Tours and Places
Panama Sailing School
Advanced sailors participate in a competition.
Tourists can learn how to sail in the tropical waters of the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Panama with Panama Sailing School. Lessons for both adults and children are tailored to the skills of the student, from beginners to those with sailing experience who want to hone their skills. The school also offers yacht charters to the Bocas Archipelago in the Caribbean and the Pearl Islands or Taboga Island in the Pacific.
The school is based in Panama City, has a branch in Bocas del Toro and will soon open a facility on Isla Contadora in the Pearl Islands. Classes are limited to four students to provide individualized instructions. Every student learns a job on the boat every day.
Sailors in training learn all aspects of working on a sailboat, even climbing up the mast.
Panama Sailing School "learn to sail" vacations start on a 38 foot Island Packet 37, which is considered the premier blue-water training vessel. As skills improve students move to a 44 foot Beneteau First 44.7, an excellent racing design. Also used is the 35 foot Beneteau Oceanis 361, a popular design with excellent upwind speed, even in calm winds.
Panama Sailing School is an ASA (American Sailing Association) certifying institution and can provide ASA captain accreditation. Lessons are in English or Spanish. For more information www.panamasailingschool.com.
Aboard the Island Packet 37 on Panama Bay.
Adventure on a farm
Upon landing after the longest zip line in Panama.
La Granja Campo y Aventura in la Costa Arriba of Colon offers fun activities, an event center and lodging on a real working farm. Tourists are able to pick from a long list of things to do while taking in the fresh air. Activities range from a very extreme obstacle course or the longest zip line in Panama to a tranquil day fishing on Lake Gatun or helping out on the farm. Visit www.lagranjapanama.com or call 6780-1644 / 55 for more information.
Not as easy as it looks!
Take a construction tour!
Frank Gehry's Biomuseo in Amador
These steel beams will support the odd angles of the roof.
World-famous architect Frank Gehry's Biomuseo (Biomuseum) is currently under construction on the Amador Causeway in Panama City and, like another of his buildings, the Guggenheim in Spain, will be a masterpiece. A special pre-construction tour of the museum is available twice a month on the second and last Friday at 3:00 p.m.
Those who tour the impressive construction site also get a glance at the different exhibits that the structure will contain. The exhibits will showcase Panama´s impressive biodiversity. The flora and fauna of Panama is unique, because of the unique global position linking North and South America. The museum refers to Panama as the is "Bridge of Life", and will show how the isthmus provides a link for plant and animal life to migrate between the two continents of the western hemisphere.
The isthmus occupies an important place in world geography, climate and human evolution. When the small strip of land rose out of the sea to link the Americas, it forever changed ocean currents and weather, drying the deserts of Africa where it is believed that modern man evolved. It also made Europe much more inhabitable than it otherwise would have been.
The Biomuseo is the only building by Gehry in Latin America. Gehry´s eye-catching buildings become famous wherever they are built, as much for their design as for the treasures they hold inside, like the Guggenheim in Spain. When his Panama project is finished, it will be no exception with its multicolored roof panels at unlikely angles. The interior will house large exhibition halls and two huge aquariums to demonstrate the different marine life in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. To visit the museum write cdeleon@biomuseopanama.org or call 314-0097.
A group of tourists has a look at the Biomuseo.
Popular destination
Pacific beaches and the nearby mountains
Panama's Pacific coast is blessed with many broad beaches backed by mountain scenery. The first of these is located an hour by road from Panama City. Thereafter a series of beaches stretches fom Punta Chame to Gorgona, Coronado, Rio Mar, Santa Clara, and Playa Blanca. Another feature of the coast is El Valle, a town and resort area in an ancient volcanic crater that possesses an idyllic spring-like climate perfect for horseback riding, hiking and eco-tourism including a jungle canopy tour.
Punta Chame
Punta Chame is 22-mile long spit of land with white sand beaches. The Pacific is on one side and a secluded bay on the other. Wind surfing is popular here from December to April. The beaches are pristine and fairly secluded during the week. Weekends can be quite busy.
Gorgona
Visitors will have the white and ebony-black sands of the Gorgona beaches to themselves during the week and will find more company on weekends. Gorgona is becoming popular as a beach community among expatriates.
