If you want to experience Panama City beyond the skyscrapers, shopping malls and traditional tourist attractions, spend an evening at the Cinta Costera. This long waterfront park beside the Bay of Panama is one of the best places in the city to simply sit down, walk around and watch Panama City happen around you.
The Cinta Costera is much more than a pretty waterfront walkway. It is almost like Panama City's outdoor living room. During the day you will find runners, cyclists, families, basketball players, tourists, vendors and people exercising. But in the late afternoon, when the temperature begins to drop and the sun starts moving toward the horizon, the whole place changes character. Panamanians come out after work, families gather, young people meet their friends, couples take walks and people simply sit around enjoying the breeze. The result is one of the best opportunities in Panama City for people watching.
The Best People Watching in Panama City
There is something particularly interesting about people watching here because you aren't simply watching tourists at a tourist attraction. You are watching locals doing normal everyday things.
You might see a group of teenagers laughing together, a couple taking photographs, serious runners doing laps, cyclists cruising along the waterfront, children playing, older Panamanians sitting and talking, street vendors selling snacks and families taking an evening stroll. Everyone seems to have their own reason for being there.
This is what makes the Cinta Costera so much more interesting than simply going to a viewpoint, taking a photograph and leaving.
Grab a raspa'o, find a bench and watch the city.
You will see people exercising with the skyscrapers towering behind them. You will see locals meeting friends after work. You will see people taking selfies with the skyline. You will see cyclists and rollerbladers cruising along the promenade. And particularly on weekends, you get a wonderful sense of how much Panamanians enjoy spending time outdoors with friends and family.
For travelers, it is almost like getting a free introduction to modern Panamanian life.
Come for Sunset
The Cinta Costera is excellent at almost any time of day, but sunset is when it really comes alive.
The combination of the Pacific Ocean, tropical sky and Panama City's enormous skyline creates one of the city's best free spectacles. As the sun drops, the glass towers begin catching the warm evening light. Then, almost imperceptibly, daylight disappears and the skyscrapers begin lighting up.
Suddenly you have a completely different city in front of you.
The contrast is one of the great things about Panama City. On one side you have the Pacific Ocean and the open waterfront. On the other you have one of Latin America's most dramatic modern skylines. Not far away is the historic architecture of Casco Viejo.
You can stand in one place and see several completely different versions of Panama at once.
Bring Your Walking Shoes
One of the biggest mistakes tourists make is treating the Cinta Costera as a quick photo stop.
Don't.
The waterfront area stretches for several kilometres and includes walking paths, bicycle lanes, sports facilities, gardens, viewpoints and plenty of places to sit. You don't have to walk the entire length. Even an hour-long stroll can give you a completely different perspective of Panama City.
Start around Casco Viejo and walk toward the modern skyline, or begin closer to the financial district and work your way toward the historic centre. Either direction gives you constantly changing scenery.
And walking is free.
That makes the Cinta Costera particularly good for backpackers who have already spent enough money on tours, restaurants and Panama City nightlife.
Great for Cyclists and Runners
The Cinta Costera isn't just somewhere to stroll. It has become one of the city's favourite outdoor exercise areas, with space for cycling, running and walking.
You will often see serious runners putting in kilometres alongside people who appear to be exercising mainly because they enjoy the scenery.
There are also outdoor fitness areas and sports facilities.
This creates another interesting people watching opportunity. Go around sunset and you can watch Panama City's fitness crowd come alive while the skyline changes colour behind them.
You don't have to be athletic either. Walking slowly while eating something is a perfectly legitimate Cinta Costera activity.
Look Toward Casco Viejo
One of the most interesting things about the Cinta Costera is how it connects modern Panama City with its historic heart.
As you move toward the Casco Viejo side, the enormous skyscrapers gradually give way to views of the old city, historic buildings and colonial architecture.
It is one of the best places to appreciate the contrast between Panama's past and present. You can have modern skyscrapers directly behind you while looking across the water toward one of the oldest parts of the city.
For someone visiting Panama for the first time, this makes the Cinta Costera an excellent introduction to the city.
Stop for a Raspa'o
You don't need an expensive restaurant to enjoy the evening.
Look for a traditional Panamanian raspa'o, essentially shaved ice covered with sweet flavours and often condensed milk. It is one of those simple local treats that somehow tastes even better when you are sitting beside the water on a hot evening.
A cold drink, a raspa'o, a tropical breeze and a view of Panama City's skyline is a pretty good way to spend an evening.
If you want something more substantial afterward, the famous Mercado de Mariscos is nearby, where you can find seafood and ceviche. You can easily turn a Cinta Costera walk into a complete evening out.
The Perfect Place to Do Absolutely Nothing
This might actually be the greatest attraction of the Cinta Costera.
You don't have to accomplish anything.
You don't need a reservation. You don't need a tour guide. You don't need an entrance ticket. You don't need to understand the history of a building or follow a particular itinerary.
You can simply sit down.
Watch the boats.
Watch the runners.
Watch the families.
Watch the cyclists.
Watch the sunset.
Watch the skyline.
Watch the city light up.
For backpackers, this can be surprisingly refreshing. Travel sometimes becomes a constant race to see the next attraction. The Cinta Costera is somewhere you can slow down and simply experience the city.
Combine It With Casco Viejo
One of the best ways to experience the Cinta Costera is to combine it with Casco Viejo.
Walk the waterfront as the sun goes down, watch the skyline become illuminated and then continue toward the historic district. Eventually the enormous modern towers give way to old churches, plazas, colourful buildings, balconies and narrow streets.
It is one of Panama City's great contrasts.
You can start the evening surrounded by modern skyscrapers and finish it sitting in a historic plaza having a drink.
That combination is difficult to beat.
A Great Free Activity for Tourists
Panama City can become surprisingly expensive if you spend your entire visit doing organized activities. The Cinta Costera gives you something different: a major attraction that costs nothing.
It is beautiful, active, photogenic and genuinely used by locals.
It is also somewhere you can return to several times and have a different experience each time. Come in the morning and you will see a fitness-oriented city. Come around sunset and you get the social atmosphere. Come after dark and the skyline becomes the main attraction.
As with anywhere in a big city, normal urban awareness makes sense, particularly later at night when crowds begin to thin out.
Panama City Without the Tourist Filter
Perhaps the best reason to visit the Cinta Costera is that it captures something fundamental about Panama City.
This is a city where tropical life, modern skyscrapers, historic neighbourhoods, Latin American culture, outdoor recreation and the Pacific Ocean all come together.
And you can see much of that simply by walking along the water.
So if someone asks what they should do in Panama City after seeing the Panama Canal and Casco Viejo, my answer would be simple: go to the Cinta Costera about an hour before sunset, grab something cold to drink, find a comfortable place to sit and watch the city come to life.
You may discover that the best attraction isn't something you visit at all.
It is the people.