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If you are interested in visiting Mono Feliz, visit their facebook page for more information. I have also written about Mono Feliz on my site.
You can visit Mono Feliz via a road (which is soon to be paved most of the way) or, my favorite way, by driving on the beach. You must time your journey with the tides.
We have visited Mono Feliz from Puerto Armuelles both as a day trip and for multiple nights.
You can learn more about Puerto Armuelles starting here.
Betsy: Hi, it was a lot of fun stumbling across this video is of us back in 2007.
It gives you a relaxing glimpse of life in Panama
It's a little baby monkey, she's 4 months old,called Niña, a howler monkey.
We're at Mono Feliz in Panama, Punta Burica.
Reyn: We're relaxing and the stresses of daily life.
Our house is actually being sprayed for termites,as we speak, so we had to vacate it for the weekend.
They sprayed it with a mix of diesel and ariva, which is a commercial crop dusting chemical, so that's all going in our house so it'd be nice to let it air out for the entire weekend before we go home and sleep there.
We're here at Mono Feliz,there are small waves at the surf camp down the way
and Steve and another tourist and I were gonna try those out, so that will be fun.
Skylar: Look, look dad.
Reyn: I'm very happy and relaxed here.
It's cool.
(child laughs)
I think the monkey can actually hang by his tail.
Betsy: He's too young.
Reyn: This one is a huérfano.
Betsy: Let's say goodbye to Niña.
Bye, bye Niña, little scratcher.
Reyn: Want to compare size of hand?
music ♫ Can you hear it calling, Come on down to Panama
In this post, I will touch on some of the many hobbies you can enjoy here in Panama.
This is because an important trait among the happier set here in Puerto is that they have a hobby or several activities, that they pursue on a regular basis.
Many of our expat retirees in Puerto Armuelles are passionate gardeners.
Here in the tropics, it is much easier to garden successfully than up north. With many species of plants and trees, you just get a cutting of the plant you want, stick it in the ground, and it will grow. No kidding.
For those who love to get their hands dirty in the garden, there is ample opportunity to do it here. For heavy tasks, or for general maintenance, one can have your gardener do the work.
If you like to garden, it is also easy to cultivate some of the food for the table. Many types of fruits, in particular, grow in our tropical climate. It is easy to grow papayas, bananas, mangos, pineapples, bananas, passion fruit, etc. etc…the list is long.
Gardening can easily be expanded to include bird watching. Many species of tropical birds pass right through our gardens in Puerto every day. Huge, noisy swarms of giant parakeets careen through the neighborhood at dawn and again at dusk. We have a barred owl living in the mango tree in our yard. We have seen a tiny pygmy owl on several occasions. We have seen a pair of toucans in our papaya tree on numerous occasions.
You can plant a garden that provides ideal habitat for birds. You can do this planting many of the plants that the birds that you want to attract to love. Add to this both feeders and bird baths and you will be visited by many tropical birds.
Panama is a bird watcher's paradise. And not just in your backyard. You can cultivate an active life, as well as an active social life as a bird watcher. There are bird watching clubs in Boquete, Volcan, and Panama City with scheduled outings to look for birds. Some of these outings are easy strolls, and others include extended trips to the less explored parts of Panama.
Many expats raise their own chickens, rabbits, pigs, cattle for the table. Some others just like to have animals around to keep the homestead feeling “homey”.
At one point, when our daughter Skylar was interested in raising animals, we had over 20 chickens and 20 rabbits running around in a fenced off part of our property in Las Palmas. We even had a horse for a while.
Horseback riding is always available here. Many houses have properties large enough to provide feed grass for a horse, or two
most of the year. In the driest months, you can let your horse out to graze nearby. There are hundreds of miles of dirt roads and riding trails around town, some trails lead up into the foothills, and one can ride over to the beaches on the Costa Rican side of Punta Burica in half a day.
There is a woman named Veronica who lives up the hill from us in Las Palmas neighborhood of Puerto who teaches riding and who is helping to develop a national equestrian program in Panama. You can see a video she did about her life in Puerto Armuelles.
We also know at least one expat, Russell, who has joined a local rodeo team and competes in calf roping competitions on the weekends (this is not a hobby you would want to pursue unless you are an expert rider and are fearless). A neighbor of ours raises and trains horses.
