December 27, 2014 & Updated February 2, 2015
UPDATED
Milton Hutto, an expat in Puerto Armuelles, has been busily building this hotel & restaurant over the past year. (He named the hotel after his daughter.)
He has done a commendable job.
The restaurant is open!
My mouth waters when I think about Milton's description of the food he served in the restaurant he had for years in the States.
I look forward to trying his menu here.
I plan on going soon. I will post a review of it.
There are both English and Spanish speaking waiters.
It is in the San Vicente neighborhood.
It is next door to another good, if a bit greasy, seafood restaurant, Las Juanas.
Las Juanas was named after a then popular soap opera from Colombia.
Rates are from $45 to $100/night.
There are long-term rates available
To reserve you room, call
Learn about hotels in Puerto Armuelles Panama.
Your Answers Are Essential To Figuring Out Your Real Cost of Living In Panama
"Can I Afford To Live In Panama?"
After you answer those questions, the next thing to think about is your capital investment.
Will you pay, up front & in cash, for the following?
If you can afford to buy your home and car, up front & in cash, your monthly budget will be lower.
So if you do decide to get a Panama bank loan for your home, don't forget to factor in the costs of all that insurance.
Also with a car loan you are required to get full coverage insurance.
Panama does require drivers to get car insurance. But only liability is required. You can purchase that for about $120 a year.
In general, we have found that an income of $1200 a month for one or two is enough to live comfortably, although not in luxury.
But you need to determine what lifestyle you desire. Then you can figure out what it will cost to maintain it in Panama.
To look at actual budgets.
UPDATED POST
Keep in mind, you can make a reservation for a flight from the USA (or elsewhere) all the way to David Panama, but it will NOT be a non-stop flight.
All flights must stop in Panama City's Tocumen airport. Once you land at Tocumen, you will go through immigration and customs and then you go to the Copa counter and check your bags. Once you are checked in, you will walk to the domestic terminal at Tocumen to catch your connecting flight to David.
Thankfully, this is usually a pretty quick process.
You can typically make it with only an hour between landing at Tocumen and catching your connecting flight to David. However, I'd recommend giving yourself more than that minimal hour between the flights.
The advantage of purchasing your ticket all the way through to David is your baggage allowance.
If you book your flight from the USA (or where ever) through to David, Copa Airlines will allow you the same baggage allowance as your flight to Panama City permits. Typically international flights have a much higher baggage allowance than domestic flights.
This is good option if you have more than 1 checked bag of over 44lbs (20 kilos). Most airlines coming to Panama allow bags of up to 50 lbs and often allow up to 2 bags. Normally, Copa allows you only 1 checked bag of 44lbs (20 kilos) on its flight to David. That is, unless you booked your international flight through to David.
Find out more about flights from Panama City to David.
My comment on my original post: While there are still no direct flights from the USA to David, there are more flights to David that are not controlled by George Novey. As I explain above, for the last year or more Copa offers flights to David out of Tocumen.
This is a big improvement. You used to have to change airports in Panama City to catch a plane to David. Copa airlines, my favorite, offers flights from Panama City to David out of Tocumen airport. Air Panama continues to offer flights out of Panama
Here is that original post:
The internet is awash with hopeful information on this topic. So often it seems like it will happen. For awhile I bought into the hoopla.But I don't think it will ever happen.Or at least not anytime soon.
The short answer is Air Panama.
Air Panama is Panama's only regional airline, since Aeroplas airline closed in 2012
George Novey owns Air Panama. He is a very well connected, very wealthy, international businessman.
He is one of the main reasons there will never be direct flights to David from either the USA or Panama's Tocumen airport.
He is making oodles of money with Air Panama's flights out of the Albrook Airport.
He has no competition. There is not other airline who offers the flights that Air Panama offers.
Any direct flight from another airport into David will drastically reduce Air Panama's profits.
David is the 2nd largest city in Panama. There is alot of demand for flights in and out of David.
Maybe I am cynical. But unless Mr Novey can make money on direct flights to David, that do not originate from the Albrook Airport, I don't think there will be any.
Need to fly to David? Learn how you can fly from Panama City to David here.
Please comment below.
UPDATED Feb 9, 2017
View from Airplane. Flying Out to Panama City.In this post, I give up-to-date answers to 3 common questions about that flight
Yes, you can now get a connecting flight from Tocumen to David’s Enrique Malek Airport! Thank goodness.
But there is a caveat.
Technically, you can only fly from Tocumen to David’s airport if you are connecting from an international flight. You allowed a 24 hour window between arriving in Panama City to boarding the connecting flight.
However, I have flown from Tocumen to David more than 24 from having arrived on an international flight. But I wouldn’t count on being able to do that.
