Explore Panama's Beaches & Islands

Panama is narrow enough that both the Pacific and the Caribbean sit within a day's reach, and each offers a different kind of coastal life.

The Pacific side brings dramatic tides, world-class surf, and long stretches of golden and dark-sand beach from the Azuero Peninsula to Santa Catalina. The Caribbean answers with calmer, turquoise water, coral reefs, and a slower, laid-back rhythm.

That variety is a rare luxury. You can pick the coast that matches your pace, whether that means chasing waves at dawn or drifting over a reef by mid-morning.

Not every beach home is a distant dream. Along the Pacific just west of Panama City, a string of towns from Coronado to Gorgona and San Carlos has become the capital's favorite escape.

An hour or so on the highway trades city traffic for ocean air, and the area has grown a full backbone of shops, clinics, restaurants, and golf to match.