Well, here we are in beautiful Panama. After spending a couple of weeks in the city working on my visa and Mike’s citizenship, we headed to the Coronado area about and hour and a half outside the city. Our previous explorations led us here as the place we thought would be the best area for us to settle on as our home away from home. We booked an AirBnb for a week while we began our home search (thanks Sarah’s Casitas for an awesome stay). We decided to rent a car for a few days in order to explore and look at properties. There is roughly a 60 mile stretch here of small beach communities in which one can find everything from small Panamanian style houses to larger North American style houses, to small apartment complexes, to high-rise condominiums. The first town along the stretch is Nueva Gorgona. About five miles down the road is Coronado, and about ten minutes further is San Carlos. Another fifteen or twenty minutes will find you in Playa Blanca. There is a small airport near Playa Blanca (Rio Hato) that a small Canadian airline uses. Sadly, there are no flights here from the U.S.
Due to all our research, we determined the best approach to finding a place was with boots on the ground. The first thing I did before we even got into town was to get on several of the local Facebook groups we had joined and have been following for a year or two. My post basically stated that we were going to be in the area and were looking for a one to two bedroom place if anyone knew of anything, and if they did to let us know. We also asked via word of mouth. After a couple of days, we had several contacts and a number of properties to check out. One of the contacts even ended up being the source for our rental car.
We narrowed down our options to several beachside condos and a small two bedroom Panamanian style house with a pool. The cute house was tempting at only $800 month plus electricity and included yard/pool maintenance. It was walkable to the beach and some conveniences, but we really had our heart set on actual beach living, so we ruled it out and focused on beach condos. It is pretty much the norm here for property owners to list with property managers, so we were able to see a number of different properties by touring with one of the property managers. We found that realtors were more interested in selling or in long-term rentals. Since we were only looking for a place for four months, the realtors that were recommended in our relocation guide were unable or unwilling to help us. Though we were initially seriously considering looking at Playa Blanca, we ruled that out after we got here, since we really did not want to have a car this trip. Also, one of our concerns about Playa Blanca this time of year is that it is low season and many of the residents there are gone. We learned on our trip last year that many of the places there close early this time of year and we felt it might be more difficult to meet people there in the off-season.
Day one of our search took us to the rental car company which just happened to be the offices of the property management that was taking us to three properties. I came armed with a check list of things that were important to us. We began our property hunt in Nueva Gorgona at Royal Palm. It is a high rise condo right on the beach with a lovely pool and restaurant on site, as well as a second pool and a ton of amenities on the 6th floor. It is a beautiful property, however, the roads in Gorgona are quite rough and it’s really just not a very pretty place. There is one restaurant and one convenience store within walking distance. This two bedroom one bathroom apartment checked most of our boxes. Apartment rental is $1200 per month.
I took photos, wrote down the property name and apartment number on the checklist, as well as any additional questions, comments, or information that was shared (I did this for each property). Here is an example of my checklist:
| Notes: | Property: | Price: | Electricity Included: | Internet Included: | Washer/ Dryer: | On the Beach | Backup Power/Water: |
Next stop was just past San Carlos at a property called Casa Mar. This was a beautiful property that consisted of several different condo buildings, a restaurant, multiple pools and entertainment areas, and beach access. The apartment that we looked at was in one of the smaller buildings (Perla Mar) that was a very short walk to the highway where one could catch a shuttle that would take you to San Carlos or Coronado. It was also about the same distance to the beach. It was a beautiful modern one bedroom, two bath apartment with a small full kitchen and beautiful view of mountains/forest and overlooking one of the pools. This apartment also checked most of our boxes, and it was hard to not get caught up in the beauty of this property. This apartment was also $1200 per month plus electricity.
Stop number three found us just a few properties back toward San Carlos at El Palmar. This high-rise sits a bit further off the highway (about a half mile or more). It is a smaller property consisting of just the one high-rise building but is right on the beach. It has a gorgeous little pool, sand volleyball, and a small gym. I really liked this apartment, because even though it was technically one bedroom one bathroom, it had a space as we walked in the door in which a queen size bed fit perfectly. This apartment checked most of our boxes as well and was the least expensive at $1000 a month, plus a $100 one time administrative fee. The caveat of this property is that it is where Dave, the property manager lives so we felt we would already have a new friend there. Honestly, we initially felt that one of these properties was going to be the one for us.
We spent a lot of time talking it over that evening. We ruled out Royal Palm, because we did not like the idea of having to taxi to Coronado any time we needed to shop and really did not want to rent a car. So, we asked Dave to show us the other two properties once more (day two of our search), so we could get a better idea of living at each without a vehicle. We also drove the area on our own to see how we might be able to get around easiest without a car. We decided we could get about anything we needed in San Carlos but were concerned with the walk back from the highway if we were carrying bags and/or the cost of returning home via taxi since we would have multiple bags. Also, on day two of our search, I heard back from Samantha. Samantha is the other property manager that I had contacted regarding some properties in Coronado. She was available to show us a couple of properties that afternoon.
