It is on the 2nd story of a commercial building. There is a bar, a pool hall, a small grocery store, and the hotel owner's residence underneath it.
An open air walkway circles the hotel. That is the most pleasant part of the hotel. If it were nicer, this balcony/walkway would be a wonderful place to watch the ocean and enjoy its breeze.
The staff are friendly and will change your sheets and clean your room every other day.
About 8 years ago, my family and I stayed here - twice. The old woman and her husband who ran it were delightful. But the beds were terrible. I mean truly awful. The bed sagged radically in the middle as soon as we laid down. It was as if the mattress was tucking us into a mattress sandwich.
Overall, though it was fine. Although, if the Heavenly's Hotel or Tsunami Inn had been available then, we would have stayed there.
It is in a great spot in downtown Puerto Armuelles. It is near the waterfront park, the bus station, and restaurants.
Although, it is right above a bar, I don't remember noise from the bar being an issue while we stayed there.
Learn about hotels in Puerto Armuelles Panama
Where to eat in Puerto Armuelles
They have rooms with bathrooms and rooms with a bathroom down the hall.
The bathrooms are not nice.
However, you can rent a room with a bathroom down the hall for only $7.50.
So for the price, it really isn't bad.
Want to explore property for sale in Puerto Armuelles?
We are happy to give you a tour of both the town and property.
Go to our contact us page and tell us when you will be here.
You can start looking at affordable Puerto Armuelles property for sale online at this page
Koco's Place is located off the main road on the outskirts of town.
Although it is out of town, it is an easy place to flag down one of the many taxis passing by.
It is a one story hotel with some landscaping. However, the hotel is old and is not being maintained or upgraded. Although, the hotel itself is pleasant enough, its beds and pillows are not.
The hotel does have a large lobby with lots of places to sit. It also has a banquet hall you can rent out. However, these main areas are not air conditioned nor is the furniture very comfortable.
It has a swimming pool, but the pool has had no water in it for over a year now.
The hotel is located at the corner of the main road into town and the road that leads the beaches in the Pez de Oro and Corazon de Jesus neighborhoods. It is about 5 minutes away from downtown Puerto Armuelles.
The Corazon de Jesus neighborhood is 2 miles away and the beach at the Pez de Oro neighborhood is 1 mile away from Coco's Place.
You can ask for an extra bed in rooms.
Learn about other hotels in Puerto Armuelles Panama
Find out about restaurants in Puerto Armuelles
Not the most attractive, or comfortable looking beds. But it could work for a short stay?
We stayed here for one night, years ago, and it was fine.
Looking for affordable property in Puerto Armuelles? Contact us for a tour. You can start looking at Puerto Armuelles property for sale here. We also have a listing book at the hotel. Ask Milton or a hotel staff person to see it.
Learn about the new owners, click here.
The Hotel is located in the San Vicente neighborhood of Puerto Armuelles.
You will see many signs along the road pointing you to the hotel.
The restaurant is closed on Mondays. On other days it opens at 5ish. However, you can go in anytime and order something to drink.
Read about restaurants in Puerto Armuelles, including one right next door to it.
Looking for affordable property in Puerto Armuelles? Contact us for a tour. You can start browsing our property for sale here. We also have a listing book at the hotel. Ask Milton or a hotel staff person to see it.
Learn about other places to stay in Puerto Armuelles Panama
Tsunami Inn is located in the San Vicente neighborhood of Puerto Armuelles.
It is across a quiet dirt road from the beach.
This hotel is centered around its pool and central "hang out" gazebo (see photo). You can stay in one of its 6 colorful cabanas. They are small, but an adequate size.
The front cabins, pool and gazebo face the ocean.
Note: Some guests who have stayed here have told us that it appears the owners have a financial arrangement with 2 local real estate people. After you arrive, don't be surprised if one of these 2 "realtors" shows up. I advise taking your time.
