Panama customer reviews

Boquete Hike: A real highlight of the trip. It’s definitely a hike rather than a walk, with a lot of steps and slopes and even a bit of pseudo climbing to reach the third waterfall. As it’s very high, it’s often in the cloud, and we had rain too, but we embraced the wet and thoroughly enjoyed the physical exertion and fresh air. Our guide was excellent, particularly on the roped section coming down. Good walking shoes are a must, ideally waterproof.

Coffee Plantation Tour: We really enjoyed this tour, learning about the process of making coffee, complete with tasting. It was interesting to learn about the flavours from different beans, roasts and processes, and lovely to walk around the plantation and see the plants and processing facilities, with some beautiful sunshine as a bonus.

Bocas del Toro Boat Day: We were really lucky that a larger boat was creating wake and two dolphins were playing in it. We watched for several minutes, which was fantastic. We later visited Red Frog Beach, recognising it as a checkpoint from Race Across the World, which was exciting. The boys loved playing in the waves on the large beach, and we were pleased to finally spot the red poison dart frogs the resort is named after.

Bluff Beach: This beach was beautiful and scenic to reach, with the road running right alongside the coast. We had a lovely lunch overlooking the beach and a drink on the walk back.

Panama Canal Tour: A major highlight for all of us. Our guide was great and knowledgeable. The tour includes a 45-minute film on the canal’s history in a huge IMAX cinema, narrated by Morgan Freeman, which was excellent. We then watched a massive LPG tanker and an even bigger Korean car carrier go through the Miraflores lock, with the crews waving back at us. We all thoroughly enjoyed the engineering feat.

Amador Causeway: We hired electric scooters for an hour and had a relaxed lunch nearby before our afternoon tour.

Casco Viejo: A lovely evening exploring the beautifully restored old colonial buildings and having dinner.

Service: Our local guiding team were excellent throughout: polite, responsive and attentive, looking after us every step of the way.

We found Panama to be the perfect choice for us in Central America, as there were lots of activities and everything was so close. The kids loved the cloudforest hike in Boquete, seeing the ships come through the Miraflores Locks, and the monkeys in Soberania National Park. But best of all was the snorkelling and beach time at Boca del Toro. We all thought it was just perfect to end our holiday here.