Also, check out this tip about reservations and baggage limits on the flight from Tocumen to David
Previously
This development is wonderful, and so much cheaper for travelers. International travelers used to have take a taxi from Tocumen to the Albrook airport to catch a flight from Panama City to David.
Given schedules and time needed to get to Albrook, you often had to spend the night in Panama City and take a flight out of Albrook the next day. This meant you had to pay for taxis, a hotel, and meals in addition to the flight. And even if you could catch a flight that day, you had the cost of the taxi ride to Albrook.
With Copa’s flight to David you get to skip the taxi ride to Albrook and you are much more likely to be able to catch a connecting flight that day.
Cheaper Fares
Plus since Copa started offering flights to David out of Tocumen, Air Panama has lowered their fares. Previously, Air Panama's fares had been inching up steadily. I took a flight in early 2015 which cost me $102, without taxes. When I last checked, Air Panama's base fare was as low as $40!
To book a flight on COPA, click here.
Air Panama is the only airline offering flights out of the Albrook airport (aka, Marcos A. Gelabert International Airport).
Air Panama is Panama's only domestic airline. (Copa is Panama's International airline)
Air Panama offers many flights out of Panama's Albrook airport
Destinations out of Albrook Airport
Air Panama does not fly after dark. This impacts its flight schedule.
To book a flight go to flyairpanama.com
You can call their office in Panama City as well at
(507) 316-9000, 315-0888, 315-0300
The people doing the booking speak English.
Fare Discounts
Pensionado's & other senior residents get a discount on the ticket. I believe it is a 25% discount. You must show your qualifying visa or cedula to receive the discount.
Albrook Airport Location
The Albrook airport is next door to both the main bus terminal and the Albrook Mall.
It is a 15 minute drive from downtown Panama City and 30 - 45 minutes from Panama's Tocumen International Airport.
If you are not flying to David, but somewhere else in Panama you will need to fly out of Albrook.
Plan on it taking 2 -3 hours from the time you land at Tocumen to when you take-off at Albrook.
This allows time for:
Your best bet is to take a taxi. If all goes well, it will be a 30 minute taxi ride. But it is best to allow an hour for travel time. Of course, you can also take the bus there. If you go by bus you need to allow more time.
I hope that helps answer some of your questions about flying from Panama City to David, Panama
Please comment below.
Sheryl is happy she shipped her car (and other stuff) to Panama.
But it really isn't that much trouble to buy a car in Panama.
There are things to look out for, but it can be a very pleasant experience.
I describe our experience buying a used car in Panama here.
You might also enjoy reading these tips on driving in Panama.
You may not want to sell your car before moving to Panama.
We have always been thankful that we keep one of our cars in the States.
Visits are much cheaper if you don't have to rent a car.
Of course you must figure out how to store it when you are not there.
But it isn't very difficult. Usually we found a friend with some extra space in their garage. A much cheaper option than using a car storage facility.
Make sure you reduce your insurance rates to cover a car in storage. I think the cost of insurance on our garaged 1998 Honda Odyssey is $120 a year.
Panama's cheap labor can make it seem smart to start a business here.
You'd simply find an unmet need, hire as many cheap Panamanian laborers as possible, and watch the profits roll in. Right?
The truth is that there is a huge gap between the “apparent cost” of hiring Panamanian labor and the “true cost" of that labor.
First of all, there is a big difference between what an employer would expect of a worker in the States and what an employer is likely to receive from a laborer in Panama. It doesn't matter if you are hiring a gardener, a cleaning person, a fruit picker, or agricultural worker on a coffee estate, palm oil farm, etc…..
There is a clear link between the absolutely abysmal public education system and the kind of employee that one is likely to encounter in Panama. Since there is no emphasis placed upon independent thinking and problem solving in many Panamanian schools, the average worker is totally unprepared to take on even the simplest responsibility.
I have seen painters wait all day for the boss to return to the job site to show them the paint brushes they should use. Meanwhile, there were perfectly good brushes on site, but under a few rags in a paint bucket. No one even thought to look for them. They just waited for the boss.
Those painters would demand to be paid for a full day, even though they didn't paint at all that day. Which means, if a painter was being paid $15/day, the first day’s labor cost has just doubled, and the actual cost for the painter is now $30/day.
You, as the employer, now understands that if the paint brush is not placed directly into that painter’s hand (right hand, if he’s right handed; Left hand if he’s left handed), then it is safe to assume that no painting will be done, until this first step is accomplished. Okay, maybe I'm overstating the case, but you get the idea.
Of course, with experience, you will learn to vet prospective employees more carefully, talking to former employers (hopefully expats), to see if the laborer is capable of doing the required task to your satisfaction.