Panama means an abundance of fish. So there is a lot of fishing here. You can fish from a boat, a paddle board, kayak, raft or from shore. You can fish to your heart's content here. And many people do. My older daughter Skylar loves to fish. She once caught a fish in Panama using only a piece of plastic bag as bait.
You can even splurge occasionally and go to one of the many sports fishing lodges in Panama. One lodge, Hooked on Panama, is only 6 miles away (30 min drive) from Puerto Armuelles.
Retirement in the tropics is the perfect time to take up painting, or drawing, sculpture, or any of the visual arts. Maybe you were an artist when you were younger, and just need to break the inertia to get back to it.
Our daughter Skylar took painting and drawing at the local Centro Bellas Artes (fine arts center). They offer a number of classes for adults. Which is also a great way to practice your Spanish since the classes are in Spanish.
Don't know where to get art supplies in Panama? Check out this post: Where to get art supplies in Panama City, David, and Puerto Armuelles.
If you are a budding artist in Puerto Armuelles, explore these art opportunities in Puerto.
If you have never played a musical instrument, retirement is a great time to learn to play for the first time. Our daughter Skylar took up the guitar last year. I took this as an excuse to give it a try. We are both learning online.
There are hundreds of free online courses to choose from. My family can attest to the fact that not all people are destined for greatness as musicians (Skylar is picking it up pretty fast. For me it is coming slowly). However, it does seem to keep Dad occupied.
There are also a number of music festivals in Panama. Our family enjoys going to the annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival in Boquete, Panama.
There are more and more musicians in Puerto Armuelles these days.
You may want to join the growing expat music scene in Puerto Armueles.
My daughters are both studying tap dance and ballet. Ballet is pretty brutal on anybody, regardless of age, however, tap can be a great whole body workout for folks of any age. You can push it as far as you want.
My father had a friend named Jesse who took up tap dancing in her late 50s, and kept at it until she was in her late 80’s. She and a group of girlfriends used to travel around the east coast and perform at senior centers.
I drop my daughters off at dance class four day a week. I am meeting other parents who have decided to join their kids and take up tap dancing.
So, this week I took the plunge. I removed the taps from an old pair of throw-away tap shoes given to me by the instructor, and I used Shoe Goo to glue them onto a pair of men’s lace-up shoes.
If I decide to stick with it, I will invest in some real tap dancing shoes. Tap dancing could be the perfect hobby for this aging athlete. It is increasingly popular as a form of exercise. As with everything you can learn how online. YouTube really is a fabulous resource.
Cooking is another great hobby in retirement. There are lots of good, fresh, economical raw foods available in Panama. And you can grow your own food as well.
Once again, I can vouch for YouTube as a great place to be inspired to “raise the bar” and improve your cooking skills.
Our daughter Blaise, who is now ten, is a big fan of Youtube cooking videos.
This morning she made waffles and cinnamon rolls. Yesterday she baked raspberry filled macaroons. For Halloween, she baked a “Brain cake”. It was a chocolate velvet cake covered with cerebral looking crenelations of sugar fondant and finished with a red raspberry glaze. The cake was truly gruesome to behold. If you could get past the looks, it was delicious.
She made these all from recipes, she learned to cook on Youtube.
Panamanian Food Opportunities
You can also explore new fruits, vegetables, and dishes that are popular in Panama. For instance, we have written about:
You may also want to check out a Foodies in Panama group on Facebook.
Another popular hobby is woodworking. Several of the local expats have set up workshops in their garages or carports. One began by making all the furniture for his and his wife’s house before he graduated to making furniture for other folks.
At least one guy we know takes his craft products to the Tuesday Market in Boquete to sell (He says that this is not a path to retirement riches, but it is fun and he meets lots of nice people.)
Another craft hobby, that might or might not include woodworking, is sculpture using found objects, driftwood logs, coconuts, hard seed pods, etc.. There is an incredible number of one-of-a-kind natural shaped driftwood that washes up on the beach, especially in the rainy season.
One of our neighbors out at Corazon de Jesus has a collection of anthropomorphic shapes, and some others fish shaped (ichthyomorphic?), all gathered on morning walks on the beach in front of his house.
Volunteer work is a rewarding way to add value to one’s daily, or weekly schedule. Certainly, the happiest retirees and the happiest people that we know are those who have discovered the joy of contributing to the wellbeing of another person.