Horseshoes
You can play horseshoes here. They have a regulation horseshoe pit set up right by the swimming pool. One of the owners, Scott, is a champion horseshoe player. On most Sunday afternoons they have a horseshoe game for hotel guests and locals.
To tour affordable property for sale in Puerto, contact us. You can start exploring property for sale here. We also have a listing book at the hotel. Ask Scott to see it.
To make a reservation, it is best to email them.
Make sure to call or email them the day before to confirm that you are coming.
You don’t pay until you arrive. They only accept cash.
Apartment (long-term) Rate
The apartment is 1 bedroom, with A/C, wifi, full kitchen, dining area, bathroom, and separate entrance and parking space.
Email - [email protected]
Phone-
Add the country code 507, if you are calling from outside of Panama
Learn about other accommodations in Puerto Armuelles Panama
Find out where you can eat in Puerto Armuelles
January 30, 2016
See photos below.
They are not available to adopt yet!
You can pick your new dog up on February 20th. That is when they will be spayed/neutered.
But you can claim your pup today.
Please call Irma today! - 6230-3623
Irma is one of the volunteers with Los Animales.
The puppies's mom died. They were found homeless and hungry.
There were 6 puppies available, but Pat has already claimed one.
Currently they are alittle more than a month old.
I will update this post with more information, like their gender, when I get it.
Click on any photo to enlarge and start slideshow.
Learn more about Voluntarios Por Los Animales and other ways you can help the animals of Puerto Armuelles.
If you adopt a puppy, please let us know!
The landscape and garden design are certainly beautiful, but are by no means the best out there.
During the afternoon hours, the festival ground are relatively vacant.
In Panama, crowds only begin to filter in around early evening. In order to attain the lively festival experience you may need to sacrifice a good night's sleep in order to drive home, or money on a hotel room. During the evening & night, the festival adds amusement rides, live music and dancing to the mix.
Scroll down to see photos of the festival & Boquete
Of course if you don't mind a slower paced festival escapade or the hot sun, a one day trip to this festival is perfect.
Since this event was originally a coffee fair, it still offers up a large variety of local coffee brands. Boquete is known for having some of the best coffee in the world, so if you enjoy a good roast you should give this event a visit.
The festival is surprisingly small, especially for an event that has been held for over fifty years. Venders occupy most of the fair grounds, selling flowers, coffee, and traditional hand crafted souvenirs.
Though many people come for the coffee and flower arrangements, to me the real star of this event is the town and the scenery surrounding it.
During the 10-day festival there is an explosion of venders outside the festival grounds as well as inside. While in town you you might like to visit the plethora of restaurants, ice cream shops, as well tour coffee farms.
So if you come to Boquete solely for the festival don't forget to stay a little while, look at the views, and grab a bag of local coffee beans for the road.
The festival is the attraction, but in order to get the full experience you have to appreciate the town that puts it on, Boquete.
If you want to learn more, my Mom, Betsy, wrote some about the history of the Boquete Flower & Coffee festival.
This article was written by my 14 year old daughter, Skylar Vayda. Over the next 3 months, Skylar will be writing a Panama-related article each week. She will be picking the topic. We hope you enjoy them.
El Pulpo is on a quiet street. It is close to downtown Puerto Armuelles.So our little family of four ventured out to try the dinner fare at Restaurante El Pulpo (The Octopus).
The restaurant is on a quiet street in the Rio Mar neighborhood. It is just one street behind the waterfront houses.
Which is the street that has the short one-lane bridge going from Pueblo Nuevo/Downtown to Rio Mar. It is about 500 meters past the bridge, on the right- hand side of the street.
That one-lane bridge used to be known as the “bridge over the stinky little slough”, before work on the new and improved sewer system for Puerto Armuelles began early in 2015. While the sewer system is not quite finished yet, the family didn’t notice any odors when we crossed the bridge.
