Chitre, Las Tablas or Pedasi?
Buenas noches from Panama!
Living in the mountains of Panama has been pleasant. Nice cool breezes and a lot of the time, sunny days and blue skies abound. However, that innate feeling of being in or near water is drawing us back to the ocean!
So we recently took a four-day trip to the city of Chitre, located in the Herrera province, and the towns of Las Tablas and Pedasi, located in the province of Los Santos, along the Pacific coast about a two-to-four hour drive west of Panama City.
After turning off of the Pan-American highway at a small town called Divisa, and driving for about one hour, we encountered the city of Chitre. This metropolis has a population of approximately 102,000 people and many amenities and conveniences similar to Panama City. Visiting this area mainly for proximity to the ocean and beaches, also being able to get a reliable internet hard-wire connection was of paramount importance to us.
We found out that Chitre is one of Panama’s highest developed cities, and one of the most industrialized, providing the country of Panama and the continent of Central America with clothing, fuels and meats. It is located on the Azuero Peninsula and is one of the fastest growing areas in Panama. The city has a multi-floored mall, a large regional bus terminal and its small airport offers flights to Panama City.
The Chitreans are friendly and cheerful and the city very peaceful and secure. The carnival celebrations in the city are well-known world wide. And guess what? Chitre is equipped with high speed internet using hard-wire connections making their signal very reliable. Yes!
As we drove down the highway, the next town we came across was Las Tablas. It is the capital of the Panamanian province of Los Santos and is located on the Azuero Peninsula, a short distance inland from the Gulf of Panama. Like Chitre, Las Tablas is known for a lively annual Carnival, in which the city chooses a carnival queen representing each of two different areas of the city.
The celebrations begin in decorated plazas with colorful parade floats while music and fireworks fill the air. Friendly competition in the form of contests and games stoke the festivities while people visit from all over the world and join in the celebrations.
Unfortunately for us, the town of Las Tablas is supplied with high speed internet accessible by using a WiFi stick, which tends to make the signal unreliable. Darn!
As we continued our travels, next on our list was a stop at Pedasí, a town situated on the south-eastern tip of the Azuero Peninsula in the province of Los Santos on Panama’s Pacific coast.
With a population of 2000 people, Pedasí is a quaint fishing village consisting of two banks, a public health clinic, a library, and a few small shops and restaurants. It’s also known for its lively annual carnivals and many sports-related activities associated with a beach town such as fishing, diving, surfing and swimming.
One drawback was that we couldn’t find any other beaches in the area except for one that was publicly accessible. Two other beaches we found in the Pedasi area were private and accessible only by homeowners situated within two major gated communities.
And as expected , the town of Pedasi is equipped with telephone and high-speed Internet service which is provided through a WiFi stick making it somewhat unreliable. Darn again!
We realized that Chitre was our choice for living close to the beach. So we checked out rentals in this city and found nothing listed. Unfortunately, our beach move will have to wait for sometime in the future.
Until next time…buenas noches from Panama, Don
Related articles
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture ~ Cultural Events in Panama, the Azuero Peninsula (indacampo.wordpress.com)
- Is Everything Possible in Panama? (aarp.org)
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