This volunteer work could be as simple as just showing up to visit or help out another older expat who needs some company. Or you might want to try volunteering as an English conversation partner. You could offer to help another expat who doesn’t have a car to do a shopping trip in town, or to David.
I’ve just scratched the surface of the types of possible hobbies and activities that could contribute to making retirement in Puerto Armuelles healthier and happier. Please write and let us know what hobbies you enjoy, and any that you would like to investigate in your retirement.
Other active hobbies include surfing, walking, bike riding, sea kayaking. These are all hobbies pursued by a number of 50, 60, and even 70 somethings in Puerto Armuelles.
Walking and cycling are best done in the early mornings before the sun gets hot. In the rainy season, this is not so critical, since there is more cloud cover, and it stays cooler.
Puerto Armuelles is a perfect place to try out surfing or stand up paddle boarding for the first time. Stand Up Paddleboarding, which is an easier way to get into surfing, has arrived in Puerto.
There is also one fellow who occasionally surfs on a kayak designed for running white water rivers.
There is a technology known as a wave sled ( a sit-down kayak type surfboard with a paddle) which I have not seen in Puerto yet. This is an easier way for beginners and novices to get out and enjoy riding waves.
Little by little in Puerto we are growing a small community of old guy surfers (even a middle-aged gal or two). The waves in Puerto Armuelles are certainly not intimidating. It is a small wave surf place. A great old guy surf spot.
Of course, there are a number of world-class surf spots in both Panama and Costa Rica if you want to test your surf prowess.
The mountains of Chiriqui are a good destination for those pursuing an outdoor hobby. It is quite easy to drive to Volcan, Cerro Punta, or even Boquete to go for a day hike in the cool mountain air.
In fact, one day I swam in the morning in the Pacific, spent the afternoon hiking in Boquete, and was back home at the beach by dinnertime.
There are some wonderful hikes and mountain bike rides to be had at higher altitudes all over Panama. We have a retired neighbor in Puerto Armuelles who belongs to a mountaineering group in Chiriqui. He is often away from Puerto Armuelles for days at a time on one adventure or another.
You can also read Betsy's post about living a healthy life in Panama.
The house is nick-named “Casa Sombrero” because of its big sheltering roof.
It is on a corner lot in the Corazon de Jesus neighborhood, just north of downtown Puerto Armuelles. The house sits about 100 meters from the beach. While not as windy as a beachfront lot, there is still a good breeze when the onshore winds blow on warm afternoons.
The original footprint of this humble concrete block house was 30'x 22' with two notches removed. Total floor area was about 600 square feet. It had 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen, and dining/living area.
As you can see by the photos of the original house, it was very basic house indeed. Just a concrete block cottage, with a tin roof, and very few, small window openings that were filled with ventilated cement blocks. Not surprisingly, the original house was hot and stuffy.
Our redesign, in collaboration with a local Panamanian architect, maintains the 2 bedroom, 1 bath of the original small house, but adds an additional 1500 square feet of breezy covered porch space, enclosed by ornamental ironwork.
The open plan is intended to permit the ample porch areas of the house to serve as the primary day use areas. So that most of the events of daytime domestic life can take place within earshot of the sounds of ocean waves and the songbirds of Panama.
The original spaces have solid concrete block walls and large window openings.
This entire original area could be used as an “air conditioned zone.” Or, a smaller area, say just the bedrooms or bedroom, office and bathroom could be air conditioned by a single air conditioner.
The large outdoor porch/living area makes the house much more integrated into the outdoor environment. It is quite comfortable and dramatically reduces the energy requirement of running lots of air conditioning units. If the house had been redesigned as a typical northern home, extensive air conditionally would be required for most expats.
In the first phase of remodeling, we cut numerous new window openings, and enlarged the existing openings.
We also demolished a wall that had divided the kitchen and the dining area into 2 separate spaces.
Since the spaces were so tight, we thought that one big open plan for kitchen/dining /living was better than several smaller spaces. We added ironwork to the window openings, both for security and to give a sense of “completion” and enclosure.
Next, we asked our contractor to build a colonnade around the perimeter of the existing structure. This created wide porches on all sides of the house.
At its widest the porch is nearly 13 feet, and its narrowest about 7 feet. On top of these columns, spaced 9 feet apart, the contractor poured a concrete beam with gently radiused connections at the tops of the columns.
