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Hi, this is Betsy at LivingInPanama.org. I was on the Puerto Armuelles Yahoo group the other day and found some great aerial photos of our town in Panama, Puerto Armuelles. The gentleman who took the photos graciously gave me permission to make a video using them, which you are seeing right now. The photos were taken from a two-person trike, like this one right here.
This is Norm. He's the person who took these photos, and he came down from Arizona to give a flying lesson to Paul. You can see Paul, or a little bit of Paul, sitting in front of Norm as they're taking off. You know Paul. He lives in David, or it could be in Boquete. I can't quite remember. I only see him when he's down here in Puerto Armuelles. He comes down here from time to time to fly his various aircraft at the airstrip.
Here they are going up in the air, gliding along the coastline right around Puerto Armuelles. What is unusual, you wouldn't think so in a country like Panama with so many coastlines, but it is really quite unusual to have a town right on the coast here in Panama.
Here you can see part of the town, the hills of Punta Burica in the background there. Here's a really nice bird's eye view of Puerto Armuelles. Here's the old Chiquita Banana pier. You can see it right there. It just comes right out of the downtown area. This is downtown.
There's Carmen neighborhood and beyond it San Vicente and, of course, the hills of Punta Burica there in the background. He must have turned north, because this is the neighborhood of Rio Mar in the northeastern part of town. You can see the ball field that Chiquita West uses.
You should know, in Panama, including Puerto Armuelles, they take baseball very seriously. There are actually quite a few baseball stadiums here in Puerto.
Here we are heading back over downtown Puerto Armuelles. This is the downtown area in the foreground and the bigger buildings. This is the waterfront park, and there's another park right across the street from it, and over here is the playground, which they just recently renovated, so it's looking pretty nice. You can see again that this is the banana pier, Carmen and San Vicente in the background, and there's the airfield here and other neighborhoods, like right here is Las Palmas, and that's where I am right now in my house making this recording.
Here they came in for a closer view along the waterfront. That's the waterfront park I was telling you about. Here's a little place that we often go have laquatos, sort of smoothies. This is the bus station right there, and if you continue along, you can go to a sports bar called Tisa Mar, which is, as the name implies, a very nice place to watch sporting events on TV. It also has great views on either side here. Sometimes from this area you can see the volcano, Baru, the one that's between Volcan and Boquete from here.
Now they're coming back toward the airstrip, and this is the neighborhood of Carmen. If you were on the ground, you would see that there are colorful row houses up on stilts. It's right along the ocean on this side, and on the other side of it is the great, big open space that people use for myriad of uses right along the airstrip.
Here you are approaching the airfield, and we see the old Chiquita Banana warehouses here. These are the hills, not on Punta Burica, but right outside of Puerto right beyond there. I believe this is the warehouse that a friend of ours, Rex, makes sports boats out of.
Here's the first approach of the runway for a visual check. A visual check is a very important thing as you're coming in to this runway because one never knows, there could be horses or bicyclists. Lots of people exercise here or a soccer game or baseball game, and there's even a 9-hole golf course that's played in the area around and including the airfield. You can see an old banana pier downtown. It's just out of site there.
Now they're going down into the final approach on the trike, and now we have touchdown. Here the firemen, bombeiros, from the firehouse right here are coming. There are a number of firehouses. This is the one right next to the air strip. They came out to check out this pretty cool deal. Both my husband, Ren, and I really want to go up on, so we're going to try contact Paul to make sure that can happen.
If you want to learn how to fly a trike, give Norm a shout at iflytrikes.com. If you want to find out about living in Panama, Puerto Armuelles, or real estate listings here, please visit us at LivingInPanama.org. Thanks for watching.
To find out more about Puerto Armuelles, start here.
February 16, 2013
A Magical Morning Of KayakingI was so happy Robin invited me to go kayaking on Saturday.
It was a beautiful day.
