Panama Specialist Program 2012 - (Page 22)

Beach Bound anama offers beach lovers a wide choice of places in the sun: from the white sands in the Caribbean to the Paciﬁc’s remote-island Boca Chica beaches in Chiriqui Province. This page: Pearl Island beach (left); Taboga Island Beach (above) Opposite page: Bocas facilities Never too far from the sea, Panama is richly endowed with beaches. With about a thousand miles of Paciﬁc Ocean and Caribbean Sea coastline, and over a thousand beach-fringed islands, Panama offers beach lovers a wide choice of places in the sun: from the white sands of the San Blas Islands and the Bocas del Toro in the Caribbean to the Paciﬁc’s remote-island Boca Chica beaches in Chiriqui Province and the resorts of Santa Clara and Farallon, two hours away from Panama City. Depending on where one is staying, beach resorts and lodges big and small have lots of recreational activities close at hand: snorkeling, diving, ﬁshing, windsurﬁng and golﬁng. THE PACIFIC Sun-worshippers will ﬁnd Panama’s best Paciﬁc coast beaches start an hour’s drive along the Inter-American Highway from Panama City, stretching west for 30 miles between the sands at Punta Chame to Coronado, to San Carlos, to El Palmar and to Farallon beaches. They come in colors ranging from powdery-gold to salt-and-pepper to volcanic black. This is where people from the capital come on weekends to swim, body surf and laze about. Punta Chame is known for windsurﬁng and kite surﬁng, and there are some beaches where surfers come just for the waves. However, clients interested in diving and snorkeling need to head farther west for excellent spots in the Chiriqui bay or the impressive reef surroundings of Coiba Island, or go to the Caribbean side of the isthmus. You’ll know the beaches by the resorts that are most frequented by North American visitors, and there are several that are new to the scene. And a relatively new trend seems to be allinclusive resorts. Playa Bonita, closest to the capital and about a 30- to 45-minute drive from Panama City, is basically the terrain of two international hotel chain resorts, with assets such as their own crescent of white beach, pools, boat tours and watersports, and spectacular locations near the entrance to the Panama Canal. recommend.com P P22 APRIL 2012 http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Panama Specialist Program 2012

Introduction
History in a Nutshell
Panama Provinces
Panama City
The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal Zone
Call to Adventure
Exam
Beach Bound
Cultural Crossroads
Fiesta Time
Panama, Naturally
Getting There
Fast Facts

Panama Specialist Program 2012