You need to master this first, and most important step, of hiring the right worker. It is critical to your success, whether it is doing a small home remodeling project, or opening a hotel or restaurant.
Expats who wish to hire an employee, even for a simple domestic task such as house cleaning, cooking, or gardening, may talk to their Panamanian neighbors and find out that the neighbor has employed the same couple, the wife to cook and clean, and the husband to garden and do handyman tasks, for the past 25 years. You may also discover that the couple, in all that time, has never had a pay raise, a paid holiday, or had any social security payments made on their behalf.
To the tender hearted, this sounds like slavery. To the unscrupulous, this sounds like a money making machine. Imagine, laborers who work for peanuts, and demand nothing in return! If this sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is.
The same innocent Panamanian couple who will work for slave wages for a wealthy Panamanian, will never, ever, give an expat that kind of a deal. Don’t try to figure out why a poor Panamanian has no problem being taken advantage of by one of their own countrymen. You will waste a lot of time.
Books have been written about the sense of inferiority which poor latinos, from all over the Americas, feel which causes them to feel powerless in their relationships with their wealthier compatriots.
Some hypothesize that it is a vestige of their conquered and colonized past. Whatever the origins of this attitude of inferiority, rest assured that though an expat may receive some superficial respect, merely for being presumably wealthy, that is where the homage ends.
An expat has no access to the historical mandate that a Panamanian of wealth has over his less affluent countrymen. If you make the mistake of thinking that you do wield this same power, this same historic right, you are in for a rude awakening.
The number one way to have a good working relationship with a Panamanian employee is the same as it is anywhere: Choose the right person for that employment.
Panama is a tiny country. With very little effort, you should be able to talk to former employers of your prospect.
Once you have a good employee, you need to treat him really well.
Since there are so many truly worthless prospective employees in the country, if you do your research and land yourself an outstanding employee, you should feel grateful.
Not just a little bit grateful. But very grateful.
In Panama, as in other more traditional cultures, a good employee, one who thinks he has landed a good, long-lasting job is also very grateful.
As an expression of that gratitude, he would probably like to continue to be your employee for the rest of his life.
If this is what you want as well, then this is a match made in heaven. You want a forever employee whom you like and trust. Your employee wants a lifetime job with a compassionate and appreciative employer.
Probably the best way to show your appreciation for your employee, is to pay him more than other employees who do similar work in your area receive. But be careful about creating expectations and a sense of entitlement.
If you have the best employee in your town, you should pay your employee the highest wages in your town. It’s just that simple.
While there are those who say that if you “spoil” your employee by paying him too much. His work output will fall off, and you will end up with an overpaid, underperforming employee. No one wants that. But it can happen.
It is my opinion, and personal experience, that you avoid this problem by successfully hiring the right employee. If so, then paying an above average wage to that employee will not cause a problem.
However, you must also remember that workers in Panama are not motivated by money the same way as a worker is in the western world, especially in the States.
A person's pride is often just as important to them as their wage. And people are not necessarily motivated by accumulating more money, just to have more money. But they do want what they consider enough money. The trick is finding out what that amount is.
Looking for property? Click here to see our affordable beach properties.
We love to hear from you.
Please share your thoughts on this post below.
One of our maids had to pay IDAAN (the water company) the $600 she owed before they would fix her pipes. It is not unusual for people to rack up a 400 or even $1000 bill with IDAAN.
Of course, IDAAN won't necessarily come out and fix your pipes even if you have paid in full.
Which means, if you buy property in Panama, make sure the owners pay off any outstanding water and electricity bills BEFORE you sign a sale contract.
But I have never heard of IDAAN cutting off someone's water before. Even if they haven't paid for years.
(FYI - a residential water bill is somewhere between $3-$9/mo - depending upon where you live and if you get a discount. )
But IDAAN did cut off the water to the huge and very popular MultiPlaza Mall in Panama
It happened yesterday, October 28th.
They owed $48,000.
Wow!
Maybe they just thought they could continue to skate by. Or maybe someone ticked off a bigwig at IDAAN.
But I imagine the other big malls checking their IDAAN balances today.
A spokesmen for the mall said they were preparing a statement in response to the situation.
Hum.. I wonder what explanation you could give for owing 8 times more money than most Panamanians earn in a year.
Source:
http://newsroompanama.com/
It has been under-construction, including significant amount of time with no construction, for the last 10 years. I have driven by it before, but not since it has been officially opened.
It has 8 galleries, but only 5 of them are fully installed and ready for viewing.
The highly sought after architect, Frank Gehry, designed the museum. The design of the museum is very much in keeping with his organic, non-traditional, and unique style.