We started at Robin and Diana's house in the Cucuy neighborhood of Puerto Armuelles, Panama
Robin has an old shipping container filled with his sporting gear. It is crowded with kayaks for every occasion.
We took out two of his single sea kayaks and walked them to the beach.
It was a short walk.
There must have been a sardine run. I have never seen so many Pelicans in one place.
I wasn't able to take a photo of the "islands" of pelicans on the ocean. It is hard to juggle a camera while kayaking in the Ocean. It is too bad, Pelicans are my favorite bird.
I did get a shot of Pelicans roosting in a tree by the river (see below).
The ocean portion of our paddle was short.
We soon turned and entered the river mouth of Rio Palo Blanco. (I have a map showing the location of the river in the photos at the bottom of the page)
The transition from the ocean to the river was tricky. It had been awhile since I had kayaked.
It is embarrassing to admit, I capsized. Thankfully, it happened in shallow water and I easily recovered.
The river crosses the highway not far outside of Puerto Armuelles. We didn't make it all the way to the highway. The water level is too low this time of year.
The light and the peace and quiet on the river was magical. There were so many different kinds of shore birds to exclaim over and discuss. Some of what we saw are in the photos below.
I came back resolved to buy myself a sea kayak of some sort so I can enjoy these outings more often. If only I could get my kids excited about it too.
I returned to my house just 3 hours after I left.
It was hard to believe. It felt like I had visited another world.
Robin writes about a much more recent kayaking adventure in Boca Chica Panama here
January 23, 2013
Activity Is Bubbling in Puerto Armuelles, Despite Its Relaxed Lifestyle
He was primarily interested in looking at beach properties, or something within easy walk of the beach.
While we focused our investigations on the beachfront neighborhoods, I drove him through a number of other neighborhoods, so that he could get a better idea of the whole range of lifestyle possibilities available in Puerto Armuelles in order to understand a little better what makes this unique town “click”.
It’s always fun to watch people’s jaws drop when they discover that this place, which they had heard so little about, is actually a bustling (for Panama) urban village of 20,000 or so residents.
It’s situated right on the ocean, has a cohesive downtown, and boasts literally dozens of unique neighborhoods, each with its own social class, style, and housing density. These range from smallish downtown houses, right up to hacienda style ranches at the fringes of town.
When our tour arrived at the beach, I realized that in the short time since my last tour, there were already more new developments.
This was just in the beach neighborhoods to the north of Puerto Armuelles. Specifically, between the Corazon de Jesus and the Cucuy neighborhoods; a ten minute walk down the beach apart.
The quality of these projects was quite high. By far the most exhilarating construction to date in Puerto is in its final finish phase in the Coronado neighborhood. Don and his wife Sandy are putting the finishing touches on a huge volume, barrel-vaulted beach house that truly inspires the visitor. I won’t even try to describe it here. I’ll go back with my camera and get some photos to post.
Tsunami Inn Has A Great Location On The Water In PuertoAlso, at long last, there are nice places for folks to stay overnight when they are checking out Puerto Armuelles.
The Hotel Tsunami Inn is finishing the first of their second phase of construction. They are adding four new brightly painted guest cabanas to the existing three built last year. Folks who stay at Tsunami Inn especially appreciate the great location right off the beach, and the pool only steps outside the private cabanas (Be careful not to fall in, before you’ve had your morning coffee).
For more about the Tsunami Inn, visit this post.
The owners of the Tsunami Inn, Bob and Scott, continue to host a casual get together for horse shoes by the pool every Sunday afternoon.
Plus, they recently inaugurated a pickup softball game every Thursday afernoon at 3:30.
I missed the first game, but I heard that Tsunami Inn provided all the baseball gloves, bats, and balls, and that twenty folks showed up for the very first game. I will definitely be there this coming Thursday to join in the fun.
December 15, 2012
You Can Help The Many Poor Children In Bocas Del ToroAs a caring group of people, they recently rescued 2 tiny jungle kittens that had been taken by poachers.
