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You hit the primary positives, plus many would say the Atlantic beaches are nicer (I disagree, but that's just me). The potential minuses:
> Less infrastructure (internet access, doctors, veternarians, dentists, hardware stores, appliance repairmen, boat/car mechanics, crummier roads, etc. etc. etc.)
> More rain, throughout the year
> Water for household use can be a *big* problem in many areas (i.e., not enough of it)
> More problems with phony land titles and ROP squabbles
> More petty crime (but that's just what I hear; I don't have stats to back it up)
The water issue is one worthy of mucho due diligence -- it isn't just the Atlantic side, it's a problem in many rural areas of Panama -- but it will be hard to make much of a life without potable H2O.
As far as infrastructure, everyone I know who lives over there sort of plans their life around their monthly (or more often) trips to Panama City. You will be making lots of trips, guaranteed, whether for medical care or government line-waits or that part for your dead refrigerator. If that sounds like fun, fine.
But hey, it all gets back to what's on your wish list. E.g., if you live and die by the snorkel or surfboard, all those things that seem like big deals to me will be petty, laughable annoyances to you.
However: It also seems to me this conversation is kind of aimless at this point. Argentina? Belize? Uruguay? Saskatchewan? All have their good points. Rather than continue to fish for the "best place" (which exists only in each unique psyche), maybe you could tell us what *is* on your list. Viz., what do you want? (In ranked order, if possible.)
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