Colombia with delicious brunch food available all day – so you know I love it โบ๏ธ I had a French Toast sandwich for an early dinner.
Right around the corner from the hostel I ate at Oh My Burger! with the Dutch couple I met.
WHAT TO DO:
Visit Casco Viejo, the beautifully colorful colonial part of Panama. I had fun trying out my new camera here! It’s fun to just walk around the small streets of this old town. Also, visit the RAKO store – super fun store with hand crafted designs like beautiful, colorful bandana. I never shop but managed to spend $50 ๐
I also visited Panama Viejo with Alex & Kai. For $17, we got to see the archaeological ruins of old Panama including a robust museum & a bell observation tower.
I didn’t visit the Panama Canal, but that’s a popular activity.
Another popular choice is a day trip to the San Blas islands, but I was too tired and jet lagged to attempt that long day. Pro Tip: If you are headed to Panama from Colombia (or vice versa) you can do a 5 day sailing trip through the San Blas Islands as you head to Panama City. It’s a popular backpacker bucket list item.
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
I was planning to stay 2 nights (to give myself a full day to recover from my red eye flight), but I ended up meeting the Dutch couple (Alex & Kai) who had rented a car and were headed to Valle de รnton so instead of waiting around an extra day to then have to take a shuttle, I forwent my second night in Panama city and hopped in the car with them!
CITY: EL VALLE DE รNTON
HOW LONG: 2 NIGHTS
ACCOMMODATION:
I stayed at a Bodhi Hostel & Lounge. Very cute and pretty clean. Free breakfast was great! Lots of areas to lounge indoor and outdoor, including an area to watch movies and lounge beds outside. Dorm bunks are three high so if you are afraid of heights then consider that. I spent one night in the dorm and one night in a private room (such a treat!). WiFi wasnโt the best but it did the job. Picnic table to eat any meals you cook for yourself in the kitchen. I never waited for a bathroom. Curtains and personal plugs in the bunk. Good location in town (but town is small). Helpful with organizing things to do or transport to your next destination. Would stay here again. 9/10
WHERE TO EAT:
Madre Pizza was right next to the hostel with yummy, reasonably priced pizza. Other than that I mostly ate at local restaurants with $3.50 menu del dรญa meals with my Dutch friends.
WHAT TO DO:
There is tons of great hiking (here’s a great list) in El Valle, but Kai had an injury on the bottom of his foot so we picked a shorter, but popular one: India Dormida. After a $3 entrance fee, we quickly got to see some ancient petroglyphs. Then we passed some small waterfalls that you can swim in before or after the hike. Here’s a great guide to it.
After the hike we drove to another viewpoint, which was fairly underwhelming.
The rest of the afternoon I read, walked the main street of the tiny town, and enjoyed my private room by calling a few friends.
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
I honestly thought I would like this town more but it was little just okay. There wasn’t much to the town and the hiking was pretty but didn’t blow me away. However, it was certainly cool to stay inside the crater of an ancient volcano!
CITY: SANTA CATALINA
HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS
ACCOMMODATION:
I stayed at an awesome hostel called Bambuda Santa Catalina. It had a hotel vibe but in a good way. Pool is very nice with a swim up bar. Plenty of chaise lounges and seats to read or soak up the sun. Rooms are modern and clean. The four bed dorm has one bunk plus two single, which is awesome. Bathroom is incredibly nice (felt like a nice hotel). Thereโs a restaurant to eat at (not super cheap but food looked good) or you can walk down the main road 5-20 min to find a variety of other options. Annoyingly no kitchen, but not the end of the world. It overlooks the beach/ocean. I wouldn’t say it was incredibly social but my Dutch friends were staying around the corner so I mostly hung out with them. I loved reading by the pool in all the shady spots they had. 10/10 would highly recommend, even though it’s a little bit of a splurge for a dorm bed.
WHERE TO EAT:
I ate at three cute spots in town!
- Cafe Panachocolate – the one super cute smoothie bowl cafe. Lots of backpackers hanging and working on their computers. Food was delicious and it wasnโt too expensive ($9 smoothie bowl).
- Firestone Grill – Fun burger & taco joint up on a little hill. We played monopoly deal for an hour after eating! Fries were delicious – we even ordered a second round of them.
- PanaWok – Located in a fun, new upscale outdoor food hall. It’s a build your own wok bowl with lots of options. Portions were huge and I had half leftover for lunch the next day!
WHAT TO DO:
- Visit Coiba National Park! Whether it’s by snorkeling or scuba diving, it’s a can’t miss!
- Sit by the pool & soak up the sun
- Take surf lessons
- Go on a horseback ride
My highlight was obviously doing 3 scuba dives in the National Park. We saw over 50 whitetip reef sharks, a bull shark, a huge Hawksbill turtle and 20+ green turtles! It was spectacular and one of the best dives experiences I’ve had. Highly recommend if you are a diver!