This is a look that we find quite pleasant, and which is quite common in Puerto Armuelles. Bluntly put, it is sort of a “poor man’s Spanish colonial”. It has the old world arches, but lacks the two-foot thick stone walls of Old Spain.
The house was rented to a Panamanian man in this Phase 1 condition for a couple of years. The man lived in the house, rent free, in exchange for maintaining the garden.
The truth is that up until a couple of years ago the real estate market in Puerto Armuelles was not as fast as the rest of Panama. Now our market has definitely begun to pick up. In fact, there were 2 families who were interested in buying Casa Sombrero at the same moment. We ended up selling it to a couple from British Columbia and their four young children.
The new owners appear to be very comfortable building their own homes, which they have done before in British Columbia, including a home on the Queen Charlotte islands.
They hired our general contractor to raise the walls of the existing structure, pour a floor, and to install a new roof. From here, the client is going to take over as his own contractor, and supervise all of the ongoing finishes.
While this Canadian family works on their new home, they are staying in our house in Las Palmas. Since they have young
children, we offered them our house, so that they would have a “gentle landing” into their new life in the tropics. They are apparently quite capable, bilingual, and it appears that they are enjoying a successful remodel.
As you can see from the photos, the roof is on. The owner is working on site every day alongside the Panamanian contractor, and the project is advancing well. The new owner says that he hopes his family can move into their new home by Christmas.
Of course, not all of our clients are interested in, or capable of, being their own building contractor.
For this reason, we offer the option of having one of our Living In Panama House built for them, using the services of one of our licensed Panamanian contractors. We always oversee all our remodeling or Living In Panama House projects.
If have built or remodeled a home in Panama, please share your experiences in the comments below.
Recently, we have talked with a number of people who are interested in building tiny homes in Panama. If you have experience with tiny homes or if you would like to share any techniques for building in the tropics, please add them in comments.
Thank you.
We were all hanging out in hammocks and chairs under the large rancho at our hotel in Pedasi.
They spoke flawless English with the perfect American accent all the Panamanian elites seem to speak with.
We immediately hailed the man pushing the La Italiana ice cream cart. He served ice cream on a stick (paletas in Spanish).
They were right, La Italiana ice cream is excellent. Far superior to any other cart vendor we had tried. Remember, we were traveling with a 5 year old so we had been trying all the ice cream vendors we saw.
In the Chiriqui province, most of the La Italiana ice cream peddlers are Ngobe Bugle indians. I am not sure why, but given the prejudice against Indians here, I imagine it is because it is not a high paying gig.
At the time (about 10 years ago), you could only get La Italiana ice cream from one of these hand carts. You will still see them being pushed down streets all over Panama. But not often enough.
Thankfully, there is at least one La Italiana ice cream store now. It is in David next to El Campion. El Campion is just a few blocks from David's parque central. Luckily, El Campion is very big and recognizable so you can easily spy it. At the La Italiana store you can not only get their usual paletas, but scoops of ice cream as well.
I'm not sure La Italiana is the best ice cream in Panama anymore. Its competition grows steadily.
A month before we had our first paleta from La Italiana, we enjoyed a scoop from what I think was Panama's first gelato ice cream store. It was in the Casco Antiguo neighborhood of Panama City. Now there are gelato stores popping up all over the place: Boquete, Paso Canoas and more.
However, I think that La Italiana is still the best ice cream on a stick in Panama.
Our favorites are the chocolate (think fudgicles) and strawberry paletas.
What are your favorite La Italiana flavors?
Please comment below.
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Click to get more details about this Puerto Armuelles beach front house for sale.
We are always happy to answer any questions you may have, just shoot us an email, or give us a call.
You can read what I said in the video below.
Video Transcription
Hi, I’m Betsy from Living In Panama
I want to let you know about a very affordable beach front house we have for sale
It is only $87,500.
It is on a beautiful beach
The lot is ample at 6100 sq. feet.
The house is 1350 sq. feet. It has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath
It needs some remodeling, although you can move in as is.
All utilities are set up and functioning.
The metal roof does need some immediate repair.
It is in the charming beach town of Puerto Armuelles.
Which is located right on the Pacific Ocean in the popular Chiriqui Province.
It really is an ample lot, with a nice house, on a beautiful beach for a very affordable price.
If you have any questions, please click the link below to find out more and to contact us by phone or email.
