Thread: Panama or Belize?

Hi all!

We were considering moving to Belize, but now I am becoming more and more interested in Panama as well. We have not been to either country, however are planning a trip in May to explore both first-hand. We will only have about 7-8 days for the entire trip, so I would appreciate any advice or feedback since my time there is so limited!

Our main interest is to live on a beautiful beach and escape the stress and chaos of big city corporate life for awhile. For those reasons The Cayes in northern Belize appealed to us, along with its larger expat and English speaking community. But Panama kept rising under my radar with a lot of similar pros too.

I am now looking at Coronado, Playa Blanca, and Bocas del Toro. Does anyone have any advice on Pacific vs. Caribbean coast? I am not sure if we will have time to visit both sides. Or perhaps any other suggestions of great towns? While beach is key, we also do not want too remote and would like somewhat of a social life.

I appreciate your help!

Thanks!

I went through the same process you did and concluded in 2008 that Panama was a better selection for me than Belize, but I say that recognizing that Belize has much to offer too and could be a very good choice. I am certain you have or will identify the most important factors to you in selecting a retirement destination. It's a very personal decision.

A couple of factors that led me to choose Panama over Belize at that time were: relative ease in gaining permanent residency status and some opportunity for citizenship if I want to pursue it in the future, the benefits I perceived in having a "large" city such as Panama City nearby (banking, healthcare, shopping, etc.), wide range of areas to live (mountains, two coasts, and wonderful interior living), a slight advantage in perceived security, strength of economy, and lower property and day-to-day living costs. I still think these are valid.

Regarding Pacific verses Caribbean, there are many beach developments and communities on the Pacific side that are not "too remote" in my opinion, beginning about an hour from the city +/-, such as Coronado. There's not much along the Caribbean coast, prinicipally due historically to lack of good road until recent completion of the tollway to the Caribbean. As my moniker makes it clear, I am purchasing in Bala Beach - the only gated, "resort" development out of the ground that I'm aware of on the Caribbean. It's abouy 45 minutes to an hour from Panama City. Although planned to be a large development, it very well may be too remote for you at this stage (depending on you relocation date and how it progresses.) Right or wrong, I wanted to be on the Caribbean, in a gated complex, with pools and other amenities, at the lowest cost. If and when living in Panama works out as I hope and we want to relocate, I know we'll have many other areas in Panama to then consider.

I'm no expert on Bocas del Toro, but I think the experts on this board would generally tell you that it's beautiful and a great place to visit but is probably too "raw" yet for what it sounds like you're wanting. If you want complete "get-away-from-it-all" living, there's a lot of those areas too!

my advise , 7-8 days is not near enough time . go to belize and explore , have a good holiday and a careful look around at places you might want to live , because you lose 2 days just traveling remember , then go home and start planning your next trip to panama . it will give you a fair idea of both places then , your way is just too much to do in a very short time , and it is too important to rush . just my thought

I Went to Belize twice before traveling to Panama. I prefer Panama even though people speaking english in Belize was nice. Belize is also in Hurricane alley and Panama is not.

I agree - pick on or the other for the trip. 7 or 8 days will only give you a superficial glimpse of one.

The pacific side is dryer and I prefer the culture there. Hurricanes would be a big factor to me.

Even though I have been travelling to Panama for over 10 years I was still unsure if it was the place for me,so I had a good look at Belize the 2 things that are important to me are property and banking, yes it is an advantage that they speak english however learning spanish opens alot of doors in central america.
After months of research and 5 visits my conclusion was that Belize in my opinion will not go in the direction of Panama(maybe a good thing) it just does not have the investment or infrastructure the banking system is relatively new,Yes propertys are at a good price and they are certainly going down at the moment,but I constantly heard that crime was on the rise,I take most things at face value and personnaly never felt unsafe,However I did not spend much time in Belize city.
Even though my advice is very spercific to me it is just my opinion, I would recommend going for atleast 3 months live there try to emerge yourself in the culture just to see if you like it,moving to a new country is a huge desicion.
If you are looking for value for money than Panama is not getting cheaper Belize is still affordable for now also I looked into the residency application for Belize it looked straight forward.
Good luck, Enjoy

Pick one or the other to visit this trip. Don't try to get everything done in one trip, too much to see and do.

It's really not even enough time to get a good feel for one country. Not sure about Belize but Panama is pretty diversified for a country of it's size. Maybe you have heard the expression that "Panama is 2 countries, the first being Panama city and the second being the rest of the interior". In my personal opinion, Panama can be different from town to town. The town of Boquete is completely different from Bocas town and they are both different from Pedasi which is different from anywhere in Colon. Even within Panama city itself, Cangrejo is different from Casco Viejo which is different from Costa del Este. Picking the right place to live takes a lot of research and quality time on the ground.