Panama 🇵🇦
Hi!
We are Sinéad and Hugh and recently travelled/ backpacked around the world for 180 days and this is our recommended route through Panama & the San Blas Islands.
Panama is the southernmost country of Central America and is often skipped on people’s bucketlists. But as it is home to the beautiful archipelago of the San Blas Islands we would recommend everyone to take a trip here on their way to (or from) Colombia! ⛵️🛥️⛴️
We want this blog to be short and to the point, only highlighting the essential information we needed during our trip, especially those tips that helped us stick to our budget!
However, as we went along, we put a daily 60 second vlog up to give a better flavour of what we got up to – if you want to check it out!
Costa Rica was Day 33-41 on our Instagram and TikTok!
Helpful Facts about Panama
Population: ~4.4m (127th)
GDP: ~ $83bn USD
Average Net Monthly Salary: ~ $783 USD (52nd)
Main Spoken Language: Spanish
How to Say:
- Hello – Hola
- Please – Por favor
- Thank You – Gracias
Currency: Panama Balboa & USD ($1 USD = 1 Balboa, they are pegged)
Money Situation: Panama Balboas (or Panamanian Dollars) are equivalent to US dollars. USD are accepted everywhere. Card accepted in all touristy spots. Lots of ATMs but most charge a fee for withdrawal for foreign cards but we found Scotia Bank had none for Revolut cards.
Fun Facts: The Panama Canal is one of the 7 wonders of the modern world and well worth a visit to learn how it was built!
Personal Observations: The San Blas Islands off the coast are unlike any other islands we have ever seen! They are the definition of ‘paradise’ from a movie!
Average Costs in Panama for Backpackers
Average Costs in Panama & San Blas per day per person:
🛏️ Accommodation: €14 – we stayed in private en suite rooms and these rooms were split between 2
🥘 Food & Drink: €11 – we cooked in where possible as eating out was a bit on the expensive side
🚌 Transport: €13 – see itinerary below for our route
🤿 Activities: €6 – this can vary hugely but we spent a lot of time learning to surf which is a great cheap activity!
💶 Total: €52*
Total Cost for 4 days per person: €180*
*Not including 5 day San Blas Islands boat trip!
Cost 5 Day Boat Trip through the San Blas Islands onto Colombia: ⛵️
💶 Total: €671
Total Cost for 9 days per person: €851
Budgeting:
Budgeting for any trip can be complex, especially if it is a long one with many destinations, countries and different costs of living!
We created and used a Travel Budget Tracker which we used for our full 180 day trip and helped us stay below budget!
You can download it here and will get a easy-to-follow Youtube tutorial on how its used!
Top tips we found to keep the costs down:
- Accommodation: Don’t just use Hostelworld but also look at Booking, Agoda and Revolut stays to find the best deals! Always, always, always study the reviews as well – but be aware that someone else’s ‘okay’ could be your ‘great’! (As was the case many times during our backpacking trip!)
- Food & Drink: Try to get breakfast included with your accommodation where possible and eat the local food!
- Transport: Booking in person in stations was cheaper for us 99% of the time but sometimes you still cant beat the convenience of busbud!
- Activities: These vary greatly from place to place so just make sure you have budgeted enough for your personal desires as these are one of the reasons that make travelling so special in our opinion!
Itinerary for Panama
Day 1-4:
Panama City
Coming from Costa Rica you can take an overnight bus from Uvita directly to Panama City. Alternatively there is a short hour long flight from San Jose. While here, make sure to check out the Panama Canal and the Morgan Freeman narrated movie that goes along with it! 🎥🍿
How to get from Costa Rica to Panama City:
If coming from Uvita, Costa Rica like us you can get a Tracopa Bus from Uvita to David which is ~$20 pp and about 4 hours long depending on border cross. The Bus comes from San Jose (leaving at 7:30am) and arrives in Uvita between 11:30-12:30. Passa Canoas border crossing will cost you another $9 pp. Once in David Bus Terminal there is a bus to Panama City every ~1.5 hours. Note that our 6pm bus didn’t leave until 7:15pm! It costs $15.25 pp and is 6-7 hours long!