Here is a link to a blog post about the rescue of the kittens. Another about one of their patients in Bocas.
At the end of each blog post, you have the opportunity to donate to the Floating Doctors.
You can donate one time or set up a monthly donation via Global Giving.
You can even volunteer for short or long term stints.
Click to find out more about volunteering, here.
Discover more about them.
Explore their site and see what they have been doing for a communities that have no other health care resources.
Thanks to SusanAgg1 of Gringos_in_David_Panama Yahoo Group. I didn't know about this group until I read her post about them.
Susan also says the Floating Doctors have helped out some expats with medical emergencies as well.
Please comment below.
Once you have a resident visa you can go through the border much faster.(photo of the border crossing at Paso Canoas)Updated: October 2017
The Friendly Nations visa is Panama's best residency program.
Once you get a friendly nations visa, you are then eligible to apply for a work permit. In fact they make it easy to do so.
It is all part of an effort by the Panama government to ease their shortage of skilled workers.
This permanent resident program is referred to as the friendly nations visa because of the language used in the executive order that created it:
"foreign nationals from specific countries that maintain friendly, professional, economic, and investment relationships with the Republic of Panama."
The Friendly Nations visa's legal name is Permanent Residence for Nationals of Specific Countries (NSC). Now you can understand why they came up with a nickname for it.
Since May 2012, when this visa was created, it has been both easier & faster for foreigners to get Panama permanent residency.
There are now 50 countries listed as friendly in the ever expanding list of countries Panama considers as qualifying for this visa. Here they are, in alphabetical order.
Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Marino, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United States of America, Uruguay, United Kingdom (Great Britain & Northern Ireland).
FYI, unless you are married to a Panamanian, foreigners are never permitted, even with this visa, to practice as medical & veterinary doctors, attorneys, architects, and engineers. (See 25 forbidden jobs)
The permit covers your dependents, children under 18, relatives with disability, and parents who depend on them.
Dependents can include your spouse and children up to the age of 25, if they are full time university students. You must provide a written letter of responsibility regarding your dependents. In addition, every son or daughter dependent over the age of 18 must provide an authenticated "I'm not married" certificate from their respective country.
After you have filed your applications - with all the required documents - the immigration office will issue a one year temporary residency card (carnet). This temporary card will be replaced by a permanent residency card once the application is approved.
Until February 2017, a obtaining a Friendly Nations Visa earned you a fast track to a work permit. Previously there was a a Presidential Decree ordering Panama’s Ministry of Labor to fast track acceptance of work permits for friendly nations citizens.
But in Februrary Panama made getting a work permit much harder to get. The easy path to work permits for Friendly Nations visa holders got alot harder. Click to read about the changes to the work permit requirements for Friendly Nation Visa holders.
Go here for information on getting a work permit in Panama - with and without this visa.
Panama's Pensionado visa is very popular.
There are 2 things to consider when comparing it to the Friendly Nation Visa
You can learn more about the Pensionado Visa on my site.
If you qualify for a Friendly Nations visa, the process to get a residency permit is easy. So if you were going to marry that young Panamanian only so you could get your residency permit, you may want to reconsider.
You can also explore 3 other Panama resident visa options.
Fun in the rainy seasonI am very much a rainy season person. Maybe it is due to all my time in Seattle, Washington.
I love the sound of the rain hitting our tin roof.
I love the smell of the earth after the rain.
I love the sight and sound of my kids delighting in the downpour.
They love to immerse themselves in it: run and jump and get really really wet.
It is worth the wait to plant in the rainy season.
Things grow so easily - and fast - in the rainy season.
We have all sorts of gardening plans, so I am glad the time has arrived.
Really, the dry season is only about 3 or 4 months long, so relatively, it isn't long to wait.
This March was so very hot.
March is usually the hottest month, but this March seemed particularly hot - at least it seemed so to me.
The ground was looking so very dry - almost scorched.
Now every thing is fresh.
Everything seems possible during the rainy season.
