Underrated: Panama

One of the more confusing things I've noticed in talking to travelers is how many people have been to Costa Rica, and how few have seriously considered Panama. I get it. Costa Rica has built an incredible reputation around exactly the kind of travel I love: jungle, waterfalls, wildlife, beaches, zip lines and adventure. But Panama is literally next door.

Panama City to San José is about an hour and twenty minutes by air. And after visiting both countries back to back during our 52 countries in 52 weeks trip, I came away wondering why Panama doesn't get nearly the same attention. Costa Rica deserves its reputation. Panama deserves one too.

Panama City

This is where Panama surprises most people who haven't been. Panama City is a genuine international city. High rises, great hotels, rooftop bars, excellent restaurants and the kind of infrastructure that makes travel easy. The skyline looks more like Miami than most people expect from Central America, and the food scene is far better than the destination's reputation would suggest. In 2025, six Panamanian restaurants appeared across the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants ranking and its extended list. This is a city that takes food seriously.

Then you drive out and the whole thing changes. Within about 20 miles of downtown you can be in tropical forest around Soberanía National Park, watching for toucans and howler monkeys. Around Gamboa, you can get onto Gatún Lake and head toward Monkey Island to find white-faced and howler monkeys in the wild.

Keep exploring the country and you get waterfalls, cloud forests, zip lining, rafting, rappelling, surfing, diving and fishing. That combination is what makes Panama so compelling. You don't have to choose between the jungle trip and the city trip. You can have dinner in a sophisticated restaurant, sleep in a luxury high rise and be in the rainforest the next morning.

The Beaches

Panama has more than 1,800 miles of coastline and more than 1,400 islands and cays split between the Pacific and Caribbean. The range is remarkable. Guna Yala, better known to many travelers as the San Blas Islands, is an Indigenous autonomous region with hundreds of islands, clear Caribbean water and tiny stretches of tropical paradise that still feel remarkably undeveloped.

Bocas del Toro gives you mangroves, white and golden sand, surfing, snorkeling and beaches ranging from lively Red Frog Beach to quiet stretches of coastline that can feel almost entirely your own. On the Pacific side, Santa Catalina is a world-class surf destination and a gateway to Coiba National Park for diving and marine wildlife. These are not runner-up beaches. They're the real thing.

The Value

This was the part I wasn't expecting. We traveled directly from Panama to Costa Rica, so the comparison was immediate. Same family, same style of travel, same general part of the world. Costa Rica felt dramatically more expensive. In some categories we were paying close to twice what we had just paid in Panama. That's my direct experience, not a blanket pricing rule. But it was striking enough to change how I look at both destinations.

Panama also makes spending simple for Americans. The balboa is fixed one to one with the U.S. dollar, and U.S. currency circulates throughout the country. No mental currency conversion every time you order dinner or book an activity. You know exactly what something costs. But this isn't really about finding somewhere cheap. I don't care about saving twenty dollars on a hotel room if the experience isn't worth having. What interests me is how much experience you get back for the money you spend. Panama gives you a lot.

Where I'd Go

Start with a few days in Panama City. Stay somewhere modern, walk through Casco Antiguo, see the Canal and give yourself at least one night to enjoy the rooftops and nightlife.

For dinner, Maito is the serious culinary experience, contemporary Panamanian cooking built around the country's multicultural identity. It ranked No. 18 on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025. Fonda Lo Que Hay in Casco Antiguo is more casual, taking the traditional Panamanian fonda and turning it into something creative and lively.

Then get out of the city. Do the rainforest around Gamboa. Get onto Gatún Lake. Find the monkeys. Zip line through the jungle. If you have time, fly to Bocas del Toro or make Guna Yala part of the trip. If surfing or diving is your thing, push toward Santa Catalina and Coiba.

That's the Panama most travelers are missing. A modern city. Tropical rainforest. Wildlife. Two oceans. Hundreds of islands. Caribbean beaches. Serious food. Real adventure. And, in my experience, considerably better value than the country sitting right next door. Put Panama on your list.