Back in 2000, Live And Invest Overseas’ Founding Publisher Kathleen Peddicord made her way to a small town in the mountains of Panama. There, she met with a developer who showed her the valley he intended to purchase to create the world’s first expat retiree community. That same day he closed on the deal.
Back then, the idea of moving overseas was far from mainstream and even those ahead of the curve were following more familiar trails to Mexico or Costa Rica. Selling up in the U.S. to set up home in the highlands of Panama wasn’t on most retirees’ radars.
But Kathleen knew her readers weren’t your average retiree and she knew that this developer—one Sam Taliaferro—was on to something big.
Kathleen reported on the project, named Valle Escondido, in real time and named Boquete the world’s best place to retire overseas a year on from her first visit.
The mainstream caught up in time with everyone from the AARP to Fortune magazine highlighting this little town’s big charms.
More than two decades on from Kathleen’s recommendation, Boquete is perhaps the world’s best-known expat haven. It’s home to some 25,000 people, over a fifth of whom are expats primarily from the U.S. and Canada, but a good number of Europeans, too.
For those not yet familiar with Boquete, let’s get situated…
Boquete District is divided into six corregimientos (subdivisions of a district): Bajo Boquete (the district capital), Caldera, Palmira, Alto Boquete, Jaramillo, and Los Naranjos. When people talk about downtown Boquete it’s Bajo Boquete they’re referring to though you’ll find expat communities and developments scattered across the entire district.
Located in Panama’s Chiriquí Province, in the west of the country, Boquete is around a 40-minute drive from David, Panama’s second-largest city.
Copa Airlines and Wingo operate flights from David’s Enrique Malek International Airport to Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport. Flights run daily, take around 40 minutes, and one-way fares start from $40. From David you can catch the bus to Boquete for $2 or a cab for around $30.
Alternatively, you can drive or take a bus from Panama City. The journey takes around 7 hours depending on traffic and pitstops.
Boquete lies on the Caldera river and its elevation—3,900 feet above sea level—means the climate is mild with daily temperatures hovering between 65°F and 75°F year-round.
Nestled amid forest-clad mountains, Boquete is a haven for nature lovers. Here, you’ll find hot springs, hiking trails, and waterfalls, and the town hosts an annual flower and coffee festival in the bloom laden riverside park.
For me, Boquete’s appeal is easily understood. If you like friendly, slow-paced, small-town life then it will likely appeal to you, too. That’s not to say it’s a boring place to be. The expat community is long-established, welcoming, and thriving.
During the day you can get most errands done in the town where there’s pharmacies, banks, postal services, clinics, gyms, boutiques, laundrettes, cafés, a library, and well-stocked supermarkets selling familiar favorites from back home.
As the sun sets, the town comes alive as the scores of restaurants that line the main street fire up their ovens and live music filters out from open-air bars draped in fairy lights.
There are oodles of expat groups and activities on offer so making friends and settling in is easier in Boquete than most anywhere. Plus, the large expat community means you won’t need to be fluent in Spanish to make the move here. You can get by in English although to really enjoy expat life learning at least a little of the local language goes a long way.
One of the biggest draws here is safety. I felt perfectly safe walking around the town alone day and night. Of course, like anywhere, you take normal precautions, but in general crime isn’t something that impacts most people’s daily lives here.
The downtown area is walkable providing you don’t have any mobility issues. The streets are clean, too, and the infrastructure is good.
If you chose to live here you could make do without a car but most expats opt to own one. It makes life a lot easier when the weather isn’t conducive to walking, when you have groceries to fetch, or if you want to take a trip to David where you’ll find bigger city conveniences such as shopping malls, a cinema, hospital, and more.
As with anywhere, your cost of living will depend on the lifestyle you choose. If you rent a casita, shop in local markets, and use public transport you could get by on $1,500 a month. If you choose to live in a large villa, dine out often, run a car, buy imported goods, and enjoy mornings on the golf course or afternoons at the spa, your monthly budget will easily exceed $5,000.
You’ll find people enjoying life at both ends of the spectrum here as well as many comfortably in between.
It’s also a great jumping off point for adventures farther afield… the Gulf of Chiriquí National Marine Park, Bocas del Toro, and even Costa Rica are within easy reach. Plus, locally there’s coffee farms, zip-lining, butterfly farms, volcano hikes, and more. As a result, Boquete is now one of the most popular spots for tourists visiting Panama.
The downside to the popularity that Boquete has been enjoying these past 20-odd years is that prices have inevitably risen—though they’re still a bargain for most people coming from the U.S. or Canada—and that accommodation can be harder to find.
Hotel rooms here average around $120 a night but can run you more than $500 during festivals and holidays. My last visit was in early November when the holidays of Separation Day, Flag Day, and Colón Day fall. The town was pretty much booked out as locals with family in the area returned for the celebrations, joining the usual groups of visitors including digital nomads, hikers, and those scouting out Boquete as a future home base.
If you’re looking for a long-term rental, around a 20-minute drive out of town they can be found for as little as $500 a month but as you get closer to the downtown area the prices can rise considerably depending on the property—think $1,200 and up.
Most expats opt to live a little out of town as, while Boquete is as peaceful a place as you can imagine, this is still Latin America. Downtown homes are closer together than you may be used to and barking dogs and crowing roosters are a part of life. Quieter areas just a few minutes out of town such as Alto Boquete, Jaramillo, and Caldera are where most expats prefer to call home.
When it comes to buying a property here, in Boquete Country Club a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home is on the market for $650,000. And in Sam Taliaferro’s Valle Escondido development today a one-bedroom, one-bathroom rental will set you back $1,200 a month while a fully-furnished 3-bedroom apartment is up for sale at $350,000.
House prices have been rising steadily over the years and Boquete’s popularity shows no signs of waning. Plans are in the works to widen the road from David to four lanes to deal with increased traffic. But for all its popularity, it doesn’t feel crowded here. While the town is bustling, the pace of life remains wonderfully relaxed…
Sincerely,
Victoria Harmer
Editor, Overseas Property Letter