Thanks for watching
I'm not saying that internet in Panama will not be without its frustrations. It may stop for no apparent reason, you may pull your hair out while talking to, or trying to talk to, customer service, and then of course, the internet may be working fine, but you wouldn't know it because the electricity it out.
However, as you'd imagine, I use the internet all the time in Panama. Overall, while it is not lightening fast, it is more than adequate.
If you are in or near a city or town, it will be fairly easy to get internet. The more remote your location the harder it will be.
In the more developed parts of the country, like Panama City area, Colon and David, you will find high speed (for Panama) broadband cable internet and DSL.
In undeveloped, or older areas, then most likely you will be left with DSL as your fastest option. DSL can be fast, but its speed can fluctuate. In remote areas, the only option is satellite internet. Satellite internet can be very fast, but is more expensive.
At one time, the only Internet provider was Cable & Wireless. But since 2003 when the government opened up telecommunications to competition there have been a growing number of providers.
I asked a friend of ours to share her experiences with various internet companies in Panama. Specifically, in Puerto Armuelles, Panama. She has tried a few providers, while I have only used Cable & Wireless.
Our friend prefers to stay anonymous. I have edited her words slightly for clarity and added sub-headers.
Here is her experience with Internet in Panama.
I have used several Internet providers during my time in Puerto Armuelles.
Internet Activo
Currently I have Internet Activo and have been very satisfied with them and their service.
The only down side is they currently do not offer automatic deduction from a credit card for payment. So, I pay them every three months when I go to David. The other option would be to pay at one of the two banks where they offer a payment service of making the deposit and then providing proof of deposit.(Both banks are in Bugaba. But if I drive that far, I don’t see any sense in not just making a David run of it)
Planet Telecom
Planet Telecom was a personal nightmare for me on so many levels. They promised installation and equipment in a week – it took a month. I was at Andrea’s (an Internet place in downtown Puerto) for hours every day. (They knew not to set the timer on my computer!!) That was a pain because at the time I did not have my truck here.
When I was building my house, I wanted Plant Telecome to pre-wire my house. They sent someone out, finally, to do the pre-wiring. Because I had made an inquiry about the possibility of TV, as well as internet, they just assumed I wanted TV and installed that wiring as well.
I was charged for both the internet wiring and the TV wiring, as well as the travel and time to do the installation. The reality was that they were doing such a poor job that my worker, Jonathan, actually ran the wires! That is when I decided I would no longer do business with Planet Telecom!
Fidanque
I moved into my house and initially had Internet a company that is now called Fidanque. They were very good until they weren’t. I did like that they would automatically deduct the payment from the credit card I provided.
When they started the road expansion project, my Internet service was completely disrupted. I believe it was from interference from all the communications systems the road workers were using. At any rate they never could get the whole signal thing worked out so I had to move on.
Internet Activo (again)
Enter Internet Activo. They had no qualms about putting up an antenna that was high enough to block out the interference from the lower level interference. They are courteous, prompt, speak English and understand my payment schedule. I have been asking them to open a small account at Banco National, but so far no luck. I will ask them again when I go make the next 3 month payment. For some reason they believe that there is a $10,000.00 fee to set up automatic deductions from credit cards. There very well may be; I simply have no expertise in that area.
Cable Onda
Cable Onda has an excellent product and I had them for about a minute. (I still have their equipment on my roof).
The guy who signed me up spoke English. The guys who installed did not. After about a week, when I ran into a signal issue, I was dead in the water. No one anywhere in the company could speak English.
Right now, I am waiting for Cable Onda to finish laying all their fiber optic cable and will then I will switch over to them for phone and internet. They do have the best price – about $23.00 for 3meg of internet. Don’t know what it will be with telephone, but don’t think it will be that much more. They started marking their presence with a “deal” on satellite TV (all the blue dishes) so they would have some sort of customer base when they get the fiber optics done.
Cable & Wireless
Cable and Wireless has recently been bought out by someone else. They are unable to deliver 3 meg to Corazon de Jesus even though they say they can when they sign you up (enough theys for ya). Alexandra has them at her house – phone and internet – and the service is reasonably reliable. When there is an issue the repair guy is fairly prompt. They do have English speakers in their call center now so that does help with problems.
Internet Sticks or Dongle
I even tried one of those dongles and it was OK for checking email, but only while I was in the rental house. It never did work once I moved into my house.
