Panama City Neighborhoods - where to stay 3+ months to one week
When looking for places to stay, we prioritize a couple of things: 1) walkable - typically meaning green space of some sort, 2) a couple grocery stores within walking distance, and 3) comfort (view and nice rental). We love being able to sit in our own space and watch the ocean - or any water really. Panama City, while the bay is very calm, there is a lot of entertainment in all the boats lining up for the Panama Canal.
Upon reading as much as I could and watching the relatively few youtube video reviews of slow travel to Panama City, I narrowed the search to Marbella and el Cangrejo. Because I was booking relatively last minute - just a few weeks out and with plans to stay only 5 weeks, my options were relatively limited. Life happened and my husband ended up being able to travel with me for this trip, so I am very glad I booked the airbnb I did…even though it is a bit pricy given how worn the furnishings are.
How did I pick this one: well, there was a king bed, there was no limit on the electric, and it had good reviews. I’ll note, I’m not an energy hog or anything, but spending 5 weeks in the Panamanian heat and humidity in August had me a bit worried. Many spots seem to cap at $150 per month and I did try to see if this was a lot or a little, but the Panama facebook groups had wide ranges for costs - some up to $400 per month. Ultimately, I’m glad that I didn’t have to worry about that during my stay, though I’m not planning to return to this rental. I did check out local rentals and most seem to want 6 month minimum, though one said they could find some for 4 months. I believe there must be some laws around rentals and they must be 45 days or more…so keep that in mind. Mine was just shy of that, but when we had to go and get our face scanned for building access (facial recognition was the only way to get in and out of the building - this was NOT noted on the listing, but I guess I’ve resigned myself to all the surveillance).
We ended up in the Vista del Mar building and will be returning to stay in Yoo Panama for 2.5 months. We had two access bridges to cross Avenue Balboa - and we used those daily!
Prior to choosing to stay along Avenue Balboa for our time here, we did check out El Cangrejo, Casco Viejo, and Punta Padilla. We did not go further out to Costa del Este - though if we didn’t want to deal with the traffic noise on Avenue Balboa, this may have been a spot we’d check out.
Marbella has nice grocery, some walkable sidewalks, easy access to Cinta Costera, and buildings with AMAZING views of the bay. Seriously - just gorgeous. The downside is the traffic noise, but we got used to it.
El Cangrejo has lots of little restaurants, more neighborhood (shorter buildings) feel, but still a ton of traffic. If we were people who ate out a lot more often, we may have chosen this area. But with super cheap uber and really not a far walk, we decided along the coast for the view was the place we wanted to be.
Punta Padilla seemed like a great option too - less traffic…at least slightly and buildings with lovely views. It is a bit more country club vibe out in Punta Padilla and there are islands you literally can’t walk to because they are private. If you like the country club type living (minus a golf course…or maybe there is one), this is for you.
Casco Viejo is a place to stay for a shorter period of time, at least for non locals. I didn’t see many options that would be good longer-term places for foreigners and my guess is that it would be fairly loud with the bar scene at night.