The afternoon of day two led us to Coronado Bay high-rise condos. We saw two apartments here, one on the second floor and one on the nineteenth floor. Both apartments checked most of our boxes. The lower apartment is a one bedroom one bath with a nice size balcony accessible from both the living room and bedroom that looked right out to the beach and swimming pool. The only real drawback to this apartment is that it has the stackable washer and dryer in the kitchen, so I am not a fan of that. The higher apartment has a large living and dining area, nice size kitchen, walk-in closet (rare in Panama), and two bathrooms. It is on the east side of the building, so gets the morning sun but is cooler in the afternoon, since the sun is over us by 11:00 am or so. It has a nice size balcony and has a beautiful view of the beach and Pacific Ocean, as well as the mountains beyond Gorgona. The lower apartment was listed at $1200 a month and the higher one was $1400. Both require the renter to pay electricity and internet. I had told Samantha that our budget was around $1000, so she checked with the owners and both came down on the price. The second floor apartment came down to $1050 and the other to $1100. A great thing about Coronado Bay is that it has a backup generator that kicks on withing 30 seconds if the electricity goes out (which it does pretty often), as well as its own huge septic systems and backup water supply.
Let me take a moment to describe Coronado a bit in order to help understand how that figured into our decision. Coronado is actually a resort area about an hour to hour and half from Panama City. There is a country club, several full-scale supermarkets, a golf course, several shopping centers, a number of restaurants, and numerous leisure amenities that you can enjoy, and all for a relative low cost. Housing ranges from small gated communities, to small Panamanian style homes, to large estates, to several high-rise condos. Coronado is not exactly a typical town. The resort area where most of the homes are is about two miles off the highway. Inside the gates of this community, one can find several restaurants and a couple of Mini-marts (convenience stores). Outside the gates, heading back to the highway, you will find a nice medical clinic and a number of restaurants, Along the highway is where all the shopping takes place and there are many more restaurants including American chains like McDonalds, KFC, and Subway. You can find anything from small boutique type stores to large department stores, and a couple of movie theaters, as well as a local Thursday market.
Having spent some time in Coronado and getting to know the area really helped make our decision much easier. Ultimately, it boiled down to one factor. Every property we looked at checked almost all of our boxes, but one property offered something that none of the others could. We could be right on the beach and easily walk to four different restaurants and two Mini-marts. A shuttle ride (there is a shuttle stop just outside the entrance) to the highway and shopping is fifty cents per person, and a cab ride is $1 per person (the ride back is $1.50 each). Coronado Bay it was. We chose the one bedroom two bath apartment on the nineteenth floor. This building is very secure with a 24/7 guarded entry gate and key fobs that are necessary to enter the building and operate the elevators. We couldn’t be happier with our choice, and the longer we are here, the more we are sure we made the right decision for us. Our rent is $1100 per month (we did have to put up a month’s rent as deposit), our internet bill is $51 per month, and our first electric bill was only $24 but because of the billing cycle it was only for nineteen days. Since we are so high up and there is almost always a cool ocean breeze, we open the windows and rarely use the AC. When it is unusually still and or hot and humid, we will turn on the AC (split units) in whatever room we are using. We estimate that our electric bill will be between $70-$100. We probably spend about $7-$15 a week on transportation.
As we have spent more time here, we have heard things about some of the places we considered that have confirmed to us that we made the right choice. We have met people that live in Gorgona that have told us, yes, you really need a car there, but we’ve also met others without a car that are perfectly ok taking a taxi to Coronado to shop or will pay a personal driver to take them to the city or another nearby town. We’ve talked to people living in one of the properties near San Carlos who have told us that it is so quiet where they live that they really haven’t met many people in their building (that will probably change during high season), so they come to Coronado to socialize. They also confirmed that a car is really needed there.
We have met so many new friends here. I do water aerobics three mornings a week here at one of the pools, Mike takes his morning walks on the beach, we are at the pool most afternoons visiting with others that live here, and often have folks invite us to do things. Several have offered us rides if we are going the same places or have invited us out to eat with them. We have new friends in Playa Blanca, the country club, the golf club, Gorgona, and San Carlos, and some who have their own houses here in Coronado or nearby. There is a popular restaurant/bar that is a short quarter mile walk from our front door where we have met many others. I do line dance lessons there on Tuesdays, they have trivia and karaoke on Thursdays, and live music on Fridays and Saturdays. We have made friends with the staff there as well. I know when we go back home for a few months, I will miss seeing the friends we have made here. I know I will miss my gorgeous views, the beautiful white and black sand beach, and hanging at the pool in the afternoons. Maybe this can be your happy place too. There is something in this area for everyone.