Boquete
A scenic mountain area in highlands of West Panama, Boquete is a world class tourist destination and favored location for second homes and retirement. Volcan Baru, a 11,400 ft. inactive volcano towers over the area providing majestic views everywhere and a rich volcanic soil for the flor and fauna. Tourism attractions include mountain scenery, a wide range of attractive accomodations from resorts to ecolodges, world-class rafting and kayaking, golf, coffee farm tours, birdwatching, hiking, horseback riding, a zipline canopy tour, year-round Spring weather and a friendly populace.
The small town of Boquete has a wide range of hotel choices, tour operators, services, restaurants and souvenir stores.
Boquete used to be a "best kept secret". All that changed in 2001 when Modern Maturity magazine of the American Association for Retired Persons chose Boquete as one of the 4 top places in the world to retire, a rating based on safety, beauty, climate and cost-of-living. Fortune magazine's 2005 Retirement Guide selected Boquete as one of the 5 best places in the world to retire.
How To Get There
By air, car or bus. You can fly Air Panama or Aeroperlas from Albrook Airport to the nearby city of David. Airfares are around $170 round trip.
From David, you can rent a car or take a 45 minute taxi ride to Boquete for about $30. You can drive. It's an easy 7 hour car trip from Panama City. You can take a bus ($15) from the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City that will take you to David and from their you can take another bus or a taxi to Boquete.
Where To Stay
There are two kinds of venue options: stay in the village or up on the mountainside. A stay in a village hotel offers walking distance proximity to riverside fair grounds full of flowers, Boquete town sights and conveniences and restaurants. See our hotel listings for more information. A stay in one of the hotels near town on the mountainside means beautiful mountain views and more nature.
Where To Eat
- Boquete Bistro - Featuring continental foods flavored with the sauces and spices of a true chef. Prices are reasonable and the servings generous. Conveniently located in a historic building with a full wall mural by a famous Panamanian artist from 1952 on Boquete's main street. Owned and operated by Loretta from Aspen, Colorado.
- Panamonte Hotel - A renowned restaurant with a menu prepared by one of Panama's top chefs: Charlie Collins. Especially recommended are the fresh trout, filet mignon and hearty seafood soup. For vegetarians, the wild mushroom polenta is great.
- Palo Alto Restaurant - Just outside town on a scenic site next to the Caldera River, a very popular place with excellent international dishes. Reservations are a must; see our listing for contact information.
Boquete Bargains
A Treat Called "Duros"
These are delicious locally made popsicles in paper cup made of real fruit. They sell them at Restaurant Lourdes and other places for 30 cents- the perfect snack.
Sabrosin Restaurant
If you are on a budget this is the place. A Boquete institution- a simple eatery where you can get a large breakfast for $2 and a large lunch and dinner for less the $3. Restaurante Lourdes is another similar bargain restaurant.
What To Do
Golf
Valle Escondido Resort has a scenic and challenging 9 hole golf course. The greens fee for 9 or 18 holes is $35. Afterwards you can dine at one of their restaurants or have a coffee at their cafe. Call 720-2897.
Rafting and Kayaking
Chiriqui province where Boquete is located is known world wide for some of the best rafting and kayaking anywhere- including sea kayaking. We recommend two outfits with perfect safety records- Chiriqui River Rafting and Boquete Outdoor Adventures. They organize trips are for everyone from families to extreme adventure addicts. Our family has gone with both companies and had the time of our lives on scenic, fun family adventures. Both companies offer day tours and longer adventure packages. See their info on the sidebar under Tour Operators.
Have a Cup of Gourmet Coffee
We recommend Cafe Ruiz near My Gardin is Your Garden and Cafe Kotowa at Los Establos Plaza. If you have a car, we recommend you have a cuppa at Finca Lerida, a spectacular gourmet coffee farm about 15 minutes out of town with a lovely cafe and coffee farm views.
Zipline Canopy Tour: Boquete Tree Trek: A thrilling ride of almost a mile through the canopy of highland rainforest on a working coffee farm. See Tours on the side bar.
Hike and Bike: Ask your hotel to recommend a hiking guide and where to rent a bicycle. You will have a great time biking all around Boquete scenic outskirts. For a hike you can go up the Volcano or take easier trails to waterfalls like El Mono.
Birding/See a Resplendant Quetzal
There are a number of good guides for birding tours. If you want to see a Quetzal rare and so beautiful that it is one of the Holy Grails of birding , we recommend you call Chago, a famous bird guide who can call Quetzales and December thru May guarantees you will see at least one Quetzal.
Spa and Alternative Health Services
Highly recommended, The Haven Spa at Valle Escondido Resort and the Panamonte Hotel offers a wide variety of fine spa treatments. They also offer a several alternative health treatments and health counseling. Many happy clients have cured illnesses and much their improved health through their services
h4>Horseback Riding
Ask your hotel or call Eduardo Cano- his rates are reasonable with or without a guide. The Boquete area is perfect for horseback riding.
Shop for a Vacation Home or Retirement Home
While prices have gone up in the last few years, Boquete prices are still well below neighboring Costa Rica. For living Boquete has many advantages- a close-to-ideal climate, safety, a hard working, honest and friendly local people, stores with just about everything you can buy in the States at the same price or better prices in nearby David and excellent medical care.