Found in the Azuero Peninsula, this town has evolved over the past decade from a quiet fishing town into one of Panama’s best lifestyle destinations. Even though it’s growing in popularity, the town has preserved its laidback character and small community feel.
When you enter Pedasí, the highway becomes the main street. It’s lined with row houses not typically found in Panama making for a tranquil, beautiful, and rather unique town. Pedasí’s walkability comes from its compact scale.
This is not a town built around gated communities and highways. The town center has a traditional plaza at its center, with restaurants, cafés, bakeries, small grocery stores, and local businesses located within a relatively short distance of one another.
You come here for a slow-paced life. Residents will walk or bike through town, and gather in the cafés, restaurants, and bars. You may even see some locals still traveling by horseback from time to time.
Another attractive feature of Pedasí beyond walkability is the beaches, of course. Surfing, fishing, whale watching, and island excursions are some of the activities that shape how you live here.
The social environment of Pedasí is more intimate and community oriented. You will start recognizing faces quickly, and relationships can develop naturally because of shared routines and local events.
But while the center of town is walkable, some beaches and residential areas still require a vehicle.
This is also a place where health care access is more limited than in the city or a town like Boquete. There is a small regional public hospital, but for major care you need to return to Chitré, or, better, to the private hospitals in Panama City. You could also drive to David in Chiriquí and receive care in one of the private hospitals there, like Hospital Chiriquí or Centro Médico Mae Lewis.
Like most places in the interior of Panama, Pedasí offers a good quality of life for a low budget–especially if you decide to cut back on imported goods and decide to try living the “local way”. A couple could live in Pedasí on a monthly budget of about $1,500.
Pedasí is a treasure in the raw for those who have fantasies of living on a tropical beach and can deal with the lack of infrastructure. The price you pay for seclusion and perfection is that it has not yet been entirely dragged into the 21st century. But it seems that it is the carefree, tranquil life that most people love about living here.
Sincerely,
