Places to Explore

• Chitré

  Chitré is a rambling town with a compact center that includes a lovely 18th-century church and the region's best museum. Those sites can be visited in an hour's time, but because it has the peninsula's... (more)

• Guararé

  It would be quite possible to miss the tiny town of Guararé as you drive from Chitré to Las Tablas. September 24 is the town's patron-saint day, with masses and other activities. Other than... (more)

• Isla Iguana

  With the only white-sand beach on the Azuero Peninsula and excellent snorkeling and scuba diving less than an hour from Pedasí, Isla Iguana is the Azuero Peninsula's top natural attraction. Less... (more)

• La Arena

  This small, traditional town has been producing pottery since colonial times—and perhaps earlier. Much of the ceramic work replicates pre-Columbian designs, though the local artisans also produce... (more)

• La Villa de Los Santos

  Just across the muddy Río La Villa from Chitré is La Villa de Los Santos, which is considerably smaller than its neighbor but more historically significant. When it was founded in 1569 it... (more)

• Las Tablas

  Though it has fewer than 9,000 inhabitants, Las Tablas is the main commercial center for the southern Azuero Peninsula. Its Carnaval celebrations and its annual Festival de la Pollera (July 21-23) are... (more)

• Natá

  One of Panama's oldest inhabited towns, Natá (officially Natá de los Caballeros) has a lovely central plaza with a restored colonial church, and is worth a quick stop on the drive to the... (more)

• Parita

  One of the most picturesque and best-preserved colonial towns in the peninsula, Parita is just off the Carretera Nacional—the main road into the peninsula—which makes stopping here to admire... (more)

• Parque Arqueológico El Caño

• Parque Nacional Coiba

• Pedasí

  Little Pedasí may make Chitré and Las Tablas look like cities, but it is the tourist center of the Azuero Peninsula due to its proximity to Isla Iguana and Playa Venao. A quiet ranching community... (more)

• Playa Los Destiladeros

  This beach in the Azuero Peninsula's southeast corner isn't the region's nicest, given its dark sand and abundant rocks, but it has the peninsula's two best hotels. It is an attractive enough spot, with... (more)

• Playa Santa Catalina

  Literally at the end of the road, the tiny fishing village of Santa Catalina sits near some of the best surfing spots in the country and is the closest port to Isla de Coiba, Panama's top dive destination... (more)

• Playa Venao (Playa Venado)

  Long a mecca for surfers, the 2-mi-long pale-brown Playa Venao, in a deep, half-moon bay surrounded by largely deforested hills, has some of Panama's most consistent surf, and what could be the country's... (more)

• Santiago

  The provincial capital, Santiago is usually nothing more than a pit stop between Panama City and the westernmost province of Chiriquí, Playa Santa Catalina, or Isla de Coiba. With a population of... (more)