The Press: What They’re Saying about Panama

Why Panama City’s Casco Viejo Is Latin America’s Most Stylish Destination

The cobblestoned colonial quarter is hotter than ever.Panama City is a town made for the passeggiata—just walking the streets, you get this feeling of being in a John le Carré novel,” says filmmaker Stephen Ringer, still vibing on a recent visit to Central America with his wife, musician/actress Aly Michalka.
Conde Nash Traveler August 2016

Parents in Tow, Finding a Charming and Cheap Corner of Panama

That’s one of the reasons we were heading to Azuero in the first place. A Panamanian friend of a friend had called it “one of my favorite places” and “very traditional of the Panamanian culture.” When I found very little online except for talk of surf breaks (age inappropriate) and annual festivals (not coinciding with our dates), I decided it would be a perfect low-key first experience in what was a new country for all of us. An added bonus: It’s the driest part of the country, which we’d be visiting during the rainy season.
New York Times, January 2016

10 Top Tourist Attractions in Panama

While visitors to Panama may come for the Panama Canal, they stay for everything else. Known as the “Crossroads of the Americas,” Panama is not only the geographical point where North America meets South America but also where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet in the country’s famed canal. The original meaning of the word “panama” means “abundance of fish,” and fishing is just one of the many water sports and activities that visitors to Panama can enjoy. More highly developed than neighboring Central American countries, Panama enjoys a modern infrastructure, making travel through the tropical paradise easy and convenient.
Touropia, November 2016

Panama City’s Casco Viejo Cleans Up Nicely

The nostalgic charm of Casco Viejo’s Spanish colonial buildings is a pleasant departure from the cluttered look of the rest of Panama City. The neighborhood, once ridden with gangs and crime, now attracts stylish tourists, many staying at the new Ace hotel, which employs a number of former gang members as part of a rehabilitation of the neighborhood. “It feels great when you come here because it feels like you are somewhere else, but you are in Panama,” said Pam Hetlinger,AKA “The Girl From Panama”. She combines tropical with urban recently in the area wearing a Faithfull maxi dress, Michael Kors bag and Valentino shoes.
New York Times August, 2015

Travel & Leisure “Best Countries for Solo Travelers

Adventure travel is a prime reason for solo travelers to visit this Central American country, from whitewater rafting on the Chiriquí and Chiriquí Viejo rivers to ziplining through the tropical treetops. Then there’s the growing surfing culture, especially in Bocas del Toro, where the Caribbean vibe, intense nightlife, and beach culture are tempting for young singles. Be sure to catch the obligatory view of ships transiting the Panama Canal—and to explore Panama City’s atmospheric Casco Antiguo (Old Town)—before or after your time on the coast.
Travel & Leisure September 2014

Panama City Mixing Global and Local Flavors

One hundred years after the opening of the Panama Canal, Panama continues to bring in ethnicities whose foods dominate Panama City’s culinary scene- a new Panamanian cuisine is emerging, one that looks inward while embracion its diversity. Everywhere you look ambitious young chefs are adapting local ingredients to global trends, ranging from Southern barbecue to Japanese-Peruvian fusion.”
New York Times September 2014

From Where You’d Rather Be: The World’s Best Beachbreaks – Bocas Del Toro

A little mistiming, a little vagueness, a lotta jungle, a little adventure. Bocas del Toro, a collection of equatorial islands on Panama’s right coast have a beach or two that’d get a young Leo DiCaprio’s travel bug itching. We’re talking remote rainforests teeming with jaguars and toucans, lined with powdery beaches, surging with hollow, dumping wedges… and a slab or two for the hellions. Indeed, there’s no Surfline cam giving you the heads up, and that’s precisely what makes it worth missioning for. While we wouldn’t completely wanna spell it out for ya, consider the following Daffy’s abandoned map, of sorts.
Stab Magazine November 2014

Panama #1 Place to Go in 2012

“It’s been 12 years since Panama regained control of its canal, and the country’s economy is booming. Cranes stalk the skyline of the capital, Panama City, where high-rises sprout one after the next and immigrants arrive daily from around the world. Among those who have landed en masse in recent years are American expatriates and investors, who have banked on Panamanian real estate by building hotels and buying retirement homes. The passage of the United States-Panama free trade agreement in October is expected to accelerate this international exchange of people and dollars (the countries use the same currency).”
-New York Times, January 2012

Panama: The coolest Caribbean spot of the moment

“But it turns out Panama is somewhere you won’t want to leave. And savvy backpackers, surfers, hippies, and eco-chic A-listers are quietly turning it into a new Caribbean hotspot with a Spanish skew, a place of Rasta-run beach huts, of strong community cultures, of gallery forests that emit a palpable twilight thrumming. It’s got world-class break, and white sand as fine as dust motes.”
-Condé Naste 2012 Cover Issue

“Think of Panama and you might be reminded of a hat (actually from Ecuador), a Canal or a hapless fraudster who faked his own death (canoe-man John Darwin).
But there’s a lot more to this sliver of land between Costa Rica and Colombia. In an area smaller than Scotland lies a cosmopolitan capital, miles of pristine coastline on two oceans, unique indigenous cultures, adrenaline-fuelled adventure and steamy jungle with wildlife galore.
Down-town Panama City feels like a mini-Miami, a skyscraping hub of international finance, shopping malls and sophisticated nightlife. There’s so much construction underway that the locals joke that the country’s national bird is the crane.”
-The Daily Mail, February 2012

“But it is Panama’s wild nature that is increasingly drawing in tourists, and the most popular destination now is Bocas del Toro, a group of 68 Caribbean islands 32km from the Costa Rican border, where primary rainforest meets the sea. Beautiful beaches, surf breaks and a backpacker scene attracts independent travelers to Bocas Del Toro town on Isla Colon, while nature-fanatics head to several ecolodges on the nearby islands and promontories, which have opened in the last few years.”
-The Guardian, May 2012