Planning a trip to Panama is one of those things that looks ridiculously easy until you actually start doing it. You open Google Maps, see a country that doesn't look particularly large, find a few beautiful beaches, a famous canal, some mountains and a couple of islands, and think, “How hard can this be?” Then you start looking at transportation and realize that the place you thought was just around the corner can involve a bus, a boat, a taxi and a healthy dose of patience. Panama rewards research, but it rewards the right kind of research.
The biggest mistake is researching Panama as if it were one destination. It isn't. Panama City feels completely different from the mountains around Boquete, which feel completely different from the Caribbean islands of Bocas del Toro, which feel completely different from Santa Catalina on the Pacific coast. The country contains Caribbean beaches, Pacific beaches, cloud forests, tropical lowlands, islands, indigenous territories, coffee country, big city neighborhoods and some remarkably wild areas. Before booking anything, figure out what kind of Panama you actually want to experience.
A good place to start is a map rather than Instagram. Open Google Maps and spend some time simply looking at the country. Find Panama City, then follow the roads toward the west. Look at El Valle de Antón, Santa Fe, Santiago, Santa Catalina, Boquete, David and Bocas del Toro. Notice where the roads actually go. Then look at the Caribbean coast and the Pacific coast separately. You will quickly discover that Panama's geography is a huge part of its travel experience.
Google Maps is also surprisingly useful for understanding transportation. Put two destinations into the directions function and select public transportation where available. Even if you don't ultimately follow the suggested route, you can start getting a feeling for distances, connections and travel times. This is particularly useful because the straight line between two places can be wildly misleading. Mountains, rivers, coastlines and the Canal can make a seemingly short journey much longer.
After getting the big picture, research each destination individually. Don't search for “things to do in Panama” and stop there. Search for things to do in Boquete, things to do in Bocas del Toro, things to do in Santa Catalina, things to do in El Valle, things to do in Santa Fe, and so on. This gives you a much more realistic understanding of what each place is actually like.
Then comes one of the most important pieces of research: weather. Panama is tropical, but that doesn't mean it simply has one giant rainy season and one giant dry season. Conditions vary considerably between the Pacific and Caribbean sides, and mountainous areas can have their own microclimates. A weather forecast for Panama City tells you almost nothing about what is happening in the mountains of Chiriquí or on an island in Bocas del Toro.
Instead of asking, “What's the weather like in Panama?” ask, “What's the weather normally like in the specific places I'm visiting during the specific month I'm going?” That's a much better question. And don't automatically eliminate the rainy season. Rain can be heavy, but Panama's wet season can also produce spectacularly green landscapes, flowing waterfalls and lush forests. Some travellers actually prefer seeing the country when everything is exploding with vegetation.
Another excellent research tool is the humble travel forum. Search Reddit, travel forums and recent traveller discussions for very specific questions. Instead of searching for “Is Bocas del Toro good?”, search for things like “How long should I stay in Bocas?”, “Bocas to Boquete transportation,” “Santa Catalina without a car,” or “Panama rainy season backpacking.” These searches tend to produce much more useful information because you're seeing people discuss the actual problems travellers encounter.
The key word is recent. Panama changes. Roads improve. Shuttle companies disappear and new ones appear. Bus schedules change. Restaurants close. Hotels change owners. Prices move. A fantastic blog post written eight years ago might contain excellent information about Panama while simultaneously telling you that a bus leaves at a time that hasn't existed since several presidents ago.
This is particularly important for transportation. Research the route, but then verify the current details. Panama has an extensive bus system, and buses can be incredibly useful for travellers on a budget. But the experience varies dramatically between a major intercity bus, a local mountain bus and transportation around a small island. Shuttle services can save time and simplify complicated connections, while local buses can be dramatically cheaper.
Don't automatically assume that renting a car is the best way to explore Panama either. For some itineraries, a rental car makes perfect sense. For others, it can be an expensive machine sitting in a parking lot while you spend three days on an island. Panama City has the Metro and ride hailing services, while many popular destinations can be reached by buses and shuttles. Research the itinerary before deciding on the vehicle.
One particularly useful trick is to research the journey between destinations, rather than only researching the destinations themselves. “Boquete” tells you what to do when you arrive. “Boquete to Bocas del Toro transportation” tells you how your adventure actually unfolds. You might discover that the journey involves a combination of bus, shuttle and boat, or that there is an easier option you hadn't considered.
This is also where researching a map can reveal interesting possibilities. Instead of thinking only in terms of point A to point B, look at what lies between them. Panama has some fantastic stops that travellers completely miss because they are focused on getting from one famous destination to another. A mountain hostel, a waterfall, a small town, a coffee farm or a national park can turn a transportation day into part of the trip.
