The bargain-beautiful Panama we’ve been writing about for years is alive and well…especially in Las Tablas. This little colonial town differs from hot retirement destinations like Panama City, Boquete, or Bocas del Toro. It’s in an area surrounded by farms and ranches, and that makes the climate, the landscapes, and the people unique. The tableños—that is, the townfolk in Las Tablas—are proud of their work ethic and keep their town neat and clean.
The Panamanian side of the Darién is dominated by deep valleys, rivers and a 6,000-foot-high mountain peak. You won’t find much else here. Starbucks hasn’t made it, and there’s no Home Depot. This is frontier country. But you will find an open door to immediate residency in Panama, along with a chance for profitable investing.
Santa Fe de Veraguas in Panama is a tiny mountain hideaway with lots of natural bounty. About 200 miles west of Panama City, it’s the kind of place where expat couples are able to live on small pensions (as small as $1,000 a month). And I mean live comfortably. It’s easy to grow heirloom vegetables or rare orchids, should you desire.
We were flying low over the glittering Caribbean when I saw my dream out the window. Looking down on reefs of coral and lush green islands, I just knew I had to live down there, with my toes buried in those warm, white sands,” says Stephen Crabtree.
Sometimes the best way to see something is through someone else’s eyes. For example, I know Panama. My wife, Suzan Haskins, and I lived in Panama City several years ago, and we’ve traveled nearly the entire country. We’ve also attended dozens of International Living events in Panama.
There’s a little mountain town in the interior of Panama where you can still buy a home or a large parcel of land next to a gurgling river. It’s likely this land will have waterfalls and hiking trails on it…you’ll see wild parrots and toucans and flowers of every tropical variety and color. The tall grass waving in the breeze will be so green, it would make even the Irish envious…
Today Al took us on a virtual tour of Panama City—his typical day. Paying his housekeeper, going to the bank, out to lunch, paying bills, to the movies… Al and Carmen own a three-bedroom, three-bath condo on the 14th floor with a bay and city view. This area is now the “Beverly Hills of Panama City,” Al said.
It’s good to be back in Panama, the tiny country on the southern edge of the northern hemisphere, one of the only countries to bridge two continents… and the only country in the world where you can see the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean and set on the Atlantic. Did you know that? If not, don’t worry…there are so many things unique to Panama that it’s hard to track them all. For instance… Panama is the only country in Central America with no hurricanes and no destructive earthquakes.
In the distance I can see the national park, where hiking trails crisscross hills lush with rainforest. In the treetops above me, I’ve seen monkeys and toucans and several species of birds I can’t name. This is Santa Fe de Veraguas, a tiny mountain hideaway about 200 miles west of Panama City.
If you like a good wave, Santa Catalina will more than wow you. But the volcanic outcroppings responsible for the incredible surf break also create some of Panama’s best dive and fishing spots. And if you’re a landlubber at heart, there are numerous trails for hiking out to find remote beaches or trek through the jungle to view wildlife, birds, and exotic plants.
“I want it all,” he said. I was at International Living’s recent Ultimate Event. This attendee had come to us seeking information about Belize and Costa Rica. But my presentation—particularly the part about Panama City—got him thinking. Suddenly, Panama was at the top of his list of countries to check out.
As a Texan firefighter my husband, Clyde, had premium health insurance—which the city helped pay for. But once he retired we would have had to pay the full amount, about $1,000 a month. Since we were both too young for Medicaid, we wanted to live somewhere with good health care that cost less than the U.S. Panama topped all the lists.
Six months ago we moved to Panama. We knew that we didn’t want to live in a gated community. For us, it just made more sense to live among the locals where we could immerse ourselves in the culture and get to know everyone.
Stephen and Linda lived in Northern California. But if they wanted to retire there, they knew they’d only be able to afford “some desolate place and live in a double-wide.” So they began searching for somewhere in the world that had the surf they craved but at prices they liked, too. They found a little Pacific Coast beach town about 60 miles west of Panama City.
A man with his own private zoo…a Dutch transplant with a penchant for black and white movies…and a former builder who just wanted to make the region’s best burger. They all have one thing in common: The tiny mountain hideaway in Panama they now call home. Veraguas is a massive tract of land—the only province in Panama to touch both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
If you decide to live anywhere in or near the Veraguas province of Panama, chances are you’ll visit the provincial capital of Santiago often. Most “capitalinos” (Panamanians from the capital) will tell you there’s nothing much in Santiago, but on a recent visit I found the opposite.
“Lazy” isn’t quite the right word to describe the village of Santa Fe de Veraguas, located in Panama’s Veraguas province. Other words come to mind: “bohemian,” “quirky,” and “effortless.” A town of about 3,000 people, Santa Fe has no traffic. Even on the main road cars pass infrequently. And everyone—every single person—says hello or buenas as they pass.
There’s a highland village in Panama you probably haven’t heard of yet—a handful of North Americans are only beginning to establish a bohemian community. Pines and flowering shrubs, beautifully paved roads and neatly painted houses, where no-one locks their doors and everyone has reliable Internet.
Marvin and Joanne Riddle don’t just enjoy “the best of both worlds”…they enjoy the best the whole world has to offer them. The couple spend part of every year in Florida, part of the year living on La Barqueta beach, in Panama’s Chiriquí province, and—when the mood takes them—they travel the world, too.
This month, International Living released its Annual Global Retirement Index 2011. To rank our winners this year, we analyzed 37 critical data points for each of our top 23 retirement havens. As usual, Panama is a heavy hitter, taking one of the top 3 spots.
“I had no idea it was like this,” my wife Suzan said. “This part of the coast is like Pirates of the Caribbean!” We were standing on the dock of Seagull Cove Lodge, a tidy little boutique hotel just outside the village of Boca Chica in Panama’s Chiriquí Province.
I was sitting across from a young go-getter at a trendy sushi spot in the cool part of town. Let’s call him Bob. “I’ve been looking for a condo—as an investment and to live in for a while,” said Bob. “I think I may have finally found the right one.”
In early 2001 we were on our first visit to Panama, our first research visit of any kind, in fact, on our journey to relocation outside the U.S. Our guide that day was Sam Taliaferro. A former Coloradoan married to a Panamanian, he had picked the little mountain town of Boquete in Panama’s Chiriquí province in which to build his version of paradise. And what a pick it was…
In this video, IL editors Dan Prescher and Suzan Haskins explore the inlets, bays, and islands of Boca Chica in Panama’s Chiriqui Province—a wonderland best explored by boat.
Chiriqui is Panama’s western-most province. It’s well known as the location of two of Panama’s favorite expat destinations – Boquete and Volcan. But an easy drive from Chiriqui’s capital of David is a beautiful stretch of Pacific Coast, and along this coast is a spot called Boca Chica.
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