I'm headed to Panama for about a week this January and am trying to organize my itinerary. I know I'll be renting a car, but I haven't found any information on approximate drive times between major destinations. My home base for three days will be Panama City, and then I'd ideally like to check out the Caribbean coast and beaches. I don't know if it's feasible to drive to Bocas del Toro, which seems ideal for my purposes--does anyone know how long a trip between PC and Bocas would take by car? Is there any place closer to PC which would afford me the chance to enjoy the Caribbean and relax on the beach (recommendations for towns, hotels, etc. would be appreciated)?

ttt

I'm also thinking about trying to get to Boquete, which appears to be about a six hour drive from PC; we would probably want to stop somewhere along the way either to stay overnight or simply to sightsee--any recommendations in this department?

I think the roads to Boquete are pretty well done. Bocas Del Toros is another issue altogether so I leave that to others. I did most of my in country travel by air.
El Valle and the Santa Clara beach areas would be fun stopovers on your way from Panama City to Boquete. I love Boquete! I stayed at the Panamonte on my last visit and it was very nice. Friends are raving about the Coffee Estate Inn there.

You do not want to drive to Bocas Del Toro. The salt water would do a lot of damage to the car.

STCOLT

Christianne, I received this from a friend of mine who recently visited Bocas. It will help you plan.
"Bocas del
Toro is the real Gold Coast on the Isthmus of Panama. You get a real feel for the Spanish Main, which is alive and well in the Province of Bocas del Toro. For those of you that
have never been there, you need to go there NOW! Don't sit back and dream of what it would be like. Go NOW or plan on it in the near future. It is easy to get to. Just a short plane ride from Albrook's Marcos Gelabert airfield, or its a really nice drive from Panama City to Almirante. Then, from Almirante you then hop on a water
taxi for a short 30 minute ride to PARADISE, sitting next to natives and tourists and enjoying the breezy ride out to the islands. The really nice part of the drive starts when you cut off the Pan-American Highway at Gualaca in Chiriqui and drive north over the Serrania de Talamanca mountain range to the Atlantic Coast. From there you then head west again 60 kilometers along the Caribbean coast to Almirante. Almirante is a small container port that Chiquita Brands still uses to ship bananas and pineapples out of Panama. The scenery along the drive is breathtaking as you climb out of the coastal lowlands up into the foothills and finally up to the rugged continental divide through the Fortuna Forest Preserve. There is no more beautiful drive in Panama. You pass over the Fortuna Hydroelectric Dam and skirt the lake which is surrounded by beautiful cloud-rain forest. All along the drive, you come across the typical stilted houses with no screened windows that the natives live in. They sell fruits and vegetables and handicrafts.

After the 30 minute boat ride from Almirante, you reach Isla del Colon. You pull into the docks where there are many hotels along the waterfront that are big new or rebuilt buildings that all have restaurants right on the water that are three to four stories tall. They are built half on the water and half on the land. There is a main street running right along these hotels that runs down through the town. Along this street you find more hotels, restaurants, beach stores, surf shops, internet cafes, goumet food stores, a nice big plaza, grocery stores, banks, you name it, they have it. There are BBQ stands with ladies selling jerked chicken, BBQ'd pork, fried bread, fried plantain, and fried yuca. All look very appetizing and smell wonderful. I was going to stop and buy some chicken but the lady would not sell to me unless I waited for it to be done.

My friends were in a hurry to go nowhere so we went off to go nowhere. Anyway, that first night I ordered an octupus coctail for an appetizer and it was delicious and it had cilantro, habanero peppers, lime, ginger, garlic, and several other spices that I couldn't put my finger on, typical west indian seasoning that you eat and question later. Then I had langostinos with french fries and a nice salad which was also excellent. The name of this restaurant was The Nasty Mermaid.

