Back from Panama.
I made the mistake of staying in the business/banking district. Was pretty dead. Not much to do. I did find a pretty legit local restaurant.
Did a half day tour of Panama City. Very enjoyable. Actually seeing the canal and locks is pretty fucking cool.
Flew Copa out of PTY to David. Drove up to Boquete. Easy 1 hourish drive straight up. The temp drops probably 15 degrees. I wandered around and found some lunch. Feels like a mountain ski town for some reason. Drove up to the entrance of the volcano park. Those roads are narrow af and you definitely don't want to end up in those huge ditches that line the road.
Then drove to Boca Chica. They are working on the road once you turn off the Pan-American Hwy but lots of gravel dirt so get a SUV. There isn't much around and these resorts seem pretty small. This largely a fishing town. I stayed at Seagull Cove which had 6 or 8 bungalows. The food was damn good. There is a small store in "town" which is just like 10 buildings. Otherwise its just stare at the water and relax. This is not a place to go party. That's Boca Del Toro.
And as far as speed bumps. Google maps took me through some random neighborhood on the way to a gas station. The roads in the hood are massively concaved. I assume for water control. Like a double dip with no warning. I swear my suv had all four off the ground for a second. Really hard on the front end. Luckily no damage. Well visible damage at least.
I decided I wanted to leave early so I went ahead and booked at AirPanama for $130. It was 3 hours earlier and also lands at PAC which is MUCH closer to the city. Its also a Fokker turbo prop. Love flying on those.
Last two nights I stayed in Casco Viejo aka Old Town. Booked a pretty big room on one of the squares. Quite lively at night. Lots of boutique hotels, restaurants and they seem to be renovating every other building.
Police are EVERYWHERE. Several road stops to and from Boquete
Overall I give it a 5. If I ever go again Ill check out the Caribbean side but otherwise that seems like a 1 and done country.
FYI. PTY does a double security screen for international flights.