Anybody been to Panama? or other affordable tropical vacations?

Looking to take a vacation later this spring/summer with the GF, and this popped onto my radar as a pretty random option. It has been an epicly tough winter with extreme hours, so long story short, we are looking to get "away" for down the road to at least have something to look forward to, and need to keep the budget as affordable as possible, while still trying to have a good time. I had a friend who recently went to Panama and is really pushing it hard. After some research, it is A LOT cheaper to fly there, and to stay there, than any place in the carribean, bahamas, costa rica, Mexico ect.

I really can't find anybody who has actually vacationed there and can tell me first hand anything good or bad about it. We'd love to hear some recomendations on places to stay, places to visit, things to do ect, and see if it is as good as it sounds. I'm a little sketched out because I don't really know anybody else who can tell me anything about the country, but all I read makes it look great

So anybody know anything about Panama, or the cities, beaches, and potential vacation scene there? ...or have a a better vacation reccomendation to stay under $500/per plane ticket and around $100/per night lodging? We are a little flexible on that, but unfortunately prob can't swing the 4 seasons type of thing right now...

 

What type of activities do you guys like? Hiking or shopping?

 

I'm going to the southeast corner of costa rica next week. All of my research has suggested that we cruise down to panama but I can't remember offhand what the major attraction there is. It doesn't appear to be a dangerous place so buy some plane tix and go have some fun.

 

^ thats cool where abouts? im flying out the 23rd to costa rica and we rented a house in dominical area. but OP my trip is right in your price range, after all fees and crap our tickets were a hair less than 500 a piece and we rented a nice 1500 sq.ft house with 2 beds and 2 baths for a grand for the week, which is a lil more than 100 a night but in my eyes def. worth it.
i also just heard thats worth noting that costa rica is the safest place from canada to the southern tip of S america.
and they rank higher on the world health orgs. list. they're 36, the US is 38

 

Awsome info. Not tryin to derail the thread but we are stayin a few days in puerto viejo and a few in manuel antonio. I gotta say I'm a lot more excited about the former than the latter but I figure we gotta check out both sides to have an informed opinion. I'm all about this open air jungle bungalow thing. Runnin nekkid through the jungle down to the beach! Eh, if I can talk the wife into it that is.

 

ya i hear good things about manuel antonio, i guess thats where were having dinner the day we get there at some real nice restaurant called barbosa's supposedly its a "sunset dinner"
im going down there with my dad which has been down there many times and actually owns property in ojochal and im finally getting to go after 3 years WOOT! /threadjack off

 

take her to daytona for the 200

 

everytime i hear about a vacation in panama or some far away land i think of those shows on discovery, like i shouldnt be alive or locked up abroad

 

You guys are gonna love Costa Rica... east and west... i try to go every year.. sometimes twice a year... to visit friends , surf and chill....
I took my Lady Friend with me last year and she loved it.. she liked it so much that we are going back this summer again..
One thing tho.. when you are there... be careful with all your things and do not leave them out when you are on the beach or leave valuable things in your car.. ...
Other than that.. the food is awesome... the vegetables and fruits are super fresh .. and the people are really nice...

 

how much cash are we talking about here i've been looking at panama and costa rica now for like a year. I'm talking like a week in eather place the prices online look good but how much is this trip really going to cost.

 

Lived in Panama and spent years going in and out of Panama. Granted, I didn't get to spend alot of time out of Panama City but I did get to be part of a little invansion there. That was a pretty cool trip .

Seriously though, there wasn't much to do there if you weren't into jungles, fishing, and poor infrastructure. If you want off the beat and path, you could have alot of fun. If you want touristy things to do, how many times can looking at the Panama Canal be fun? Great fishing though. For the money, I would look into Peru and go to Machu Pichu and hike the Inca Trail. Have you looked at Brazil? Also, Costa Rica was much nicer then Panama in my opinion and more touristy.

 

This is the place we are staying at on the Caribbean side........

http://www.shawandhalodge.com/

And on the Pacific side.........

http://www.lamariposa.com/

I'm stoked

 

Great info, thanks...

The main reason we were looking at Panama, is because we wanted a tropical vacation, wanted to get off the beaten path a little, and wanted some diversity in scenery (ie beaches, nearby islands, jungles, mountains ect). Panama seemed to be by far the most affordable opportunity to be someplace like that. I have heard a few people say that there might be a lack of things to do if we are there for a full week.
Costa Rica looks AWESOME, but I'm having trouble finding affordable airfare out there. I'm out of Richmond, VA, so I looked to fly out of DC and still can't really find anything under around $800ish per person.

People posting up info about trips they are taking, or have taken with details about where you guys stayed, and flights ect is really helpful, keep 'em comming if anybody else wants to share

 

When you say DC, do you mean Dulles International or Reagan National (no international flights)? If your going to drive that far, also try BWI.

Good Luck

 

Thats funny you guys are talking about this I was talking to Erick on the Raising the rear of 09' CBR600 thread.
I'm originally from N.Y. living now in Costa Rica, its great 100% take the trip here before Panama, I hope this doesn't sound offensive but the Panamanians are not as hospital then the Costa Ricans if you get what I mean.
Go to C.R. for the WIN...!!!
This is our newest resort called RIU anyone coming here must go.....
http://www.riu.com/en/Paises/costa-rica/guanacaste/hotel-riu-guanacaste/index.jsp#3

 

Nice thing with Panama is their currency is US dollars and a lot of English is spoken. The locks are cool, and you can do some jungle tours and kayaking on some of the lakes that feed the locks. There was an AWESOME hotel that we launched from at one point - I'll see if I can figure out what the name was. It would be a great off the beaten path hotel in Panama - really nice, pretty, and secluded.

 

Richmond is usually pretty expensive to fly long distances out of, esp INTL, so Dulles is the closest large INTL airport, and it usually knocks about 30% off the total flight bill, but not in this case. I'll try BWI, but that is pushing it on the drive before/after the vacation.

 

Awesome info, that place looks amazing. I just need to find a way to make CR affordable and I'd book a trip there this weekend. I'll be doing more research, but all of this info is AWESOME, thanks a lot.

Great points, very much along the lines of what we've heard so far. I'd love to get the name of that hotel if you can find it, and more ideas along those lines are great, thanks.:up:

 

My neighbors went to Panama last summer for 10 days. Loved it. Said it was really nice and they paid a fraction of the cost to other places...

 

I went there in the winter of '89 in search of pineapple head...

Was very cheap trip; flight, food (some may call it that) and lodging on uncle sam's dime and the locals ended up being somewhat hospitable (after the proper encouragement)...