We did not stay on Isla Colon, but instead stayed on Isla Carenero, which is a two minute launch ride from Isla Colon costing one dollar, and is a stones throw across a narrow passage from Isla del Colon. I like Carenero because it has nice beach right in front of the hotel, and there are no cars on the island. All I require is beach no more than ten feet away, hot water, and A/C. The place I stay is a simple little six room hotel on the beach called Doña Mara's and it has all of that for $50/night. You can stay in nicer places on Isla del Colon for cheaper but the beach is not ten feet away. And like I said, I am happy with A/C, hot water, and a beach right there.

The next morning we lazed around and argued about what to do and finally we decided that my lady friend really didn't want to go where we wanted to go, (Red Frog Beach) because there were no slot machines there. So we packed an ice chest with turkey sandwiches, beer, root beer, potato chips, cold apples, dip, and other snacks, assembled snorkel, mask, flippers, and beach chairs, went out on the dock in front of the hotel and flagged down a launch to go to Red Frog Beach. You flag down launches in Bocas like New Yorker's flag down taxis, only more easy. Red Frog Beach is on Isla Bastimientos about a 15 minute launch ride from Isla Carenero. Red Frog Beach is actually on the windward side of Isla Bastimientos and you take the launch to the leeward side of Isla Bastimientos and then have a 15 minute walk through a nice rainforest to get to the windward side where the beach is. It is a scene out of paradise. The waves are breaking, the sand is pinkish light tan, the water is crystal clear and if you show up before noon, you are the only people there.

At 1 PM there rest of the crowd shows up, and you are glad they did because they are people from all over the world. There are people from the U.S., Canada, England, Europe, South America, Austrailia, you name it. They are all there for one purpose, to spend a wonderful day at the beach. When you arrive at the leeward side of the island to get to Red Frog Beach, they charge you a dollar when you step off the launch. This is to maintain the path and docks on the island and to keep the beach groomed. And they do a very nice job I might add. They were adding new planks to the walkways, and there was a guy with a wheel barrow picking up seaweed off the beach. It was a dollar well worth it. They even have a small bar on Red Frog Beach and they will serve you a nice cold margarita on the rocks or a cold beer and a snack right on your beach towell or at your beach chair, you don't even have to walk to the bar, which is less than 100 feet away. They come to you.

We spent the rest of the afternoon bodysurfing, swimming, and chatting with the other beachgoers and lazing around on the beach. Our beach chairs were set up under trees growing on the beach, so no need of beach umbrellas. The water was the perfect temperature, don't ask me what it was, all I know is that is was cool when you first got in, but you adjusted to it within twenty seconds. It was perfect dry season weather. I think dry season is early this year as it has been dry and sunny for almost a week now.

Red Frog Beach is called Red Frog Beach because, yep you guessed it, there are red frogs in the jungle that fringes the beach. They are little poison dart frogs that have red on their backs.
We stayed at Red Frog Beach from noon to 5 PM and then headed back over the trail to the lee side of the island to catch our launch back to Carenero. It was one of those rare afternoons that you never want to end. Back at the hotel, after a nice warm shower, some skin lotion, because I got a little sun-burned, and a bloody mary with some carrots, celery, broccoli, and cauliflour with some ranch dip for coctail hour, we started to entertain
thoughts about where to go for dinner. Basically we did the same thing as the night before, we walked around and looked at what was posted on the menus outside the restaurants and decided on a restaurant based on that. That night I had whatever you call a garlic bread with tomatoes and parmesian cheese, and a guacamole with chips for an appetizer, and then for dinner, fresh red snapper done in a coconut and curry sauce with fried green plantains and a fresh salad. Again, too stuffed for a dessert, but I had a very good margarita with the appetizer. The name of this restaurant was The Limbo, it was also a hotel.

Well, being in an extremely good mood, and in view of the fact that Isla del Colon's most famous bar was open that night, we decided to go to the Barco Hundido (The Sunken Boat Bar). Again, why walk since the boat ride down the beach several hundred meters only cost one dollar? So we caught the boat of course. Don't forget, I had a big dinner and I was stuffed, and its hard to walk when you are stuffed especially when you know you can catch a boat for a dollar. So we headed off to the Barco Hundido Bar.