There is a sign out front announcing “El Pulpo, so you won’t miss it. (see photo above.) There is plenty of on-street parking, since this part of the road is off the main thoroughfare.
The owner, Cinia, is outgoing and friendly. She only speaks Spanish.
We went with Cinia's recommendations, ordering a plate of Mariscos Mixtos (Mixed Seafood) in salsa, as well as a plate of camarones al aljillo (shrimp in a garlic sauce).
The four of us weren’t too hungry, so splitting the two meals was plenty of food.
We were quite pleased with our dishes.
There was ample succulent seafood, including shrimp, mussels, fish, squid, and yes, pulpo (remember, “pulpo” means octopus).
The seafood was a little greasy though. You didn't notice the grease so much as you ate it. It just tasted delicious. But afterwards, our bodies let us know we had consumed more grease than we were used to eating .
The side dishes were the usual, meaning french fries and Patacones (fried plantains). As usual, there were no vegetables offered, other than steamed Yucca, a starchy root vegetable, and a tiny garden salad of iceberg lettuce, tomato, and onion. However, the presentation was pretty nice, for a budget Panamanian restaurant.
Click on a photo below to enlarge
It is open 7 days a week from noon to 11pm.
El Pulpo seems like a good quality, economical place to eat lunch or dinner. Overall, our family enjoyed our dinner and chatting with the owner, Cinia.
We would definitely recommend this restaurant as a good addition to Puerto Armuelles’ still rather limited list of dining out options.
Thanks for the tip Victor!
Victor is an ex-pat who lives in the Corazon de Jesus neighborhood.
If you decide to give El Pulpo a try, please let us know what you think.
We’d like to know if it is consistently good, how the service is, etc….
Thanks!
Betsy will be adding this to our site's list of Puerto Armuelles dining options.
He had overheard my most recent session with Rocket Language, Spanish.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Rocket Language. My biggest surprise was that it records your attempts at speaking Spanish.
This is huge for me.
I am terrible at pronunciation.
Often, I think I am saying a Spanish word correctly, but my family assures me that I am not!
Rocket Language encourages me to speak Spanish out loud. And it's feedback system helps me to improve my spoken Spanish.
With Rocket Language, I feel comfortable saying a hard word over and over until I am saying it correctly. It is radically different from my past study techniques.
In a class, your teacher usually won't keep after you for too long. It can be discouraging for both of you. Or they are happy with, good enough. In a book, or even with CDs or videos, you have no way of knowing if you are saying the words correctly or not.
Rocket language has a microphone that records your attempts at speaking Spanish. (Check out the image of how that looks.)
The recording system (Rocket Record) records, rates, and transcribes what you say (in green).
The rating and transcription system does not always work well. But really the most useful feature is the recording. That is, the ability to hear yourself speak, and to immediately hear the "teacher" say it correctly.
With those 2 tools you can immediately discover how well you are speaking, and what you need to do to correctly say the Spanish words.
I have found the recording system invaluable.
One of my biggest stumbling blocks to surging toward fluency, is consistency. It is difficult to even remember to study every day.
Here in Panama, I do speak Spanish everyday. But that doesn't mean I speak Spanish better each day.
If I don't actively try to improve my Spanish, I simply repeat the same poor Spanish every day. In this way, Rocket Language does try to help you. It keeps track of how often and how long you use the course. (See the image above for the tracking system.)
I am finding it so useful that I actually bought the program. If you know me, you know that is a big deal. I don't purchase things lightly.
I had been using the free trial version of Rocket Language. The free trial allows you to delve into a few lessons at each of its 3 levels. I particulary like that even with the free trial you get lifetime access. It took me a week after I signed up, to start taking one of the classes.
In the free trial, you only have access to a few classes in each level of Spanish classes. But it is enough to get you started and to find out if you like Rocket Language.
It was enough for me to decide to buy into Rocket Language.