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
Town is tiny, but between a cute cafe, an awesome hostel, and incredible diving, this was my favorite place in Panama! It was sadly my last stop with Kai & Alex, but we had a blast diving together, playing monopoly deal & eating lots of food!
CITY: BOQUETE
HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS
ACCOMMODATION:
I stayed at Socialtel – wow what a cool hostel. Itโs a former Selina hostel so it has a co-working space. Such a cool property with a literal river running through it! Lots of hammocks and spots in the shade to chill. Best of all are the cool cylinder private rooms. I loved how cozy the space was (but thereโs little room outside the bed ๐คฃ). Shared bathrooms didnโt bother room, I was just happy to have my own space and a double bed! 10/10 would recommend – especially if you can splurge on a cylinder room.
WHERE TO EAT:
- Cafรฉ Unido – yummy breakfast sandwich at a simple, cute cafe with views of the stream!
- Olga’s – best breakfast in town! Highly recommend a stop at this family run restaurant. You’ll be treated with a hug & kiss on the head.
- Saori’s Ice Cream – great ice cream spot. Known for their pistachio ice cream. I added chocolate hard sauce to mine!
- Gelateria La Ghiotta – I didn’t go but wish I had ๐
WHAT TO DO:
The main thing to do here is a sunrise hike to the tallest point in Panama. You start at midnight if you want to hike or 4am if you want to take a 4×4 up (the more popular way). I honestly have done so many volcano hikes & I was exhausted from the fast past from the start of my time in Panama, so I decided to just enjoy my cute private room and the hostel property.
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
It was nice to be up in the mountains as it was a very pleasant temperature each day and cooled off in the evening (very welcome after the past few towns). I enjoyed my very chilled time here. Definitely worth a few days here!
CITY: BOCAS DEL TORO
HOW LONG: 4 NIGHTS
ACCOMMODATION:
Bocas del Toro is a cute little area filled with tons of islands. Thereโs the main town aptly called Bocas Town and it has tons of cute beach restaurants and cafes. Thereโs plenty of hostels to choose from here. However, I stayed on an island a 5 min boat taxi away and it was one of my favorite hostels Iโve ever stayed at. Bambuda Lodge does a great job with everything from the food, to the views, to the social atmosphere, to the volunteers and customer service. Truly impeccable. You are isolated on the island unless you want to take the $5 taxi boat to the main island, which makes everyone hang out together most of the day/evening at the pool or other hangout areas. There are hammocks, a workout room, and plenty of chaise lounges. Thereโs also a 150 ft slide that goes into the ocean! The volunteers organize a welcome drink every night where everyone goes around and introduces themselves. Fun to see all the friends you are about to make. Also the food is excellent and portions are generous. The fans in the beds were enough to keep you cool at night but just remember you are on an isolated island with minimal infrastructure so donโt expect luxury. 10/10 would love to go back! I ended up extending to 4 nights here.
ย
WHERE TO EAT:
I ate every meal at the property and loved every meal. Each night you have about 6 dishes to choose from on and it changes each night. Pro tip: Brownies were incredible! The family style meals are great for meeting people!
WHAT TO DO:
I didnโt do much besides pester all my new friends with questions about how to construct my Central America itinerary. They were all very helpful and Iโm eternally grateful for the information exchange that happens at hostels.
Other than the fun evening activities the volunteers organize like trivia or drinking games, I also went on the island hike to see some of the famous red frogs & huge golden orb spiders. It was a fun way to move my body and meet some of the other travelers!
Other ideas:
- Take a boat taxi to one of the main beautiful beaches
- Do a day trip to snorkel and swim around the fabulous sites in the area
- Go diving
- Go to the epic, well known Filthy Friday party that happens every (you guessed it) Friday.
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
Bocas del Toro was a much needed break and I loved spending all day โtrappedโ at the beautiful resort with all my new friends! Also hilariously I ran into a girl (Bekah) I had met at a hostel 5 years prior in Gili T, near Bali. So random and so delightful!ย
BUDGET FOR 13 DAYS IN PANAMA:
Panama was definitely not the cheapest destination in Central America, but I also contributed to the high than average spend. Panama can definitely be done cheaper than how I did it ๐
- Accommodation: $600 ($46 per night) โ I did double pay for accommodation one night as I last minute changed plans to leave Panama City a night early. Also, because I was feeling so burnt out, I did treat myself to some private rooms hehe (including 3 nights at $95 per night, which is abnormal for me)
- Food: $350
- Groceries: $20
- Activities: $255 (diving + massage)
- Local Transportation: $115
- Miscellaneous: $90
Total: $1,430 (Daily average: $110)
Transportation to next destination: $129 (Bus to San Jose, CR, one night at hostel then bus to Ometepe) Basically I traveled from 9:30am to 5pm the following day straight with 7 hours to sleep in San Jose. This was a very long journey haha.
The Pursuit Of Travel