Panama's Biomuseo is also surrounded by a new 6-acre Biodiversity Park designed by Gehry in collaboration with landscape designer Edwina von Gal.
The museum celebrates Panama's rich biodiversity.
The Biomuseo is designed as a public open-air atrium covered by a sequence of multicolored metal canopies. It is often referred to as having "colorful origami-like canopies".
These folded canopies are designed to represent both the many tin roofed colorful houses and the diverse flora and fauna of Panama. Panama is one of the most biodiverse places in the world.
When we are in the States, we usually call Seattle home.
Gehry created a similarly "folded" roof exterior in Seattle for Paul Allen's EMP or Experience Music Project building.
Gehry's design of the EMP tries to capture the music and guitar playing of Seattle native Jimmy Hendrix. (See the photo of the EMP on the right.)
I think the Panama City's BioMueseo is much more attractive than Seattle's EMP.
I look forward to visiting it.
Panama's BioMuseo in June 2014
October 26, 2014
Casa Bruja is the local brewery that makes the IPA, Chivo Perro (which means, goat dog. Go figure). It also makes a blonde, amber, stout, and barely wine.
Its IPA stands up well to all but the hoppiest of IPAs in the States.
Casa Bruja does not have its own pub, but a number of bars and restaurants in Panama City offer their beer.
I tried Casa Bruja's beer at the Smoke Shack (see photo of my husband imbibing, above). The Smoke Shake also offers 2 other Casa Bruja's beers and a few US microbrews as well.
You can visit the Casa Bruja website to see where else you can sample their brews.
By the way, if you are hankering for alot of meat and a brew, the Smoke Shack is a good choice. They are very friendly, offer good service and good food.
It is located across the street from the DoubleTree hotel near Iglesia de la Carmen. (If you don't want to eat mammoth amounts of meat, try their salad which still includes a significant amount of meat, but not an overwhelming amount.)
All the raw materials for these craft beers must be imported - malt, yeast, hops...
The only ingredient you can get locally is the water.
The cost of producing 5 gallons (50 pints) of beer can range from $30 to $50, not including the shipping costs. With shipping the cost goes up to $100 for every 5 gallons of beer produced.
What this means is that the Chivo Perro I bought at the Smoke Shack cost $6. If I had bought a Lost Coast micro-beer from Oregon, USA instead, I would have paid less, $5.75.
The food is better than the beer at Istmo Brew Pub. I found the beers rather flat tasting as well as a bit sweet and cloying.
They are drinkable. But nothing to write home about.
There are 2 Istmo Brew Pub locations. I have been to the one in the El Congrejo neighborhood 2 or 3 times.
If you are young and single it can be a very happening place on the weekends & later in the evening.
I avoid it then. I go when it is quieter. Their patacones pizzas are worth checking out.
You can see their menu below.
Its patacones pizza uses mushed fried plantains instead of usual pizza crust. It is surprisingly good.
I have not yet made it to this brew pub.
So I am to offer you other people's experience and knowledge about the brewery.
La Rana Dorada is run by the same people that are behind Colombia's hugely successful Bogota Beer Company.
La Rana Dorada means The Golden Frog
They have hired master brewer Brad Kraus. This is good news. Kraus has 25 years of brewing experience and is international recognized as an excellent brewmaster. He has worked in breweries in New Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia.
In 2010, La Rana opened their first brew pub in Panama City. They now have 3 locations.
Here is what roamingaroundtheworld.com thinks of them:
roamingaroundtheworld.com also says that La Rana
"was one of the breweries in which we felt the dirty water taste slightly came through in the beer, but they were still very drinkable and we very much liked the brewpub overall."
I am going to be searching out one of their brew pubs next time I am in Panama City.
To find out more go to La Rana's website.
I couldn't much information out about this brewery.
It seems like a much smaller scale brewery then the others.
They do have a facebook page.
Based on reading its FB page I get the sense that the people involved in La Legitima seem like a fun group of serious beer lovers. I'll try to track down their beer.
The 3rd Annual BeerFest will be in March 2015 in Panama CityLa Legitima is mentioned as joining with the 3 other micro-breweries, above, in starting Panama's own International Beerfest in 2013.
The Panama's 3rd annual International Beerfest will be March 13 -14, 2015.
However, I would check that date in January. Things can be somewhat fluid in Panama. The last 2 Panama beerfests were in February.
If you drink beer and are in Panama City then, I'd recommend going. I will.
Below is a rating chart of Panama Beers created by RateBeer.com .
According to RateBeer.com, the more reviews a beer receives the more likely its score will increase. This is because they use a weighted mean.
Do you agree with these rankings?You can read each person's review of the beers and add your own voice by going to the source of this chart.