The Balboa Yacht Club Bar of old had nothing on the Barco Hundido Bar except maybe the Balboa Yacht Club's bartenders Davis or Marshall's bloody Marys. Never-the-less, the ambience at the Barco Hundido has got it all over the Yacht Club. The locals are there along with the yachties and the tourists. But the highlight of the night is when a dozen just newly arrived Aussie surfers show up all low key, start drinking, and the situation
quickly turned to a mayhem that only Aussies are capable of. They ripped off their clothes down to their skivvies ans started to throw each other into the water (the water
being crystal clear, well lit up, and full of angel fish, seargent majors, and wrasses. The water off the docks at this bar looks like an aquarium. Then the Aussies started aiming at the single lady tourists in the bar and throwing them in the water. It was total mayhem, and I never laughed so hard in my life. Of course, just about anything goes in Bocas so no
one thought twice about the total anarchy created by the Aussies. These Aussies know how to have fun and joke around. They had the whole bar laughing. They had not been on the island four hours and they already owned it. One of the launch guys who lived on Carenero had offered us a ride back invited us to his house
for more drinks and I thought, hmmm, maybe not, no telling what his place is like. But to my surprise he had a beautifully built house all opened up to the water right on the water with a dock. Turns out he was financed by a wealthy Panamanian who had set him up so that he could maintain the house and boat by working the boat. Very good idea if you find the right boat guy. We stayed there until four in the morning and then walked one hundred feet down to our hotel and plopped into bed in the cool A/C and dozed off until 10 AM the next morning. There is something about a hangover in paradise. A hangover is not near as bad when you know you are waking up with it in paradise.

We got up, had breakfast went for a swim and then went into a depression and argument about why we were leaving that day. Well, my friends from Louisiana had an itinerary they had to stick to, and other places to go in Panama and they too were wondering why they had planned to go anywhere else besides this paradise at Bocas del Toro. Why only three days this time? I was ready to stay for at least two more days. Oh well, such is life, you sometimes make bad decisions."

Please let me know you found this post and also be sure to post a trip report. Panama is changing fast and there is news all the time. Buen viaje.

Approximate Drive times if you drive sensibly (not like me who can knock an hour off these times if I don't get caught by the local gendarmes!!!):
Panama to Boquete: 6 to 7 hours
Panama to Volcan: 7 to 8 hours
Panama to Almirante: 7 to 8 hours (This is the place to catch the water taxi to Bocas del Toro from)
Panama to Portobelo: 1-1/2 to 2 hours
Caribbean coast village where there are Spanish ruins and you can take a boat to some nice beaches
Panama to La Guayra: 2 to 2-1/2 hours
A bit further along the Caribbean coast this is where you catch a boat to Isla Grande - a few options for places to stay - only small beaches on the island except at the one end but nearby Isla Mamay has a nice beach as well.
Panama to Coronado/Pacific beaches: 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
Panama to El Valle de Anton: 2 hours

Re driving to Bocas: You can drive to Almirante and park the car in a fenced, locked and guarded yard while in the islands. Catch a water taxi to Isla Colon and then go from there to wherever you want to... The road over is very good, relatively new.

You can do the Caribbean as a day trip from Panama City - we do it all the time but we have friends with a beach house near Isla Grande... Otherwise head over and stay a few days:
Finca Don Pedro/Flor de Cafe are B&B's owned by a French couple near there, Tesoro del Caribe is a rustic, remote "resort" 1/2 hour by boat from Portobelo, Bananas Resort or Sister Moon are both nice places on Isla Grande.
A new lodge called Coral Lodge is opening soon down near the Kuna Yala...

Panama's Caribbean isn't like the "typical" Caribe island beaches you see.. except for maybe Kuna Yala (San Blas Islands) but they are not developed and there are only very rustic lodges at best. You don't normally get the crystal clear bright blue waters due to run off from the mainland's rivers but you can get great vis most times for snorkeling etc.
Hope this helps...

