Living in Panama City vs Living in the Beach

In our opinion, the overall life experience in Panama is probably one of a kind, and maybe one of the best in Latin America. The great weather, combined with great infrastructure, a dollar currency, and a superb shopping, dining, and entertainment scene are just some of the cool benefits, and everything at a reasonable cost, when compared to other countries.

This is not only our point of view, in 2019 Panama has been ranked in first position in the International Living’s World Best Places to Retire Index. This is proof of all of the benefits that can give the country, with a city that offers everything and with nice beaches and other beautiful destinations, some of them located in an hour or less from the capital.

While Panama’s Caribbean beaches offers to visitors amazing white sand beaches with beautiful tropical landscapes, Pacific coast destinations are more popular for living in since there is a right balance between good and warm beaches, as well as city-like amenities that can properly let you live for long term.

And not everything is about beaches though, Panama has also more to offer with mountain destinations and beautiful colonial towns, as well as enjoying the canal, the city, and the rich local culture. But of course, there are so many beaches alternatives that is difficult to let pass one of them. It does not matter in which part of the country you are, there is always a beach destination close to you.

Living in Panama City

Panama City has been for many years now, one of the fastest growing expat destinations. Some of the benefits of living in the city are the great number of options when looking for a house or apartments to move in, this allows you to find a perfect place by considering multiple factors to choose from, such as the amount of rooms, quality of the building, balcony and great views, location and closeness to work, schools, shopping malls or parks.

There are several places to visit in Panama City that it is difficult to get bored by, as well as great restaurants, shopping centers and parks. It is a great combination of nature, tropical environment and a modern metropolis with high end buildings and beautiful skyline.

While there is a variety of choices for any kind lifestyle within the city, there are some cons, for example, the traffic can be strong for some people, sometimes to the point that to get to a not so far destination can take you more than an hour. Others choose not to live in Panama City just because, even the cost of living reasonably lower compared to other countries, they can have a cheaper lifestyle in the interior region, such as in mountain or beach towns.

Living in the beach

More than a weekend retreat, you can enjoy life in the pacific beaches of Panama, towns like Coronado, Nueva Gorgona or Buenaventura offer everything you need for long term living. Living close to the beach, is a blessing for many, enjoying the tropical weather and the coast always. Coronado is one of the destinations which have grown considerably year after years, and with such development, you can get enough amenities to simply live by, such as hospital, supermarkets, shopping centers, etc.

Of course, many people enjoy having a weekend or a vocational period in these towns, but prefer to live in Panama City, since these destinations are close to the capital anyways, and there is more diversity and variety when choosing amenities, schools, medical centers and restaurants.