Find in Panama

You will discover many villages and little towns when you drive past the bridges, towards Panama Canal, then when you head along the highway. Along the way, you will get to see villages and little towns. You will then get to the interior of Panama and then the Gold Coast. In thirty minutes’ time, you will be able to find Malibu Beach and Gorgona Beach. In another hour, you will be led to roads heading towards the beaches, which will just take ten minutes, and to modern, commercial resorts.

For several years, the areas in Punto Barco, Coronado Beach, and other nearby beaches were the only developed places, since they were the primary attractions in the city. Now, foreigners are starting to travel to Panama ever since the development of Playa Blanca Resort and Decammeron Beach Club.
The progress was slow but within two to three years only, Panama has experienced a surge of growth with the construction of modern condominiums, apartment towers in beaches, golf courses, housing subdivisions, along with others. Most of the projects are in the construction stage, but there are more projects along the way, including Superclub Breezes, Hard Rock Hotel, and Wyndam Beach.

The Gold Coast, although not as progressive as Cancun is fast developing. It has several beautiful beaches, a warm community spirit, a jungle just a twenty-minute drive away, and developed roads and highways. It is also just one and a half-hour away from the airport and the city proper.
When you go to Punto Barco, Coronado, and still-developing beach places, you will rarely see single homes for families since such are quite expensive.
There are lands for commercial development but they are usually sold at an expensive price and in big proportions. There are also condominiums currently being developed, with an average cost of around two thousand dollars per square meter. Panama is a great place for real estate investment.
There are also medical clinics, shopping markets, restaurants, and home centers located just along highways to cater to new residents.
Developments for foreigners and city people are now being slowly put in place. Several communities along the highway are planned for big family homes. Unfortunately, these communities are not meant for the locals, since with their income of only three hundred per month, they could not afford the homes.
In the area, there are three golf courses, with two more that are currently developed. These golf courses all have condos, homes, and duplexes.
Although beaches in Panama are for the public, most of the beaches are accessible only through dirt roads and poor trails that is why some resorts have made private access to the beach front. The sand in the beaches is the dark, volcanic type in color and a bit rough in texture. The pleasant side of Panama beaches is that they have a spectacular view, warm water, and wonderful sunsets. The tide and location of the beaches are the primary factors why the beaches differ in width. For people who want to go small surfing, they can do so in the parts of Santa Clara and Gorgona Beach. For those who wish to enjoy large surfing, people may need to travel to the beach a couple of hours away.
In the beaches, local residents in the area are into fishing crabs, shrimps, and fishes. From the shore, you will be able to see islets from afar.
Prices of lands have constantly increased because of the demand from buyers not only from Panama but from other countries as well. There is no anticipation for decreases in the prices of Panama real estate because of the demand and supply.

While traveling or living in Panama it is wise to be aware of the basics of crime and security since they are drastically different than those in Westernized countries.  The city itself is much safer than most US cities because violent crimes and security levels are much higher in Panama as a natural evolution from the old days of United States occupation.  Petty theft however is much more likely to occur since the poor in Panama are very poor and while they are not violent, they are hungry and desperately just trying to survive.
If you are planning to live in Panama you should not have to worry about breaking many laws accidently since law is not strongly enforced here since violent crimes are so uncommon.
However, there is one element of the law that you never want to get involved with, drug law.  The Panama law authorities take drug violations very seriously so if you are a casual or even occasional recreational drug user this is not the country for you.  Most of law enforcement agents are concentrated on prosecuting those who traffic or use drugs.  If you are caught using, possessing, or trafficking drugs there will be severe consequences with no option for plea bargaining as in the United States.  You will either spend a significant amount of time in jail and/or face a massive fine and exportation.  Drugs are not something you want to be the slightest bit involved with if you plan to build a life in Panama.
As mentioned earlier, security levels are very high in Panama, higher than they really need to be given the low occurrence of non-drug related crime.  This is because when the United States was occupying Panama all Americans were required to have bars on their windows and doors and many of the buildings still have them.  It may look threatening and make Panama look like a threatening city, but it really is not.  In fact, some of the buildings that non-Panama residents tend to live in have higher security measures than the highest level of living residents in New York City which has a much, much higher crime rate.  So if you take the usual precautions as you would in any city, keep your valuables in a safe, travel with a partner after night, and be aware of your surroundings, you will be perfectly safe.
A prime reason why Panama police can be so concentrated on drug investigations is the low crime rate and because there are a few other laws here that are not highly enforced.  For example, prostitution is legal and voluntarily keeps itself off the street.  It is very unheard of to be approached by a prostitute unless you know where to look because the value system is so high.  Teenagers are not dressed in rags nor have tattoos and colored hair.  The natives enjoy quiet living and respectable appearances.    Often times they enforce the law involuntarily by taking care of scammers and thieves by isolating them from society.
One final thought on Panama law that is sure to shock new visitors for a period time is the driving patterns of the natives.  Although there are traffic laws, almost nobody follows them as traffic looks like a disaster waiting to happen.  People drive at the speeds they choose turning in and out of traffic on their own whims.  Tickets are occasionally handed out, but hardly anyone rarely follows the process as most people just give the officer the equivalent of US 10 dollars and continue on.  It takes some getting used to, but the accident rates are much lower, so although it seems erratic, mutual respect for each other seems to make it work.

