Boquete
Panama has some beautiful highlands and Boquete is one of them. This cute little town is surrounded by beautiful cloud and rainforest with cooler temperatures. It does rain throughout the year in Boquete but February tends to have the least amount of rain, October the most. We of course got some rain, but regardless were still able to do a beautiful hike on the Pipeline Trail.
Chagres National Park
One of our favorite things we did in Panama was to take a canoe up the Chagres River. You can arrange a tour by the visitors center to the Chagres National Park or from your hotel. We not only hiked to a waterfall but we got to visit an Embera village where we watched traditional dances, got a (non permanent) tattoo and ate local fish and delicious fruit. Panama has the sweetest pineapple! A lot of Panama is very modern so it was nice to visit the village getting a taste of their culture and traditions.
San Blas
San Blas is an extremely remote area off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama and consist of 365 islands, 49 are inhibited. There are day tours, but I would recommend spending a few days around the islands. We charted a Sailboat through BlueSailing.net and our captain, Julius @catamaran360, and his co-captain, Nestor, were great! On top of being our captain, Julius filled us with delicious food while Nestor gave us first class treatment around the islands. Food and transportation are provided, alcohol is not so if that’s something you want, you will need to bring your own. If you are interested in visiting San Blas…this is a great way to explore them. From Panama City you have a bumpy three hour car ride plus a hour boat ride to get to your sailboat. Once you’re on your boat let the relaxing and exploring begin! The islands are small so you can bounce around from island to island, swim in the turquoise water or snorkel. This area is very much untouched, so don’t expect a grocery store or an array of restaurants and bars…you are remote so enjoy your time of being unplugged!!
Panama Canal
And of course if you’re in Panama…you have to check out the Panama Canal. While we were in Panama City, we did a few day tours and each one showed us different angles of the canal. Our first day, we took a boat down the canal and through the Miraflores Locks which if you’re going to do any tour do that one. It’s extremely informative and fun to be on the canal and watching the locks in action. At the Miraflores Locks there is a view point to watch boats go through the canal. This would be my second recommendation. You don’t need a tour to go to the viewpoint and it’s fascinating to watch what goes in to getting a boat through the locks.