(Note: you can buy these internet sticks, or traveling hotspots, from most internet and cell phone providers such as Claro and Movistar. They cost about $15 and the speed is slow. They can be useful for checking email and such in places without any internet.)
That is my Internet saga.
In another post, I (Betsy) will share my Cable & Wireless saga.
In May 2016, Cable & Wireless was purchased by Liberty Global. Hopefully, it will improve. Liberty Global is an American company, is in 30 countries and is the world's largest international TV and broadband company.
Here are some things to think about before choosing an Internet provider.
I would take their answers to these questions with a grain of salt, but it could give you a good indication of what it will be like to deal with them.
Important: Remember to check your Internet speed to ensure you are not paying for more than you are getting. Immediately downgrade so that you are paying for the speed you are getting, not the speed they promise you will get.
Updated March 16, 2017
Americans may have more reasons to get a Panama residency than other foreigners, but every nationality benefits. (Scroll down for 3 American specific reasons)
As I said, a cedula is a Panama ID card. You can only apply for a cedula, after you become a Panama resident.
A cedula is forever. It is a document with a number specific to you. Like your social security number, it never changes.
Without a cedula, anything you do: getting a bank account, electricity, buying land, or even registering your car is done using your passport number. Unfortunately, every time you renew your passport you get a new passport number as well. Changing the passport number you have associated with almost everything in Panama is a nightmare and takes time.
More Cedula Perks
Get even more details about Panama cedulas in one of my older posts.
If you’re an American, you may have even more reasons to want be a Panama resident.
3 Reasons To Consider
Learn more about 4 types of Panama Residency Visas on my site.
March 2017 UPDATE: New Tourist visa rules make it impossible to be a Permanent Tourist in Panama. You must leave the country for at least 30 days before you can get another tourist visa.
Until March 6, 2017, many people lived in Panama as tourists for many years. But no longer!
You will need many documents to get residency: an FBI report, finger prints, birth certificates, medical examination reports, affidavits and more. It all must be certified, authenticated, notarized, stamped and gathered together and submitted, in person, in your presence. And some of those documents, like your FBI report, can expire and need to be done again if too much time passes before you are able to submit it.
There are 8 or 9 Panama residence visas. As I mention above, I have written about the 4 most common types of Panama residency visas.
You may want to hold off on getting your residency visa until you are sure you want to live in Panama on a long-term basis. The tourist visa gives you 180 days to check out Panama as you decide if it is a good fit.
Please let us know if we forgot to mention some of the benefits of having residency. Please comment below.
Given that, I was surprised that one of my favorite things to do as we traveled around Panama was to stop by construction sites and talk with other builders. I had fled the hustle and bustle of the building trade in Seattle only to discover, once again, how much I enjoy the fundamental beauty of human “dwellings” and how they are built. Apparently I made a good choice when I chose to become a designer/builder.
It doesn’t take long for one builder, chatting with another builder, in a new area, before the conversation winds its way around to the cost of materials, the cost of labor, the cost of land, to arrive at the potential profitability of being a builder in this new location.
Although I always prided myself on being more of an artisan design/builder than just a financially-motivated contractor, the profit potential in Panama is very seductive.
Early in our Panama travels we met a young builder and his girlfriend at Playa Cambutal. Playa Cambutal is out on the Azuero Peninsula, past Pedasi and Tonosi. They were both surfers and they loved this beautiful surf spot. The young man had borrowed $30,000 (as I recall) from his father who was a realtor somewhere in California. With this money, he and his girlfriend were able to buy a number of oceanfront farms, totaling over 2 miles of beachfront. Amazing!
We all know stories like this, and at first glance, one might say, “Wow! You guys are lucky. I guess we got here too late.” I remember my Dad telling stories about the farm he could have bought in Northern Virginia, a farm that later became Tyson’s Corner Mall.
There have always been great deals. And there will always be great deals. And we are all going to die some day. We still see amazing land deals in Panama.
About 10 years ago we spent some time investigating Pedasi and Tonosi, and other nearby locations. Yes, we discovered some amazing land deals. However, we decided that we were not interested in living so remotely, so far from services. And we had no interest in traveling to check in on any land we would buy in such a remote location.
This young couple (above) explained to us that they had to spend several hours, twice a week, driving to a small town, about 40 miles away, to do their basic shopping. For our own family, spending so many hours on the road, just sitting in the car, and burning gasoline, would not have fit our desired lifestyle. This was the in-the-car lifestyle we were trying to avoid by moving from Seattle. So we left the Azuero Peninsula and chose to live and invest in Puerto Armuelles. If you have read our site much, you will know we are very happy with our decision.