Panama is a hot spot for people looking to retire in a peaceful cultural environment who want to live out their golden years in peace and quiet. The city actually encourages retirees to come join their community from all over the world by offering special retiree visas to senior citizens 55 years of age or older and numerous senior citizen discounts throughout the community in almost all departments of their lives.

To get a retiree visa for Panama, one most have a monthly income of at least 500 dollars from a government or private pension fund, (or proof of a significant lump sum pension and the documents to support the source of income) a health certificate, and a clean police record. They are also required to sign a contract stating they will purchase Panamanian real estate to ensure their intentions are in accordance to the Panamanian retiree purposes. Additionally, if you own property in Panama you are granted protection and all the same rights by law as a Panamanian citizen. It is one of the few places that gives visa holders the same rights as citizens. It is pretty hard to find any other country so open to welcoming retirees, but Panamanian culture is built on respect and values and the people welcome and value the wisdom that comes from experience of the gray.

A good reason to consider Panama as a retirement destination is the fact the the health services in Panama are great.  Not only there are reat Hospitals and Clinics, but also its quite easy to find a great dentist in panama. We used the people at PanamaDentalCenter.com and where quite satisfied.

To further entice retirees, Panamanian government offers standard discounts on transportation, medical bills, half price entertainment pricing (movies, theater, concerts etc.), restaurants, airline tickets, and half price discounts on closing costs for home loans. It almost seems too good to be true, but yet there are many retirees from all regions of the world residing in Panama so it must be real. Due to these great opportunities, Panama is an immigrant melting pot of all types of people including but not limited to Hindus, Americans, Canadians, British, Arabs, and Asians. As a result culturally the entertainment options and restaurant offerings are rich with portions of the town replicating mini countries across the world. There really is something for everyone across the world.

Out of all the countries represented in Panama, it most closely resembles American structure however since it was occupied by America in 1999. Only because of citizen’s high value system, it is a better America as the violent crime rate is drastically lower, the average pricing for goods is lower (despite the fact it uses the American dollar as its monetary currency), better high speed internet than the US (in the areas where it is functioning as it has not fully been extended everywhere yet) and a very strong private banking system that will protect your privacy and funds stringently. Even better yet, unlike the rest of Mexico, you can actually drink the tap water due to water filtration systems.

It reads almost like a paradise spot compared to the shaky state the rest of the world is in right now due to terrorism threats and overzealous political figures. There is a reason why Panama is so peaceful, it is because the government thoroughly inspects every visa applicant very thoroughly and requires many background checks and signed references from numerous authorities to ensure that any rift rat is kept out of the country. If anything suspicious is found in your records you will not be allowed to reside in the country. To some going through all the steps it takes to get into Panama may seem unworthy, but after taking a look at all the benefits offered to retirees it is hard to agree with that assumption.