Day 5-7:
San Blas
One of the main reasons so many people travel to Panama – these 365 pristine white-sand islands are something off a postcard! “Tropical Paradise” doesn’t do them enough justice. There are many ways to go and see them via day trips, overnights, sail boats or speed boats but we would recommend a 3 day sail-boat trip to ensure you can see as many as possible! While we went with another boat (which we would not recommend!) Blue Sailing have an excellent reputation ⛵️🏝️🌊
How to get from Panama City to San Blas:
The tour which you book with (even if just a day trip) will offer transfers from Panama City to the port of disembarkation – there are many different towns on the Atlantic coast from which you can start your voyage!
Day 8-9:
To Colombia
This trip is one of the alternate ways to get to Colombia from Panama as a land crossing is not recommended. If you want to avoid the flight and have an incredible adventure, extend your San Blas boat trip to include the journey to Cartagena, Colombia! 🇨🇴🐬
How to get from San Blas to Colombia:
Stay on the boat! If you have booked the 5 day Panama-Colombia San Blas Islands trip you are golden!
⚠️ Word to the Wise if prone to Seasickness🤢: This trip does consist of an open-sea crossing to Colombia with possible wavy conditions. If you are prone to seasickness it might be best to avoid sailing and instead head back to Panama City and catch a flight!
Stay, Eat & Do in Panama for Backpackers
Panama City
🛏️ Stay: Where to Stay in Panama City
- We stayed in Mamallena’s Hostel and it was perfect. As it is a well known hostel it is good for all San Blas trip shuttles. We paid only $29 for private room & $15 for dorm. It is situated in between ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Panama. ~$3.5 Uber to old Panama. ~$15 Uber to Miraflores Visitor Centre Panama Canal.
- We don’t want to recommend anywhere we haven’t been to ourselves so check out Booking, Agoda and Revolut Stays for all other levels of accommodation and the best deals!
- Check out Hostelworld for hostels but be aware that you can often find the same place directly online or through Booking or Agoda for a better price!
🥙 Eat: Where to Eat in Panama City
Panda House – if you want a BIG feed at good value. Asian food!
- There are loads and loads of food options in Panama City but we don’t want to fully recommend any that we haven’t tried ourselves! However, our general rule of thumb is over 4.5 stars and as many reviews as possible!
🧗♀️ Do: What to do in Panama City
- Visit the Panama Canal – specifically the Miraflores Visitor Centre! ~$18 pp for a ticket and you can watch boats pass through from 8:30am-10am and 2:30pm-5pm boats! The best part however is the 45 minute movie, with Morgan Freeman narrating, that explains how it was constructed!
Visit the Panama Canal Museum in old Panama ~$15 a ticket.
- Explore the streets of ‘Old’ Panama
- Walk the promenade and marvel at the skyline of ‘New’ Panama
- Go Panama Hat shopping!
San Blas
🛏️ Stay: Where to Stay in San Blas
- If on a Blue Sailing trip you will stay on your boat or possibly in hammocks on one of the islands!
- If you do not want this, you can do the trip with San Blas Adventures! These guys use speedboats to get around the islands but then crucially you stay in huts on the islands during the night – dry lanbd!
🥙 Eat: Where to Eat in San Blas
- On all of the trips the most amazing fresh food will be cooked for you! Sit back and enjoy!
🤿 Do: What to Do in San Blas
Marvel at the natural island beauty
- Snorkel
- Play beach volleyball
- Have a campfire
- Watch the sunrise in the most surreal setting
- Watch the most beautiful sunsets of your life
Add our Panama Google Map!
We pinned all of crucial locations as went along – including hostels, hotels, bus stops, restaurants, cafés and must-see sights!
Feel free to save our Google Map for Panama if you wish!