When I was a kid, I dreamt of swimming in Caribbean waters… shades of turquoise and blue lapping at white shores, palm trees swaying in the salty breeze, the sand littered with coconuts and soft and warm beneath my feet.
Living in the mountains of Oregon, with the cold, rainy, rocky Pacific Ocean eight hours away, my dream felt like a distant one.
Now that I’m living in Panama City, sandwiched between both seas, right on the Pacific and with the Caribbean about an hour away, sometimes I have to pinch myself to be sure I’m not dreaming. That this is actually my new reality.
Living in Oregon, going to the beach was a once-a-year event. And I didn’t long for it the rest of the year.
Now, I crave the beach. I want to spend all holidays in a beach chair beneath a rancho, a cold Panama Light in my hand, pescado frito con patacones on a plate in front of me, and the ocean a few steps away.
I was determined to celebrate the holidays at the beach this year, and was lucky to spend my second New Year’s in Panama living out the exact dream I had for all of my life up until now.
Nine out of 10 times I go to the beach, it’s to the Pacific… to the string of beaches known as the City Beaches (which are actually about an hour-and-a-half from Panama City). I don’t have a car yet, and these are the easiest beaches to get to by bus.
I’d wanted to visit Isla Grande in Colón Province, on the Caribbean, for more than a year, but getting there is difficult and inconvenient without a car.
Luckily, my new roommate has a car and offered to take my partner and me the day after New Year’s. We were all off work because in Panama when a holiday (in this case New Year’s) falls on a Sunday, Monday is a free day.
On Sunday, we went to Machetazo (the most affordable supermarket in Panama City) and bought sandwich ingredients, chips, snacks, and cans of rum-and-coke and mojitos.
That night, we mapped our route with Google Maps. We’d drive to the town of La Guaira on the coast of Colón Province where we’d park the car and pay a fisherman to take us to the island in his lancha. According to the app, the drive would only take two hours.
Getting To Isla Grande Beach
We left home the next morning at 7:30 a.m. and hit horrible traffic in the town of Sabanitas, where you turn off the Panama-Colón Highway toward Portobelo and La Guaira. We had encountered the beach rush… and should have started our trip much earlier, probably at 6 a.m.
Getting to La Guaira is very simple. You can just plug the name of the town into Waze or Google Maps. It’s about an hour from Panama City to the turnoff at Sabanitas (there’s a Rey supermarket on the main road where you can stock up on food, drinks, sunscreen, ice, or any item you may have forgotten) and then another hour to La Guaira.
The road takes you through the town of Portobelo, where you can walk through the centuries-old ruins of a fort built to protect the town from pirate attacks. This is your jump-off point if you want to visit Playa Blanca and Venas Azules.
It was 11 a.m. by the time we parked in La Guaira in an open, grassy lot. A local woman led us to a spot and charged us US$6 to leave the car there for the entire day. We asked her how much she’d charge if we decided to come back sometime and leave the car for a couple days while staying on the island, and she told us that it would be US$6 per day.
As we were unloading our cooler and tote bags from the car, a fisherman approached and offered to take us to the island for US$6 round-trip, per person. We agreed, and he led us to a dock where several small lanchas were tied up, filling with passengers.
It was sprinkling as we climbed into the small fishing boat and put on life jackets, but even though the sky was grey, the water was beautiful… a sparkling, clear blue-green. The island was right in front of us.
The boat ride took less than five minutes and on the way, the fisherman explained that he could either drop us off on the public beach (which would be free, but very crowded) or on a private beach belonging to Hotel Isla Grande. Wanting more space and privacy, we opted for the hotel’s beach.
An employee charged us US$8 per person to spend the day on the private beach and it was well worth it. After about an hour it stopped sprinkling and the sun shone intensely. We were grateful for the plastic chairs the employee brought us and the shade from the palm tree we were sitting under.
Our Beach Experience
We had access to a bathroom and shower, and the grassy area around the hotel facilities was filled with ripe mangos and coconuts that had fallen from the trees. We grabbed as many mangos as we could fit in our hands and snacked on them throughout the afternoon.
There were a lot of people, and several families with children, but it didn’t feel overcrowded. The beach was long, and we had plenty of space. Usually if you go to the beach in Panama during the holidays you find crowds of drunk people blaring reggaeton, but that wasn’t the case that day. Everyone had their speakers set at a respectful volume, and the vibe was laid-back and peaceful.
The water was cool, but not cold—it felt refreshing—and it was clear enough that I could see my feet in water that was too deep for me to stand. There were no waves, and the sea was as calm as a swimming pool. A line of buoys marked the swim area and outside, sailboats were anchored and jet skis raced back and forth, some pulling children on inflatable toys.
All around was a picturesque, postcard-worthy scene. Palm trees lined the shore, casting shadows on the sand… more sailboats dotted the blue waters in the distance… and there were more islands—mountains of green rising up out of the azure sea—in front.
Everything was perfectly clean and manicured. Not a single piece of garbage polluted the natural beauty of the island beach. There were no rocks, nor kelp, nor sea plants in the water… just soft sand.
On land, three or four restaurants were selling fresh-caught seafood. We bought beer (US$2 for a Balboa) at one of them, and I took a look at the menu. There was a surprising amount of variety (considering the kitchen was quite small and minimalistic), including ceviche, shrimp, prawns, and fried, whole snapper.
To me, eating pescado frito on the beach is one of the greatest pleasures in life. If you haven’t had it and don’t have anything against fish, you need to try it the next time you’re at the beach in Panama. I’ve paid anywhere from US$8 to US$15 for a whole fish, and it comes with patacones (deep-fried, smashed green plantains) and a salad. Add an ice-cold Panamanian beer and you have the perfect meal for a beach day.
I can’t think of a better way to start the New Year… for me, anyway. We spent the afternoon eating sandwiches, enjoying cold drinks, listening to music, swimming in the sea, and swapping stories in the sunshine.
Somewhere in that mix I remember thinking, as I have dozens of times in the almost-two-years I’ve lived in Panama, “I want to live this way for the rest of my life.”
The lanchero took us back to La Guaira at 4:30 p.m. We were tired and sunburned, but most of all, happy.
The tranque (a Panamanian traffic jam) was bad on the way back to the city, and it took us nearly four hours to get home. If you can’t stand traffic, you might want to consider visiting Isla Grande on a normal weekend or during the week. There are a couple police checkpoints along the way and when there’s traffic, they really slow things down. Make sure to have your driver’s license and residency card or passport within easy reach—they’ll ask you for them.
By the time we got to the city, we were starving and wanted something quick. We drove to a parking lot near the metro station Fernández de Córdoba where there were several food carts. My partner and our roommate are Venezuelan, so we ate at a cart selling Venezuelan cuisine. I bought a mini pepito—a mouthwatering sandwich with chicken or beef, ham, vegetables, cheese, and sauces—for just US$6.
Then we headed home, everyone agreeing that the trip had been chévere.
On New Year’s Eve, a few minutes before midnight, per the Latin American tradition, we each ate 12 grapes, each one representing a wish for 2023. My first wish for the New Year was adventure. Looks like I’m off to a good start…
Gabrielle Wells
Editor, Panama Letter
