Given its size and the relative youth of its tourist industry, there is no shortage of activities to keep a person busy while in Panama. The City has its clear attractions, from shopping to nightlife to watching the ships enter the Canal; and the Casco Viejo (or Old Town) flanking the city is an alluring sampling of old-world colonial charm mixed in with chic boutiques and jazz cafes, fusion restaurants and art galleries.
Outside the city, nature is the major attraction. Hiking through lush national parks, surfing uncrowded waves, snorkeling and scuba diving with throngs of brilliantly-colored fish, discovering sea-turtles as they nest and monkey troupes climbing the trees above, watching the spouts of Orcas and Humpback whales as they migrate along the Pacific coast – the nature enthusiast will find in Panama a hotbed of diversity in a pristine environment.
Game-fishing is also very popular in Panama, where sport fishers can find sailfish, marlin, yellow-fin tuna, mahi-mahi, wahoo and many more year round.
Local culture offers no small entertainment too, with small towns each celebrating their local fiestas, culminating in the biggest celebration of the year: February’s Carnival. The five-day-long extravaganza is at its most colorful in Las Tablas, in the Los Santos province, where dance, music, fireworks, traditional costumes and floats pack the streets in a heady mix of joyous abandon.
No matter how many things you do or people you see, you will diffidently keep busy in the beautiful country that has so much to offer.