Though I imagine the folks involved in the Fair are not happy about the sudden arrival of the rainy season.
Last week, the David Fair ended. Part of that fair came here to Puerto.
So now own more sedate, and in my mind more pleasant, Puerto Armuelles Fair is open.
We have plans to go to the Fair tognight.
Unlike Seattle, when it rains here in Panama, people stay home.
The fair folks are probably cursing the sky right now.
March 2012
Music Starts Soft & Simple - Then Builds As Night DescendsIt also unexpectedly and unusually rained that night.
We actually went back the next day so my older daughter could go on some rides.
We had only made it to the bumper cars when the sky opened on us.
It only costs 75 cents to come on Sunday, so it was an easy decision.
Plus on our yearly trip to the Fair we like to make it relaxing by staying in a hotel.
By leaving earlier, we got some more relaxing hotel time.
When we first started going to the fair, we would drive to David.
(It is an hour to an hour and a half drive from Puerto Armuelles to David Panama.)
Do our errands and then go to Fair in the cooler part of the day.
That scenario involved us driving home late and in the dark - and all of us very weary.
Now we rent a hotel room.
We get into David, do errands in a leisurely manner, enjoy the hotel amenities. Then go to the fair in the cool of the evening.
But instead of driving the hour home exhausted. We go to our hotel room. Get a good night sleep and then a relaxing morning before heading home to Puerto Armuelles.
This is the first time we stayed in the Gran National Hotel. It was very enjoyable.
I was a bit dubious because of the mixed reviews of the Gran National in Trip Advisor.
Turns out it was perfect for us.
The Gran National had a variety of places to hang out. The kids enjoyed the pool, the exercise room, and the fish aquarium in the lobby. There were a number of places to eat in the hotel.
The breakfast buffet (included in the price) was a big hit with all of us.
I had wanted to stay at the Ciudad de David Hotel. But it was full.
We visited it the next day. I am glad we stayed at the Gran National.
The Ciudad de David Hotel looked alittle too stiff and "perfect" for us.
The Gran National is more of an old school sprawling hotel. Lots of people rave about the Ciudad de David Hotel though. At least according to Trip Advisor.
Update: We have since stayed at the Ciudad de David Hotel. We liked it alot. Not only is the customer service refreshingly attentive, but they had an excellent breakfast as well. I do still like the more relaxed hang out aspect (esp. by the pool) of Gran National better, but the Ciudad de David is a provides a superior hotel experience.
Oh, the Fair. The Fair was fun as well.
The David Fair is very much an Agricultural/Cowboy event. We always start by seeing the animals. Lots and Lots of cows! Big, Small and HUGE!
Horses are a focal point. Horses are judged, there are rodeos, pony rides, and lots of cowboy hats.
Then we see the plants.There are displays of produce and plants. Some are for sale and some are planted in displays.
It is a great place to buy plants for your garden.
Actually it is a great place to buy handcrafted furniture, toys, and more.
They sell items at the fair I have not seen for anywhere else.
There is alittle "zoo" of a variety of local animals and birds on display. You can see them for 50 cents more. It is interesting to see the animals and the birds. If you have strong feelings about the caging of animals, you may want to skip it.
Then of course there are the rides, cotton candy, and food venders. There is lot of music too. Loud music. But we are usually gone by time the music starts.
In short, the fair is fun.
Maybe if I didn't have children, I wouldn't go. But I am always happy I went.
According to the US News and World Report article:
When choosing a place to spend your retirement years, the cost of living is important. But it is only one consideration. The ideal retirement spot is a place where you can live a rich life filled with friends, travel, discovery, physical and intellectual distractions, and opportunities for growth. A super-low cost of living is great, but more important is the quality of life your retirement budget is buying you.
Many of the best options for enjoying an enormously enriched retirement lifestyle on even a very modest budget can be found overseas. Here are the world’s 18 top retirement havens, where an interesting, adventure-filled lifestyle is available for a better-than-reasonable cost.