Coronado
On Coronado beach the Coronado Hotel and Resort (www.coronadoresort.com) is a lirge five star hotel with six restaurants, and a seaside golf course designed by Tom Fazio. Coronado has a mixed Panamanian and foreign resident community and is the largest beach population center in the area.
Rio Mar
Rio Mar is a surfing beach. This area is developing with projects like the Rio Mar Luxury Beach Community.
Santa Clara
Santa Clara has miles of beaches with calm waters great for swimming. The area is just off the Pan American Highway with easy access to Panama City. It is a favorite of local residents who often picnic on the beaches. Fishermen can be seen netting fish just offshore. The fishermen will take visitors out to nearby islands for a fee and horses can be rented for a ride along the beach.
Playa Blanca
Playa Blanca's gorgeous beaches are flanked by the Royal Decameron Beach Resort (www.decameron.com), an all inclusive, luxurious resort and Playa Blanca (www.playablancaresort.com), a newer all-inclusive resort with what will be the world's second largest pool under construction. From the hotels, visitors can enjoy every convenience and never leave the grounds or can arrange deep sea fishing or scuba diving charters.
El Valle
In the coastal mountains just up from Panama's Pacific Beaches is El Valle de Antón. El Valle is a special destination in Panama. Situated in the fertile valley of an extinct volcano high above the coastal heat, El Valle is filled with bright flowers and lots of trees. This area has been inhabited long before Columbus as evidenced by petroglyphs on rocks outside of town. El Valle is a great area for hiking, bird watching, taking a mud bath at the hot springs, and hiking to nearby waterfalls. The Sunday open air market is especially interesting with a wide assortment of local crafts.
Coclé Cluster
A union has been formed between several businesses in the Coclé province which contains many of these attractive sites on Panama's Pacific.
This organization's website is www.visitcoclepanama.com.
The "pearls" of Panama
The pool at Punta Galeon Hotel overlooks the Pacific.
The Pearl Islands lie forty miles off the Pacific Coast of Panama in Panama Bay. Formed by the upper reaches of an extinct volcano, the more than 100 islands of the Pearl Archipelago are ideal for sport fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving, and boating. They are an exotic tropical getaway reached by scheduled flights from Panama City in 20 minutes or so.
Isla Contadora
Contadora Island is the most developed and has been a favorite of the likes of Christian Dior and John Wayne. The island has beautiful white sand beaches with shallow waters excellent for snorkeling and scuba diving as well as sport fishing. The island has its own air strip and daily flights are available. The largest hotel on the island is Hotel Punta Galeon (www.puntagaleonhotel.com).
Isla Saboga
Next to Contadora, Isla Saboga is being developed as a comprehensive, eco friendly project comprising 22 distinct parcels of three to 27 acres for residential, commercial, leisure, and retail use. Many of the parcels have extensive ocean frontage while others back onto protected woodland. The island master plan restricts land usage to less than 30 percent. Developments will include Tree Top Villas, a community of luxurious villas perched in the tree canopy overlooking the ocean. The island will have a full service marina with 150 slips, (www.islasaboga.com).
Viveros Resort en Isla Viveros.
"Sea Voyager" by Cuna de Vida
This luxury cruise ship is the best way to see the Pearl Islands. With one, three and four night excursions, tourists are able to see the untouched beauty of the archipelago while staying in a 30-room ship that offers first-class service, (www.cunadevida.com).
Isla Viveros
Viveros island is in the center of the archipelago and is set to become one of the world's top five-star resort developments. The exclusive hideaway of Viveros Resort is surrounded by pristine white and gold sand beaches. The five star community will have a Jack Nicklaus Signature 18 hole golf course, five-star hotels, luxurious oceanfront villas, a private airport all with white sand beaches and world class fishing.
Villas are now available for rent (www.islaviveros.com).
Isla San Jose
San Jose Island is home to the stylish adventure lodge Hacienda del Mar. Unique and spacious accommodations blend island charm and modern comfort, all just steps from white sand beaches. Hacienda del Mar consists of 17 cabanas, each with its own balcony, offering breathtaking panoramic views to the beach, the sea, and the triple canopy forest of the island. Sport fishing tours are a specialty of this hotel (www.haciendadelmar.net).
Outdoor dining at Hacienda Pacifica.