When I am asked if there are any “deals” left in Puerto Armuelles, I have to chuckle.
In truth, the big speculator class of investors arrived in Puerto 12 or 13 years ago. We got here 3 years after the miles of beachfront were sold to speculators from out of town. These same early investors continue to sit on some of the largest tracts of beachfront property in our area. I have no idea how they spend their days. But I am sure that they hardly ever think about our little beach town, unless they are looking at their investment portfolios.
A couple of these “big fish” are now offering schematic drawings of their future plans for these properties, but they haven't started to build yet. Or seemingly will in the near future. Meanwhile, a smaller class of builders, folks like us, is beginning to develop and build.
Yes, there are deals still to be had here. But you will not find the best deals advertised on the internet. You will find them by being here in Puerto.
You need to look around. Decide on your favorite locations and start talking with people. You will start to hear about some stellar deals.
For instance, if you shop, you can still pick up a house, a block from the water, for only $11,000 and a buildable lot for as low as 3 to $5,000.
Puerto Armuelles is a beach town of 25,000 residents, give or take.
It has many good properties and existing buildings, that with a skillful touch can still be resold for a substantial profit.
We want to encourage designers and builders to come check out Puerto Armuelles. To discover if there are any potential projects that suit them in our town. If so, not only will you have a great project, but you can step out of the stressful lifestyle of being a builder, contractor, or designer up north.
If you have experience in alternative energy housing, cooling, and transportation, even better. That is an untapped market here.
There is plenty of room for competitors in our market. Puerto Armuelles does have a few good builders, but we definitely need more motivated and skilled investor builders to provide housing for the growing influx of expat retirees. More good builders will just bring a greater diversity of expats and Panamanians to enjoy the lifestyle that Puerto has to offer.
Small-scale projects are definitely in demand. We recently sold a couple of our own projects. We did not make ten, or even five times our initial investment, but we have done well enough to carry us forward. Plus we have had a good family adventure and enjoyed our time doing it. And we have also slowly evolved our guiding design principles for building in our area. We are eager to continue to buy, to build and to sell.
We are excited by the uptick in the housing sales market. This enables us and others to design and build in a manner that inspires us, and that we think will be useful to new expat residents of Puerto Armuelles.
Our friend Victor describes life in Puerto Armuelles as being similar to that of Hawaii, or Southern California of 50 years ago.
You may find Puerto Armuelles is a more relaxed, and probably a more profitable building environment. And you won't have the stiff competition from other builders.
The broadest market niche by far available to expats in the construction field is that of “investor/builder”. You don't need a work permit to work on your own property, even if your intent is to sell it.
However, for the last few years, Panama has made getting a work permit much easier. This is especially true if you obtain the easy-to-get, Friendly Nations visa. That permanent resident visa was designed as a stepping stone to a work permit.
If you are a builder looking for a change in lifestyle, we invite you to check out our town.
For the builder who loves a beach town lifestyle, I would say that Puerto Armuelles is similar to Puerto Vallarta 50 years ago. It is a relaxed, maritime environment. And it probably won’t be like this forever.
Related Reading
You may be interested in reading my articles about building. I have given my 2 cents on
We have also written about these related items:
You have 30 days to return the course for a full refund.
The Pimsleur website offers their courses both digitally and on CDs. They offer 50 languages, including Spanish, of course.
On Amazon, Pimsleur has a rating of 4.5 stars. 209 reviews. So that sounds good.
You can see the Amazon reviews here.
In general, the reviews seem to say that the course is good, especially for those who want to listen while in the car. However, the consensus seems to be that Pimsleur Spanish is too formal and the vocabulary limited.
I have not used Pimsleur myself, so I cannot tell you what it is like. Some readers have asked me about it though. So when I got an email from them announcing the sale, I thought I'd pass the news along.
You can also find Pimsleur used CDs on Amazon as well.
I still enjoy the Rocket Language Spanish course. You can find out more by reading my review of Rocket Language.
Which Spanish language course is your favorite? Please comment below.
Note: if you buy a language course using my links, I will make a little money. It won't increase your cost at all. If you are thinking of buying a course, I'd love it if you'd do so using my links. Thanks.