1. Panama. Panama is the world's top retirement haven. Panama City no longer qualifies as cheap, but other spots in this country certainly do. Panama continues to offer the world's gold standard program of special benefits for retirees. The currency is the U.S. dollar, so there is no exchange rate risk if your retirement savings and income is in dollars. The climate in Panama City and on the coasts is tropical, hot, and humid. However, the climate in the highlands can be temperate and tempting. Panama is the hub of the Americas, meaning it's easily accessible from anywhere in North and South America and Europe.
Yes, most of the country is cheaper than in Panama City.
Where we live in Puerto Armuelles it is definitely less expensive.
One must be careful when choosing a restaurant in Panama City.
We went to a great Indian restaurant in Panama City. We enjoyed a very tasty and relaxing meal. We didn't even look at the prices when we ordered.
Everything was always so affordable in Panama.
We had got out of the habit of checking the price of things.
When the bill came we wished we had glanced at the prices.
The cost was more than we would have paid in Seattle for a similar restaurant.
Without a doubt it is cooler in the hills than on the coast.
It is not as humid as you would think it would be though.
I grew up in New York and my husband in Washington DC.
It is definately more humid in those places than in Panama.
Summers in DC are hotter, more humid, and MUCH more buggy than they are in Panama.
Okay I have not been everywhere in Panama. But where we live in Puerto Armuelles certainly less humid and buggy.
I agree with everything else the magazine says about Panama.
March 20, 2012 - plus more recent updates
This park is right on the waterfront in downtown Puerto ArmuellesTwelve years after Chiquita Banana closed its operations in Puerto Armuelles, the former Chiquita company town is once again showing signs of life.
Puerto Armuelles is slowly reemerging as the second most vital city in Chiriqui Province, after David.
David Panama, a little over an hour away, holds the honor of being the regional capital, shopping mecca, and largest town in Chiriqui.
Puerto Armuelles is the second largest town in Chiriqui, with a steadily improving economy and real estate activity.
Investors who bought land for pennies on the dollar while Puerto Armuelles was in its post-Chiquita Banana doldrums, are now looking like investment sages.
Real estate prices in Puerto Armuelles continue to rise.
Although, they are still far below land prices elsewhere in Panama, Costa Rica, or many other places in Central America.
Beach front lots are going for as little as $60/square meter.
The signs of economic recovery in Puerto Armuelles are various and gaining momentum.
The past two years, or so, has seen a notable increase in the number of expat residents.
At present, you can drive through most neighborhoods and see at least one expat construction project underway.
There are two beach areas with multiple house/condominium projects being built.
Two guys from Costa Rica are building a house on the beach in Coronado (located just past Corazon de Jesus), ten minutes north of downtown.
An expat is building his new home in the Porvenir neighborhood
A couple recently bought a house one block back from the beach in the Corazon de Jesus neighborhood.
A woman from Maryland just purchased a beachfront lot in the Cucuy area. She already has an architect drawing up her house plans.
The San Vicente neighborhood of Puerto is experiencing tremendous activity - especially the beachfront in the southern end of San Vicente.
There are actually too many recent purchases in or near Puerto Armuelles to list here. In fact, there is certainly more real estate activity that we have not heard about. There is no clearinghouse of real estate activity in Panama. This lack of full information is both a boon and a bane to Panama real estate investors.
One of the obstacles for people to visit Puerto Armuelles in the past was lack of information about it.
The one downtown hotel of Puerto Armuelles.Then even if you did hear about Puerto, there were very few options for staying overnight.
(FYI: Right now there are only 2 hotel options in Puerto. One is a dive and the other is marginally okay. There is one excellent B&B, but it is often full. But one new hotel and a B&B are on their way!))
In the past, most of Puerto Armuelles’ new foreign residents were friends of current residents.
These folks usually discovered the town while staying at a friend’s house.
Often these people also fell in love with Puerto Armuelles’ laid-back, beach town atmosphere.
