Panama is rarely listed among Americans’ top Central American vacation destinations, but this narrow country has wide possibilities for a family vacation. My family of four is happy to report that Panama is much more than just a canal. Skyscrapers, jungles, birdwatching, zip-lining, traffic jams and tropical storms co-exist to make a vacation with something for everyone – yes, even your oh-so-over-it teenagers.
Our first stop in Panama was Boquete, a small town in Chiriquí province located high up the side of an extinct volcano. This elevation gives it a distinct temperature advantage over much of the rest of the country, which is a tropical steam bath. Boquete the town is not much more than a concrete plaza and restaurants serving mediocre expat food, but Boquete is the jumping-off point for adventures of all kinds. Horseback riding, volcano hiking, canyon swimming, and white water rafting are all within an hour’s drive, and Habla Ya, an excellent Spanish school, has a campus in the center of town. On a typical day in Boquete my family would go horseback riding in the morning then take Spanish immersion classes in the afternoon – a compromise my kids actually enjoyed. To get to Boquete, connect in Panama City then fly to David, Boquete is about 30 to 40 minutes away by taxi. We stayed at the lovely Hotel Isla Verde, where you can have a mini house (“casita”) complete with
We stayed at the lovely Hotel Isla Verde, where you can have a mini house (“casita”) complete with loft bed and tiny kitchen all to yourself. The kids loved it.
By contrast Panama City’s skyline sparkles with skyscrapers and the city bustles with shopping, museums, and casinos. Each ship that passes through the Panama canal pays a whopping $500,000 to $1 million fee, and it is all deposited in the banks of Panama City (and pockets of its executives). And it shows. The new high-profile Frank Gehry-designed BioMuseo highlights Panama’s global biological importance. Even though it is only about 80% complete, it has enough touch screens to keep your kids busy for hours. In contrast, the distinctly more old-school Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute just down the street is hidden behind a strip mall, but even big kids love the live frogs, turtles and fish. We even saw a sloth in a tree there — just 10 minutes from downtown.
Tip:
The BioMuseo is only 80% complete as of 2017, but you should still plan to spend at least 1-2 hours there. The Smithsonian is much smaller, about an hour if you get a guided tour should be plenty.
Panama’s colonial past is made new again in Casco Viejo, a charming downtown district with beautiful Spanish architecture, restored cathedrals, and trendy restaurants and shops. My Wisconsin-bred children melt at any temperature above 85, but in Casco Viejo there are enough ice cream and gelato shops to bribe your kids into a fun afternoon stroll.
And what is Panama without a visit to the canal? It is a must-see, but unless you have an engineer or logistics professional in your family, or are fortunate enough to watch a ship pass through the locks close-up, the canal is a bit of a snooze for teens. There was a very large ship going through the recently opened new locks, but the ship was off in the distance so it was a bit like watching paint dry. Far away. We actually enjoyed the historically-oriented Canal Museum in Casco Viejo more than the canal itself.
In Panama City we used points to stay at the Marriott Executive Apartments Panama City Finisterre. Again we had our own apartment with kitchen and avoided overpriced hotel breakfast fare.
After visiting the canal snooze/ zone, the next day we took a high-speed ferry out to Contadora island, one of the Pearl Islands where several seasons of Survivor was filmed. Contadora is an island, reachable in about 2 hours by high-speed ferry — with an air strip and no cars, just golf carts and hideaways for the super rich and those looking to get away from it all. Besides sitting on a beautiful beach and snorkeling, there is not much to do – a day trip was a perfect amount of time to soak up the golden sand and crystal clear waters. Bonus – we got to see a whale on our way back, without having to go whale watching. Family vacation two-fer! It almost made up for the $15 chicken fingers my daughter ordered for lunch.
Tip:
You can catch the high-speed ferry on the Panama City Causeway via Sea Las Perlas, the trip takes about 1.5 hours each way. Daily departures at 7 am, returning 3:30.
Finally, our last stop was Valle de Antón (or El Valle as the locals call it) for some animal and bird watching at Canopy Lodge. El Valle, about a two-hour drive from Panama City, is a refuge for sweaty Panameños looking for some relief from the city heat and a laid-back countryside feel. We visited a zoo with a research center for the nearly-extinct golden frog, took an easy family-friendly hike to a waterfall, and tried our hand at bird watching. Panama’s strategic location connecting North and South America makes it a haven for more than 900 species of birds and El Valle is one of the best places to see them. We are not birders, but when in the bird capital of the world I figured we would give it a try. My kids were bored, until they weren’t – once we saw a motmot up close with the guide’s mega-telescope, the kids were interested. Sort of. Interest peaked when we got a three-toed sloth in the scope, but after an hour and a half the kids were ready to head home, toucan or no toucan.
Tip:
The best place for birders in Panama is any of the Canopy Family properties thoughout the country. We stayed at Canopy Lodge in El Valle de Antón.
As family destinations go Panama had something for everyone in our family: world-class beaches, high-rolling city, wildlife, adventure, and culture. As a parent, I was grateful for the modern infrastructure, safety and services, while my kids liked the cooler weather in Boquete and El Valle and the animal encounters of many kinds. The occasional eye-roll aside, my teenagers genuinely enjoyed Panama. Sure they got cathedral fatigue in Casco Viejo, and were bored silly watching boats in the Panama Canal. Yet in this tiny isthmus we saw the diversity of mountains, valleys, cities, villages, skyscrapers, and wildlife. It’s a lot crammed into a small package. Kind of like teenagers themselves.
Kids favorites:
12-year-old: canyon swimming and horseback riding in Boquete
14-year-old: same! That’s a first
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