Thread: Hello from a new member and help with Bocas info please

Hello all, found this forum a few days ago and have been reading furiously, lol.

I have fallen in love with Panama, read a book, tons of websites and looked on lots of real estate websites.

Im hoping to make a move to Panama in the next few years but my wife is skeptical of moving outside of the UK, hoping a holiday to Panama will woo her and she will want to make the move, lol.

Im loving the look of Bocas Del Toro the most, a beautiful home on the beach with land is a dream come true.

Loving the look of the place, the cost of living, friendly people and the life we can lead in general opposed to expensive, over priced England.

The main queries we have are:
1. Schools for our 2 children: little girl aged 5 and baby boy 6 months

2. what it is like to live in this region or on an island off of the mainland.

We are looking at properties at around $300,000 to $500,000 with a rough monthly income of $8,000

Not having to pay taxes on my income is also a huge reason for us to make the move to Panama, my business is based in the UK and US so 0% tax could be achieved by moving to Panama.

Looking forward to hearing from you guys and a big hello to mrwoohoo, loving the videos

James

Here is a nice review on Bocas:

What? My Buddy Forrest Walker is Bugging Out of Bocas? - Panama Guide

Thanks Ed

Wow, that is not a good review.

Anyone else agree with this?

Thanks

James

I enjoy Bocas for 2-3 days but I would never live there. I am sure he knows exactly what he is talking about after living there for 4 years+. It's also worth mentioning that all empty/abonded lots are used as garbage dumps or storage of expired building materials. If you expect what he writes then you should be fine.

Observe that no other bank but Banco National has an office there so you are bascially subject to over the counter banking again with 2 hour lines (they have no online banking).

There has been some news that the government will invest massively in Bocas over the next year so that could be an upside.

good schooling will be the prolbem , the local schools here just dont cut it , i have heard a grade 12 in panama is a grade 8-9 in the USA , there are private schools in panama city that i have heard are good , and expensive , but the local ones will leave your kids in a heap of trouble if they ever want to continue in england or north america , but keepn reading and learning from others on the site and the many others on the net

Originally Posted by jamesf121

Looking forward to hearing from you guys and a big hello to mrwoohoo, loving the videos

James

Glad to have you aboard James and glad you liked the videos. Come on down, spend sometime, look around, and see what you like. Sounds like you have enough income for your family to be happy anywhere in Panama. My girlfriend is a teacher in Panama and I asked about good private schools. Supposedly David has some good private schools and even though David isn't what I would necessarily consider "paradise" it is a large enough of a town that almost anything can be purchased and it would give you quick access to the Pacific beaches as well as 3-4 hours by bus (2-3 hours by car) to Bocas along with the highlands of Boquete and Volcan. Welcome to the Panama experience and WOOOHOOOO!!!!

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

I read in a post on here about some panamanians not being very welcoming to a woman that was blonde, are most places in Panama like that?

Also, what is David like to live in?

Thanks for your help everyone

James

Hey James, I think that you will find most Panamanians pretty decent to foreign nationals. Very often issues arise when learning to assimilate so take all experiences with a grain of salt. It does seem easier for foreign national men to adapt to Panama than women. David is either number two or three in regards to a population center. It is a pretty busy place, hot, and humid just like every other town at sea level this close to the equator. Since you will have to include the good private school for the kids your options are pretty much David or Panama City. In my opinion what makes David so key is the easy and cheap access to a variety of different areas from beaches to mountains and even Costa Rica. You will have to come down and see for yourself what you like of course.

Sounds good, thanks.

How humid is it in Panama? are there any areas not as humid?

Originally Posted by jamesf121

Sounds good, thanks.

How humid is it in Panama? are there any areas not as humid?

It's all pretty humid but highland areas are much cooler. You can actually get yourself into a home maybe 10-15 min drive towards Boquete and it can be upwards of 10f cooler so maybe somewhere between David and Boquete may work?

the thing i have noticed about David is there is no wind , to far inland for a ocean breeze , i think that is why it feels hotter there . so like woohoo said , just move up the hill a little and drive in to take the kids to school ,

Thank you for all the postings. My family is coming down to Panama from the US and we look forward looking for our new home.

Originally Posted by nakedguydb

the thing i have noticed about David is there is no wind , to far inland for a ocean breeze , i think that is why it feels hotter there . so like woohoo said , just move up the hill a little and drive in to take the kids to school ,

I agree, you definitely need to go uphill if you want a breeze.

Originally Posted by DKM

Thank you for all the postings. My family is coming down to Panama from the US and we look forward looking for our new home.

Where in Panama are you moving?

Welcome to the forum. Please take all the negative comments about Bocas with an open mind. Like many will tell you, you need to come and spend a month looking around. You'll find the people (large expat population) that live in Bocas can not fathom how people could possibly live in Boquete, David, Panama City, Pedasi or where ever. And the people that live in those regions feel exactly the same. How could you live anywhere but here? What you'll here is " I love it hear in xxxx and I can not understand how people could possibly live in yyyy". You just need to spend a little time in the regions, talk to the people that live there about why they picked that region and what they liked or didn't like about the other areas. Then you'll be able to narrow down the area you will want to live in.

As for Bocas, there has been some great improvements in infrastructure over the past few years, but still a ways to go. Definitely a radically different culture than Boquete or Panama City. The hospital there is pretty sketchy but that does not deter many who just go to David for medical care.