However, if you didn’t have a friend in Puerto, it was very unlikely you'd visit Puerto.
Now, with the steady arrival of more expats, there are more chances for “friends of friends” to get a chance to visit.
Even better, the options for staying in Puerto Armuelles is finally increasing.
An expat and San Vicente resident is starting a new hotel, Tsunami Inn.
Tsuami Inn is located at the very south end of the San Vicente neighborhood.
It is a small hotel of cabanas, a rancho where breakfast and drinks will be service, and a swimming pool.
The cabananas will include bed, bath, and kitchen facilities.
Fishing and horse back riding tours will be offered.
According to the owner, Tsunami Inn will open in June.
Soon there will be a B & B in the Las Palmas Neighborhood
There is currently a B&B, called Finca de Oso.
Also there are additional longer-term rentals on the market.
You may also want to stay out on Punta Burica. Click here for lodging options on Punta Burica.
A couple of hundred meters down the beach road from the new hotel project, an expat couple has opened a beautiful new bar/restaurant on the beach.
It is called“El Ojo de Agua” (The Watering Hole) and is brand new.
When I visited, they still didn’t have gas connected to their range.
However, the sea breeze, the view, and the excellent quality of the construction and design of the place were a real treat.
The drinks are outstanding and reasonably priced.
A little further down the beach, heading back to town are several nice bars and restaurants.
Another beachfront restaurant is now under expat management and looks very inviting.
A little further down the road, a Panamanian-owned beach front restaurant has recently put on a second story addition to handle its expanding business.
All this says to visitors that Puerto Armuelles is no longer just a beans and rice place to eat lunch or dinner.
Other signs of growth for Puerto Armuelles are subtle, yet convincing.
You know the old saying, “nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd” ?
As recently as four years ago, a quarter of the store fronts were boarded up;
Unemployment was reportedly over seventy percent. The town was in desperate straights.
Now new businesses are popping up all over the place. The economy has noticeably improved.
At that time, retirees looking at Puerto Armuelles, often decided to move to David, or even Boquete.
This was the case even though one reason they moved to Panama was to live near the beach.
Now these “disappointed” folks who had really wanted to live on the beach, are jumping on the bandwagon and coming to give Puerto Armuelles a second look.
Puerto Armuelless is Attracting Alot More AttentionLocal Puerto expats are bumping into more and more retirees, especially expats from Boquete, who are tired of the cold, and the horizontally blown afternoon rainstorms, and are looking for a place to live in the tropics that is actually warm, and by the ocean.
I ran into one guy from Boquete who came to Puerto to fish for the day.
He said he had had no idea that Puerto Armuelles even existed before.
He had thought Puerto was just a boat launch, rather than a town of over 20,000 inhabitants.
Probably the predominant group checking out Puerto Armuelles are expat transplants from Costa Rica.
If you have ever visited Costa Rica, you know that it truly is a spectacular tropical paradise.
Plus Costa Rica has a longer history of tourists and expat residents and consequently more amenities to serve them.
The big down side to Costa Rica is that along with all its successful development, has come a corresponding rise in living costs.
The cost of everything in Costa Rica, especially when compared to living costs in Panama, is sky high.
Puerto Armuelles is just thirty minutes south of the Costa Rica border crossing at Paso Canoas.
So it makes sense that expats from Costa Rica are stopping by to have a look.
It appears, they like what they see in Puerto.
Housing is a fraction of the cost of comparable properties in Costa Rica.
Plus, lunch here still costs under two dollars, instead of the ten that you might spend in Costa Rica.
Find out for yourself why some people consider Puerto Armuelles to be the only true beach town in Panama.
Drive for 30 minutes on the road going south from Pasa Canoas and you will arrive at Puerto Armuelles.
Or if you are browsing the internet, it seems like every week there is something new being advertised in Puerto.
Who knows? You, too, might just find yourself calling Puerto Armuelles “home”.
