9 Best Sights in The Canal and Central Panama, Panama

Playa Blanca is a small, white-sand beach about 30 minutes by boat east of Portobelo. It has the nicest sand of any beach in the area, some shade trees, and there are reefs off shore for snorkelling. There are no roads there, nor are there restaurants or stores. The water is almost always calm, but if there are waves, don't go in deep. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; snorkeling; swimming.

Stretched along a small cove on the south side of the island, Playa Cacique is Contadora's loveliest beach, with pale beige sand backed by tropical trees and vacation homes. The water is calm and clear, making it a decent snorkeling spot, and a popular area for people to moor their boats. You can see Isla Chapera beyond those boats. The Villa Romántica hotel sits on the ridge behind the beach, and its restaurant is a good spot for lunch or a sunset drink. At low tide, you can walk west, around a small bluff, to a smaller beach called Playa Camarón. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: snorkeling; swimming; sunset.

One of Contadora's quietest beaches is Playa Ejecutiva, a few hundred yards north of the church and soccer field. It's a tiny beach that practically disappears at high tide, but the water is calm and safe for swimming, and you can snorkel around the point to the west of it. Its backed by a small forest, which provides convenient shade, and several vacation homes, the owners of which have built a attractive shelter behind the beach for parties. If you visit Contadora on a busy weekend, or holiday, this is a good spot to escape the crowd. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; swimming.

Just north of the airstrip and east of the Hotel Punta Galeón, this small beach is one of Contadora's most popular spots. It's where the ferry arrives and departs from, so it can get crowded during the high season. But it's a good swimming beach, with calm, blue-green water, and it has decent snorkeling. This is a pretty convenient spot to hang out: the hotel's restaurant is next to the beach, Gerald's is just up the hill, and the welcome center, across from the airstrip, rents everything from towels and beach umbrellas to Jet Skis. Amenities: food and drink; toilets; water sports. Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

The easiest beach to visit in the vicinity is Playa La Angosta, which is about 8 km (5 miles) south of Portobelo. The long, beige beach backed by coconut palms and other trees is quiet during the week, but on weekends and holidays, it can get packed with visitors from Colón and Panama City. There is a small charge for parking a car and renting tables on the beach with thatched sombrillas; you can also rent Bali-style daybeds for $15-$20 for the day. Restaurant Mamani, on the beach, serves a small selection of seafood and cool drinks, and has the only bathrooms. Amenities: food and drink; parking; toilets. Best for: partiers; swimming; walking.

Contadora's longest beach, Playa Larga, stretches along the island's eastern end, in front of the long-vacant Hotel Contadora—the island's original resort. It's a lovely strip of ivory sand, backed by coconut palms, Indian almonds, and other trees, but the ruins of the hotel and the abandoned ferry boat at one end give it a forlorn feel. At high tide, it's a mere sliver of sand, whereas at low tide, massive black rocks are exposed. The water can be murky, so it usually isn't good for snorkeling. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.

Playa Santa Clara has the same pale sand with swaths of gray dirt as the adjacent, and more famous, Playa Blanca. The sea here is usually calm enough for swimming, but isn't a good spot for snorkeling. On those rare occasions when there are waves, you shouldn't go in any deeper than your waist, due to the danger of rip currents. Much of the beach is lined with vacation homes, but the Sheraton Bijao Beach Resort towers sits over its eastern end and the rambling Las Veraneras Restaurant sits behind its western end. The western end can get packed, and littered, on holidays and dry-season weekends, but this beach is quiet most of the year. Amenities: food and drink; parking (fee); toilets. Best for: partiers; swimming; walking.

Hidden in the island's southeast corner, at the end of the road that runs east from Villa Romantica, Playa Sueca (Swedish Beach) is Contadora's officially sanctioned nude beach. It is relatively small, backed by forest, with tan sand sloping into calm, aquamarine waters. At low tide, there are some exposed rocks in front of the beach. Be sure to use plenty of sunscreen on those pale parts! Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; nudists; swimming.