1. Untouched waves- Panama is new on the tourism radar, so catching waves here is easy as cake. The beaches are never crowded save for holidays, but even then you won’t have to fight for waves. Just enjoy partying it up on the beach after surfing and turn your music up way too loud to blend right in with the locals.
2. US Dollar- Panama uses the dollar so you don’t need to worry about converting money or getting ripped off. Change here however will be given to you in “Balboas” which are the same monetary amounts as quarters, nickels and dimes and look surprisingly similar.
3. Easy Access- Getting around Panama is also a slice of pie as the roads here are multi-lane highways perfectly paved, unlike other countries in Central America. The public bus system is super easy and affordable
4. It’s cheap!- Panama hasn’t been hit yet by hoards of tourist so prices are still reasonable. I get a delicious chicken sandwich daily for a buck twenty five, take a cab ride around the city for a dollar and rent a 4 bedroom house at the beach for $400 dollars.
5. It’s safe!- Panama has a wonderful police force who are serious about keeping the riff raff out and the streets safe. While partying downtown you’ll often see police roaming about checking on things as well as helping tourists find their way around the city.
6. First World Benefits- Buy a cell phone while you’re here and pre-paid phone cards, enjoy first class hotels, medicine and shopping!
7. You can be a pioneer!- Explore untouched beaches and national parks to go where only few have gone before.

Pedasi's Pucha Garcia

Isla de Canas, about 40 kilometers from Pedasi on the Azuero Peninsula, is the most important nesting sight for turtles on Panama’s Pacific coast. Five species come here to lay between 20,000 and 30,000 eggs in the waves each year. No one knows the best time to come to see the turtles…it can be as late as September and November or it can begin as early as April or May.

We left Pedasi and drove for about an hour before we started to wonder if we had missed the turn to Isla de Canas. We asked some people on horseback, (the only people around) and they assured us that it was just down the road. It was on the left with an old wooden sign, so don’t worry, if you are looking, you won’t miss it. We drove down a rocky dirt road that ended at a little swamp stream. We were told that if no one was around, just hit the “gong” (a rusty metal circle) and someone will hopefully come to take you to the island. Thankfully a tough looking tour guide girl was sitting around and charged us fifty cents a person.

Because it was low tide we had to wade through mud to get to the boat, about fifty feet away. Although the men with us trudged through happily, I can always be counted on to dress inappropriately, so in a white skirt and flip flops (and Katie in a white tube dress) the mud became a labyrinth of quicksand and booby traps. Our flip flips got stuck in the mud every step, and terrified of a rumored crocodile we read about in “Lonely Planet”, we started to panic and scream like little girls. The rumor turned out to be true : we asked a local kid if such a crocodile existed, and he nodded his head ominously.

When we finally reached the safety of the little boat and drove out into the stream, it was a great trip. The trees hung low over the river and it was magical driving through the swampy rainforest area. Everybody started saying stuff like “I’m glad we came!” and “This is worth the ride!” etc.
Approaching the island was also gorgeous, and as we docked the tour guide asked us when we wanted to meet her back at the boat. We said two hours which turned out to be plenty of time. A little boy lead us to the beach across the island and we walked by cane houses and local people sitting on their porches. The population of Isla Canas is 900 and the community has been there since the 1920s, brought from local towns to protect the turtles and the eggs.

The pristine beach was 100% deserted from people and alas, sea turtles. We jumped in the waves, went for a long walk and found about thirty sand dollars between us girls, some as big as a saucers! An hour and a half was a perfect amount of time on the beach, and we were running out of supplies and provisions, so we ventured to the bar near the boat dock and drank beer under a cane roof with the jukebox blasting.
We rode back, with an eye out for the crocs, after a great day, although turtle-less, at Isla de Canas.

Isla Iguana is my favorite place on the Azuero Peninsula. We hopped on a motorboat called “Taiwan Panama” but it should have been called “Hawaii Panama” because that is where I felt transported to.

The beautiful beaches on the mainland have mostly brown and black sand and dark blue ocean, but Isla Iguana has bright white sand and bright blue clear water. I’ll never back down: there is nothing like a white sand beach.

When first approaching the island we were surprise by how many birds were circling overhead and we learned later that there is a bird sanctuary there (which we tried to find but were scared off, fearing for our lives in a Hitchcock kind of way by the random scattering of purple crab claws and the overpowering smell of bird poop) but maybe you will have better luck with braver people (not four girls walking in the woods in their bikinis).

We rented snorkel equipment in town which was ten dollars per pair of snorkel and flippers and ventured out into the reef. If you swim out a bit from the beach there is tons of different coral and surprisingly a lot of fish. There were big polka dotted fish, little striped fish and an electric blue fish with big scary teeth that sent us swimming in the other direction.

Relaxing on the gorgeous beach to the tinkling sound of the waves lapping on the coral sand was delicious. Pack a lunch and stay for a while, it costs $50 dollars to hire a local driver with a boat and ten dollars per person to hang out on the island. The price is worth it, all the way. Grab the whole family and pretend like it’s your private island…because it will be.