Of course, for someone like me, it is also reassuring to know that I have 60 days to ask for a full refund. So if I find that I don't actually use it, I will ask for a refund. But I hope that I do use it - and consistently. I really want to improve my Spanish.
My Spanish is improving by my actively using Rocket Language. I recommend you check it out and see if it works for you too. Read over this Rocket Language review and see if you agree.
You can get the free trial here.
If you want to jump right in and become a full-fledged member, you can join Rocket Language here.
There are a number of membership options depending upon your goals and current level of Spanish. Right now there is a discount on membership. If it is over when you click, there is likely to be another discount again in a few months.
Remember you have 60 days to cancel and get a full refund. I'll update this review if I decide to get a refund. Right now it seems highly unlikely.
If you are looking for tips on how to learn any language, you should download the free pdf. You can do it here, or click on the image at the top of this page.
I will also be testing out other online Spanish classes and programs in the future. I want to know what is out there and how they compare to Rocket Language. So stayed tuned for future reviews.
In the meantime, I created a short summary of the online Spanish classes or programs. Programs that use technology to make it more fun & easier to learn Spanish. If you are interested in exploring other options, you may want to start with those online Spanish programs.
I also highly recommend you check out Rocket Language. At least their free trial.
Watch this interview with the organizer, Irma Guerra, and the volunteer veterinarian, Dr. Roberto Crespo.
[leadplayer_vid id="56A76207C6ECD"]
At first, an organization in David, Voz de las Animales, had conducted a monthly animal clinic in Puerto Armuelles. But after a year they stopped.
Then Dr. Crespo asked Irma if she was willing to organize the monthly clinic in Puerto Armuelles. If she was, he would continue to come down from David for the clinic. Irma was willing and Voluntarios Por Los Animales - Puerto Armuelles was born.
One of the volunteers owns Coco's place, a hotel in Puerto Armuelles, and that is where the clinic is held.
Voluntarios Por Los Animales - Puerto Armuelles has a facebook page.
Please like it. Upload any photos you have from the clinic, and let people know about this organization.
I am sure the page will expand and provide more information on how you can help as the organization grows.
Help with any of the items below would be tremendously appreciated.
You can also collect money for them. To make it look official and consistent, they have a wrapper for you to cover your collection jar.
If you would like a collection jar wrapper, please contact Irma. I had a downloadable version on this page but was asked to remove it. The organization would like more control over who is collecting money using official-looking collection jars.
One woman taxi driver in Puerto Armuelles collects donations from her riders. You can also donate at the clinic itself. They have a collection jar at each clinic, ready for your generous contribution.
Important
If you station a collection cup in a location, you are responsible for collecting the money and getting it to Irma. You can always bring it to one of the monthly clinics.
Do not feed your pet for at least 12 hours before the procedure.
If possible, you should call to say you are bringing your animal to the next clinic. Animals are seen on a first come, first serve basis.
Call Irma to make a reservation or to volunteer - 6230-3623
I went during the January 23rd clinic. I had planned to bring our dog, Ziggy, to be neutered in the morning. Unfortunately, my daughter forgot and fed our dog that morning. I went by the clinic simply to say, sorry I didn't bring my dog, I will next month.
Both Dr. Crespo and Irma were wonderful to talk with. I had planned on interviewing them sometimes, but not that day. But there was a lull in their patients, they were willing, and it just felt right. That is why the video is a little shaky and rough. I didn't bring a tripod or microphone. But hopefully, it is enjoyable anyway.
I happily accepted when Irma asked if I would publish photos of animals ready for adoption.
She will send them to me every month.
For instance, the photo here of a cat that is available to be to adopt now.
In the video, she stated she has 2 cats to adopt. But I think one was adopted already. This cat is only 3 months old and very adorable.
The 6 puppies Irma mentions in the video will not be ready to adopt until February 20th. That is the day of the next clinic. They will be spayed at that time.
So check back next month for photos of those 6 puppies for adoption.
