The Beach Properties of Panama City

Written By: Gail Clifford | Published By: Weekend Notes | February 13, 2023

https://www.weekendnotes.com/beach-properties-of-panama-city/

If you’ve ever considered the ExPat life, you’ve likely considered Central American countries like Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Belize. My first visit to Panama City, Panama brought shocks, like physicians in Panama must be Panamanian born, as well as wondrous surprises. One lack at local hotels is a city map, gone since the pandemic. With an International Living conference to explain in specific detail all the things you need to know to move to Panama, came the opportunity to tour with realtors both the city and nearby beaches on the Pacific Coast.

During the city tour, you’ll learn more about the various neighborhoods. From Casco Viejo, the Old Town, to San Francisco, a family community with large green space compared to New York City’s Central Park, there’s something for everyone in the city and the environs.

If beaches are your preference, it works well to take a guided tour out as far as Coronado, the furthest area people generally find comfortable commuting to the city on some form of a regular basis. You’ll enter this gated community to find another gate in front of whichever neighborhood you choose. Then, if you choose a condo complex, you’ll have one more gate to enter before you’re home. It’s very secure and helps keep tourists and others that don’t belong from wandering across your property.

Coronado
Coronado’s known for its great variety of condo complexes, mostly built in the past ten years, shopping, entertainment, golf courses, and beaches. There’s a small medical clinic within the community gate that can handle simple issues. More complex medical problems are transferred to one of the Panama City hospitals.

Within Coronado, you can find houses for sale or for rent, condos for sale or for rent, and a variety of lot sizes variable distances from the beach. Most of the entertainment and shopping is up on the main road coming from Panama City. Plenty of ExPat locations can be found on Facebook, the preferred method of communication and online community.

Royal Palm

From Coronado, one highly sought-after resort nearby is the Royal Palm. Located in Playa Gorgona just 50 minutes outside Panama City, condos from one bedroom, and one bath for under $200k USD to condos over 100 m2 closer to $500k are available. The spacious social areas include (unheated) pools, a tennis court, an outside bar and even a small dog run.

Panama, a Central American country, maintains the US Dollar as its currency after the U.S. ceded control of the Panama Canal, as historically promised. As a sub-continent of North America, Central America utilizes the same electrical currency as the United States and so the same plugs without the need for an adapter or converter.

While Panamanian products can be less expensive than U.S. brand products, brand-specific items that require importation are understandably more costly.

Vista Mar Gulf and Beach Resort

The Vista Mar Gulf and Beach Resort provide options to choose luxury three- and four-bedroom condos with en suites or budget-friendly two-bedroom, two-bathroom units further from the community’s amenities. Most of the buildings in this community have parking as a car is truly beneficial when you’re this far from town (taxis are available but Uber is not allowed). Many people choose to own a “mule” as well, an ATV used to get themselves and all their belongings to the beach each day. It’s important not to leave anything of value in the mule.

The high-rise towers in Vista Mar provide sweeping views of the golf course out to the ocean. The sand, a sparkly black and tan combination, leads to a bit of mud before being in water deep enough to swim in. The water is pristinely clean and clear making it deceptive to determine depth. When swimming, be very mindful of riptide currents and be sure you understand how to exit them prior to entering the water.

Squat buildings further from the main buildings include smaller, simpler, and less expensive condos. With decreased price comes a little less convenience. The swimming pool for one complex is across the parking lot from an apartment we were shown. Few of the units have a dishwasher. It’s expected, even in those units without maid’s quarters, that those services would be handled by hired help. In the city, you’ll find maid quarters more readily available. These small, single bedrooms have space for a bed and a small wardrobe and are en suite with a compact three-piece bathroom. We saw no bathtubs in any of the condos (or hotels) in Panama. There was a bathtub in the home we visited in Coronado.