In your case of having small kids there is a new international school there for younger kids and talk to Tony and Georgina at Bocas Diving as they have a 6 year old in school there. I know another family that have two young boys who live outside of Volcan in the mountains and they home school. So just depends.. but your children will gain invaluable lessons in life and culture growing up in a foreign country.

Gary

James, Welcome to forum. I recently spent 2 and half weeks in Bocas. Here are some of my observations. The Islands and area is beautiful. Water taxis are everywhere and most people have favorites just like cab drivers in the city. Just give them a call and they are on their way. There is a large and close knit expat crowd in Bocas who will be helpful to you. With the Exception of Super Gourmet (run by an American) the supermarkets are not very good. Schooling for your children will be prohibitive. You may be able to find private tutors and home school. Kelly at the Buena Vista Restuarant is an American and has two children you may want to look her up for advice. Really a nice lady with excellent food at her place. Bocas is hot and humid and the little chitre knats will eat you alive on some islands. I felt pretty safe in Bocas with a large and visible police presence. Outside of the beaches and bars there is little else to do on the Island. No movie theatre, decent shopping, kids activities etc.. You will need to fly to David or Panama city for these activities. The fantasy may be better than the reality of living there. With young children you may want to consider a Panama city apt and then take " Family adventures" into the interior and enjoy the rural areas. You will figure allot of this out once your feet hit the ground in Panama. Have a wonderful trip and lets us know of your travels!!

Thanks guys, all your help and advice is greatly appreciated. I know what you mean about some people not liking certain places, one mans food another mans poison as they say.

We are looking to rent a property on a Bocas Island this summer to check the place out and experience life there.

We are a very homely family, me and my daughter are cancerians so we feel most happy in the comfort of our own surroundings but do like to explore now and then.

Im hoping that the humidity is bearable and we can get some super oil to get rid of the mosquito and sand flie issues.

I have become so obsessed with this place, lol. Love the look of a place on the sea so much, as we speak I have my desktop background on my mac as a beach with tons of palm trees.

For future references does anyone know the rules on building on your land once purchased? Things like: Tennis court, swimming pool, guest house etc?

Thinking real far ahead but that's just me, lol

Thanks so much again guys, really looking forward to visiting Bocas, so far Im liking the look of Isla Carenero and parts of the Island Bastimentos.

What are you guys favourite part of Bocas, if you have one of course, lol

Looking forward to learning more

James

James there is an American guy, I think his name is Mark, who owns century21 bocas real estate. It would be worthwhile to look him up when visiting or email him as he will probably be able to answer allot the building zoning type questions there.

Cool, thanks for the tip my friend

James

Originally Posted by gsfromc

Welcome to the forum. Please take all the negative comments about Bocas with an open mind. Like many will tell you, you need to come and spend a month looking around. You'll find the people (large expat population) that live in Bocas can not fathom how people could possibly live in Boquete, David, Panama City, Pedasi or where ever. And the people that live in those regions feel exactly the same. How could you live anywhere but here? What you'll here is " I love it hear in xxxx and I can not understand how people could possibly live in yyyy". You just need to spend a little time in the regions, talk to the people that live there about why they picked that region and what they liked or didn't like about the other areas. Then you'll be able to narrow down the area you will want to live in.

As for Bocas, there has been some great improvements in infrastructure over the past few years, but still a ways to go. Definitely a radically different culture than Boquete or Panama City. The hospital there is pretty sketchy but that does not deter many who just go to David for medical care.

In your case of having small kids there is a new international school there for younger kids and talk to Tony and Georgina at Bocas Diving as they have a 6 year old in school there. I know another family that have two young boys who live outside of Volcan in the mountains and they home school. So just depends.. but your children will gain invaluable lessons in life and culture growing up in a foreign country.

Gary

I personally like Bocas and it is good to hear that they now have a good private school. More and more families seem to want to make the move to Panama so a decent school is necessary for the expat community. If I were to move there personally I would be looking to live on Isla Colon (main island).

Does Isla Colon have the type of secluded houses on the beach that the other islands have?

When are you looking to do more movies MrWooHoo? You should make them in to a documentary

James

Originally Posted by jamesf121

Does Isla Colon have the type of secluded houses on the beach that the other islands have?

When are you looking to do more movies MrWooHoo? You should make them in to a documentary

James

Isla Colon is a pretty big island, over 20 kms long and most of it sparsly populated. You can have all of the seclusion you could possibly hope for. On top of that then you can easily drive, bike, or scooter to the stores whenever you wish. If you folks were to purchase a boat then you be spending days exploring the different islands, snorkeling, etc. In regards to the vids I am going to be taking all of the content I have (literally hours, most unused) and creating a documentary type series.

Great Idea with the vids, people could get an overview of the country from their living room.

I would be interested in seeing some of the uncut footage when you were living in PC, before you hooked up with your current GF and moved to the interior!
.....Woo Hoo!

Lol, don't have any footage of that although I do know of a couple people that used to live there and took some pictures one night.

I used to have some interesting photos from the brief time I lived in Panama as a single guy. Once my girlfriend (now wife) ran across them, I had some serious explaining to do (after the two days she didn't speak to me!). Even though they were all taken prior to my meeting her, needless to say, those pictures didn't survive!

Thats hilarious... goes to show in the world of video everything can come back to bite us.