Chiriqui
The extraordinary Chiriqui Province in West Panama on the border of Costa Rica, offers a wide variety of attractions including highland and beach destinations, Indian cultures, idyllic retirement communities, world class rafting, kayaking, birding and hiking.
David: The Capital City of Chiriqui Province
David is the perfect place to overnight on your way to Panama City from Costa Rica or on your way to other Chiriqui destinations. Conveniently located on the Panamerican Highway, it's just 45 minutes from the border with Costa Rica and 6.5 hours from Panama City. David has the best shopping in Panama outside Panama City. The El Rey supermarket is excellent for groceries, Furniture City for furniture, Do-It Center for hardware and housewares , there is a small Chiriqui Mall and there is even a Price Costco ( called Price Smart in Panama).
The David Airport is the main airport in the region with flights to and from Panama City, Bocas del Toro and San Jose Costa Rica.
Boquete-
Boquete, a flower filled mountain valley at the foot of the 10,500 ft. extinct volcano Volcan Baru, boosts a near perfect climate, panoramic mountain views , coffee farms, waterfalls, great hiking and a picturesque small town ambience.
It is also one of the few places on the planet where you can view the Resplendent Quetzal with regularity; the rare and considered most beautiful bird in the Americas.
Boquete was selected by the magazine Modern Maturity of the American Association of Retired Persons as the top place in the Western Hemisphere for retirement or a second home and as one of the top five places by Fortune Magazine. Boquete is just 40 minutes by car from the provincial capital city of David, 7 hours by car from Panama City and one hour by plane.
How To Get There
By air, car or bus. You can fly Air Panama and Aeroperlas from Albrook Airport to the nearby city of David. Airfares are around $180 round trip. David is also an easy 7 hour car trip from Panama City or you can take a bus ($15 one way) from the Albrook Bus Terminal.
Where To Stay
Where to Stay in David
Gran Hotel National: David’s most popular hotel, the Gran Nacional has everything the tourist and business traveler could want: Excellent accommodations, excellent food in its three Restaurants, 6 on-premise movie theaters, a 24 hour casino and attention from a well trained staff. Located a few minutes from the airport and the Panamerican Highway.
Where to Stay in Boquete
In the Village: You have two fine choices or venues. A hotel in or near the village or on the mountainside overlooking Boquete. Valle Escondido Resort, the Panamonte Inn and Spa, Boquete Garden Inn, Rio Alto Suites and Isla Verde are in or near the village. The Coffee Estate Inn, Villa Marita are on the mountain side.
Los Quetzales in Guadalupe: Los Quetzales has two attractive lodging choices; a pretty European style lodge including a comfy lobby with a center fireplace and full length mountain view windows and an on premise restaurant or individual cabins within the cloud forest all in Amistad National Park.
Bambito Hotel: Panama's only mountain resort. A four star hotel nestled at the foot of Volcan Baru featuring a swimming pool, scenic lounge, sauna, hot tub,conference facilities, tennis courts, mountain bike rentals and horseback riding and other tours.
Car Rental
You can rent a car in David from National Car Rental and turn it in in Panama City and vice versa.
What To Do
Rafting and Kayaking
Chiriqui Province is famous for both rafting and river kayaking. You can choose an easy family rafting day trip or a variety of more advanced river runs. Even experienced rafters rave about Class 5 Chiriqui rafting opportunties. Chiriqui River Rafting is the rafting outfit to go with, Panama’s original with a more than 20 year perfect safety record.
Highlands and Mountains Attractions
Chiriqui has two highland national parks: La Amistad International Park a 407,000 hectare cloud forest park which is half in Panama and half in Costa Rica and the 14,000 hectare Volcan Baru National Park.
The Chiriqui highlands have a near perfect climate, quaint villages, friendly folk, flower fairs, orchid farms, extraordinary birding, hiking and the panoramic mountain views.
Shop Retirement and Vacation Communities
Valle Escondido: In a picturesque valley adjacent to the highland village of Boquete, a premiere residential and resort community on a former coffee farm offering a challenging golf course, villas for sale and rent overlookng the course and river, horseback riding trails, amphitheater etc. A must see if you are interested in retirement living or real estate investment in Panama.
Cielo Paraiso Golf and Resort Community: On a plateau with spectacular 360 degree views of mountains and ocean, an exclusive resort community of estate residences with a golf course designed by Michael Poellot opening in 2009.
Las Olas Resort: Reasonably priced beach front lots on twenty miles of privately owned beach on the Pacific Coast, 20 minutes from David and adjacent to Las Olas Resort.
Beach Resorts
A New Popular Beach Destination: Boca Chica, in the province of Chiriqui on the Pacific Ocean, just 1 ¼ hours from David is a scenic coastal area with beaches and nearby islands.
There are 3 very attractive hotels- Cala Mia, Seagull Cove and Gone Fishing. See our Hotels sidebar for more info.
Las Olas Resort: An elegant all-inclusive beach resort located on a pristine stretch of privately owned beach just 20 minutes from David. The resort offers world class sports fishing trips and local tours to a sea turtle sanctuary, rum factory, mangrove forests and the Chiriqui Highlands.
More Highland Destinations
Bambito, Nueva Suiza, Guadalupe, Volcan and Cerro Punta Villages in the Cloud Forests of Amistad International Park
Nestled up in a cloud forest of La Amistad National Park are a series of pretty mountain villages Bambito, Nueva Suiza,Guadalupe, Volcan and Cerro Punta.
Attractions include cloud forest hiking, birding (the Resplendent Quetzal is seen regularly), horseback riding, strawberry farms, canoeing & birdwatching on the Lagunas de Volcan, Panama's highest marsh ecosystem, a visit to Finca Dracula orchid botanical garden; a must with over 1200 species of orchids, pure breed horse ranches, rainbow trout fishing, export quality commercial flower farms and Pre Columbian petroglyphs at Sitio Barriles.