Andrew

Andrew, glad to see you responded to this post. Your information is always so helpful. Did you happen to see the question about a place called Isla Secas (I may have that slightly wrong)

Sorry, Isla Solarte.

Thank you both very much for very helpful suggestions! While I'd love to see Bocas after reading the email from your friend, cmcfong, I just don't think that it's in the cards on this trip, as we're already locked into three nights in Panama City, leaving us with only four nights to see the rest of the country (poor planning on my part, I guess, but I and everyone I'm traveling with is a "city person" who is looking forward to seeing PC).

The itinerary so far is as follows:

1) Arrive PC, spend afternoon looking around city, especially Casco Viejo.
2) Check out Miraflores Locks, and possibly go for a walk through Soberania park.
3) Take water taxi to Contadora OR drive to Portbelo and hang out (I don't know if there's any point in going to Contadora if you're not going to lay on the beach, which we don't really do).
4)Drive halfway to Boquete, stay over--what's en route? El Valle looks neat...
5)Drive rest of way to Boquete, and stay over somewhere reasonably priced.
6)Leave Boquete, head back towards PC, staying over hopefully somewhere different than on night 4--is Santa Clara beach area a feasible destination, considering I want to drive no more than 3 hrs. in a day?
7) Drive back to PC, fly out of PC at 4 p.m.

Thanks again for all your help--I'll be sure to post a trip report when I get back!

My comments on your itinerary:
1) Good plan, if it's not a Monday make sure you visit the Canal Museum on Plaza Cathedral.
2) The park (where there's a little zoo is about 1/2 hour further on from Miraflores, then a bit further on is the Gamboa Rainforest Resort and the little town of Gamboa - there is an aerial tram through the rainforest canopy and other exhibitions at the resort - might be worth a look.
3) Drive to Portbelo there's not much to see on Contadora in a day trip - for an island day trip do Toboga - much closer.
Portobelo has some nice ruins, you can continue on to La Guayra and take a small boat out around Isla Grande as well, or visit Gatun Locks so you will have seen both ends of the Canal.
4)Halfway is Santiago - a couple of okay hotels there - nothing special but to break up the drive... you could also take a detour at Divisa and drive down to Chitre or Las Tablas and back - some interesting little towns to visit.
El Valle is only 1-1/2 hours from Panama City on the Interamerican then 1/2 hour up into the hills - doesn't save you much on the second leg.
5)Drive rest of way to Boquete, and stay over somewhere reasonably priced. What is your budget and I can give you some recommendations.
6)Santa Clara is 2 hours from Panama so over 4 hours from Boquete.
7) Give yourselves an extra hour to get through the city and out to the airport.

The drive really isn't that bad to do all in one day to Boquete and will giveyou more time to explore that area rather than rushing around there for only one night.

You could then stop at either Santa Clara or El Valle on the way back. Easy drive then into the airport the next day.

You can email me if you want specific answers.

Cheers,
Andrew

Thanks for the feedback! Will definitely use your idea about Gamboa--the aerial tram thing could be fun. The El Valle versus Santa Clara issue, I'll probably resolve by stopping at El Valle on the way up (I know it's not exactly on the way to Boquete, but my girlfriend's father will be driving us around and he's probably not going to be very open to tackling the whole drive to Boquete in one shot, unfortunately)and Santa Clara on the way back.
As for lodging in Boquete: we're very flexible with the budget, but are staying at the Bristol in PC, so that's our "splurge." The hotel in Boquete probably ought to be in the "$100/night or less" range--any ideas? I think the coffee estate sounds fabulous, but is probably cost-prohibitive
Last question: are there any other towns which might serve as a substitute for Boquete in my itinerary? Like I said, I'm not the one who's going to be driving the car, and if my gf's father balks at going six hours from PC, I need a back-up destination (somewhere in the range of 3-4 hrs from the city at most?).
Thanks again!

check out www.czbrats.com for some El Valle and Boquete hotel suggestions.