For backpackers, accommodation research should also go beyond star ratings. Read reviews looking for what the place feels like. Is it social? Quiet? Remote? Party oriented? Good for meeting other travellers? Is there a kitchen? Is there a restaurant? Are there activities? Is it walking distance from anything? Does everyone rent scooters? Is the accommodation basically a beautiful place where you will sit alone looking at a spectacular view?
That last question matters more than people realize. A five star resort and a social hostel can both have excellent reviews while offering completely different experiences. Neither is necessarily better. They are simply designed for different travellers.
Food deserves some research too, particularly if you want to experience more than international tourist restaurants. Panama has a mixture of Caribbean, Afro Panamanian, Indigenous, Spanish and Latin American influences, and the food can vary considerably from region to region. Research local dishes before arriving so that you recognize things when you see them. Sometimes the best discoveries aren't the restaurants that appear at the top of a tourist search. They are the little places filled with local workers at lunchtime.
One of the best ways to research Panama is to watch videos made by people who actually travelled through the country. But don't just watch polished “Top 10 Panama” videos. Look for long form travel videos, bus journeys, walking tours and backpacking itineraries. Watching someone physically travel from one town to another can teach you things that a glossy travel article never will.
Social media can also be useful, but treat it as inspiration rather than evidence. Instagram is fantastic for discovering beautiful places and absolutely terrible for telling you whether that beautiful place is practical to visit. A waterfall may look spectacular in a photograph while requiring a difficult hike through slippery jungle to reach it. An island may look deserted in a drone shot while being packed with tourists every afternoon.
Another useful strategy is to research what can go wrong. Search for things such as transportation delays, rainy season conditions, ATM availability, internet coverage, ferry schedules, hiking difficulty, road conditions and travel times. You don't have to become paranoid. You're simply removing surprises that can turn a fun adventure into an unnecessarily stressful afternoon.
Money is another area where research pays off. Look at accommodation prices, transportation costs, food prices, activity costs and ATM availability. Panama uses the US dollar alongside the balboa for everyday currency, which makes budgeting relatively straightforward for many international visitors. Still, don't assume that every rural destination has easy access to ATMs or card payments. Carrying some cash when travelling away from major cities is sensible.
Then there is the question of how much time to spend in each place. This is where many first time visitors make a classic mistake. They see ten destinations on a map and attempt to visit all ten in two weeks. Panama may be relatively compact geographically, but travel time adds up quickly. Moving every day means you spend your vacation checking out, carrying your backpack, finding transportation and checking in again.
A better approach is to identify perhaps three or four places that genuinely interest you and build the trip around them. If you have more time, add another destination. If you have less time, cut something. Panama is much more enjoyable when you allow yourself to stay somewhere long enough for the place to stop feeling like a checklist.
You should also research what kind of traveller you are. Someone who loves hiking, wildlife and waterfalls should research Panama differently from someone who wants beaches and nightlife. A surfer will build a different itinerary from a birdwatcher. Someone who wants complete relaxation might spend considerably more time on the coast, while a backpacker looking to meet people may deliberately choose social hostels and towns with active traveller communities.
And don't overlook the possibility that your favourite part of Panama may not be the part you initially planned. That's one of the great things about travelling here. You can arrive thinking you are going to spend three days somewhere and suddenly discover that you like the mountain town, jungle lodge or tiny beach village so much that you're considering changing the rest of your itinerary.
Perhaps the best research strategy of all is to leave some room for that to happen.
A good Panama itinerary should have structure without becoming a military operation. Know where you're sleeping tonight. Have a reasonable idea of how you're getting to the next destination. Understand the important transportation connections. Know roughly what things cost. Then leave some breathing room.
Panama is particularly good for this style of travel because some of its most memorable experiences aren't necessarily the ones you find in a “Top 20” list. They can be the unexpected waterfall, the bus conversation, the roadside restaurant, the strange bird sitting beside the trail, the sunset you weren't expecting or the group of travellers you meet at your accommodation.
So research Panama thoroughly, but don't research the adventure out of it.
Use maps to understand the geography. Use recent traveller reports to understand what things are actually like. Check current transportation information. Research weather by region and month. Compare accommodation based on atmosphere as well as price. Learn about local food. Look at videos that show the journeys between destinations. Check practical details such as cash, connectivity and travel times. And most importantly, build an itinerary that gives you enough time to actually experience Panama rather than simply proving that you can move across it quickly.
The goal isn't to know everything before you arrive.
The goal is to know enough that you can relax once you get there.