[Tiguere]

After spending a little over a month in Panama City, I wanted to share my experiences.

Pro’s

Minimal Spanish Needed: With just a few basic Spanish phrases you will be able to get by. Most people speak English if you ask them to, especially young women. Often, women who don’t speak English will still put up with your broken Spanish and sleep with you.

Good Place to Collect Flags: Panama City is a fairly international city. Many multinationals base their Central American offices, if not Latin American headquarters in Panama City so there are expats everywhere. As well, the economy in Panama is much stronger than neighboring Venezuela and Colombia. Many girls from both countries come to Panama City for work, not just prostitutes.

Safe: In the city center, Panama City is quite safe. I’ve stumbled around drunk and alone numerous times and never had an issue. The outskirts are a bit rougher, but the center is safe. However, Casco Viejo is not. Be careful if you veer away from the tourist areas of Casco. The ghetto borders the outskirts and is crime ridden.

Sexual Vibe: The staggering number of Colombian hookers in the city means all women know they have to give it up and quickly. LMR is minimal in Panama City because a girl knows you could have someone just as hot, if not hotter than her up in your room for $100 in less than an hour. Even if you explicitly state you are not into that life, it remains in the back of their minds and works in your favor.

Gringo Love: And yes, the women love gringos and Americans. Blonde hair is beneficial.

Con’s

The Colombian Hookers: When you arrive in Panama City most tend to think the average girl is hotter than she is due to all the Colombian hookers. They inflate the average up and are often some of the hottest women you will see in Panama City on any given day.

Price: Panama City is quite expensive, especially rent. Expect to pay anywhere from $700-1,100 for a small studio/ one bedroom in the city center. The number of foreigners have driven rent prices up considerably. Food is not much cheaper either when compared to the United States.

Food: The food is not cheap nor is it that good. I struggled to find restaurants I liked during my time in the city. I ended up cooking a lot of my meals or eating at American restaurants like Smash Burger. American chains are all over Panama City. The plus side is some street food vendors were absolutely delicious.

Where To Stay

There are four main neighborhoods in the city center: Marbella, Bella Vista, El Cangero, and San Francisco. Casco Viejo is outside the city center, but a tourist area and offers numerous lodging options as well.

If your budget allows try and stay in the Marbella neighborhood. It is the nicest neighborhood in the center and close to Calle Uruguay and Cinta Costera.

To find apartments, look online at: Airbnb, Craigslist, and Encuentra24.

There are also a few hostels in Marbella.

San Francisco is the cheapest neighborhoods in the center and has more of a local vibe. El Cangero is a working class neighborhood where numerous teachers, expats, and hookers live in harmony.

Day Game

There are three malls in Panama City that all provide ample day game opportunities. Multicentro, Multiplaza, and Albrook. I despised Multicentro, but found the other two malls pleasant and target rich. Multiplaze is the upscale mall in the city and you will see a number of beautiful women walking around the mall. Albrook is just as nice as Multicentro, but is visited by more locals as it is next to the bus stop. Albrook was my personal favorite mall for daygame in Panama City.

Walking around Via Espana and Via Argentina at certain times during the day provided certain opportunities to daygame as well. I often did my one approach a day here.

However, the best day game spot in the city is Cinta Costera. This path next to the ocean features a number of people relaxing, walking, running, and biking at all times during the day. Walking Cinta Costera for an hour or so is the best place to daygame in Panama City.

Night Game

There are hundreds of bars, clubs, disco, and pubs located throughout the whole city. The main nightlife areas are Casco Viejo, Calle Uruguay, the Causeway, and the Hard Rock hotel. I never visited the Causeway, but did spend extensive time in all the other areas.

Here are a few of my favorite bars:

Prive / Seis (Calle Uruguay): Two small discos stacked on top of each other, they often rotate music types and drink special nights. Prive is better in my opinion and often gets packed late Tuesday night.

Hard Rock Hotel: Both of the nightlife spots in the Hard Rock Hotel can be good. The nightclub, Bling is decent sized and provides a number of approach opportunities. The rooftop bar, which is the highest in Latin America can be good to. However, the rooftop can often be filled with older couples as well…

Relic (Casco Viejo): The one bar everyone in Panama City says to visit and for good reason, it gets packed on the weekend and most speak English. The bar is connected to a hostel and quite international. This is a good starting point for any trip to Panama City during the weekends.

La Buat (Casco Viejo): Pretty local spot and potentially the best place to grab a grip of phone numbers in Panama City. The place is dark and intimate with many levels and walls giving a player room to operate. English is not great here, but if she likes you then she’ll help you work through the language barrier.

Theatro (Casco Viejo): A crazy popular spot with locals and travelers alike, this place gets packed on Friday and Saturday. Don’t plan on doing much but dance floor game here. It’s loud as fuck and dark.

La Rana Dorada (Via Argentina): Chill bar with good craft beers. Not a place to pick up, but not a bad spot for a date.

Online Game

I met most of the girls I got with through online dating. I used Tinder, OkCupid, PoF, and Latin American Cupid. I also messed around with Instagram.

The two best sites to use are Tinder and Latin American Cupid. The chicks on OkCupid can be easy, but there are not many of them.

My Experiences

Being a rookie traveler, I made a number of stupid mistakes during my time in Panama City. I did manage to bang 7 chicks and I was pleased with the quality (Much better than back home…). I have no real basis for comparison, but I really enjoyed the city.

[Seth_Rose]

Out of curiosity, what made you pick Panama City over other countries in Latin America as a 'novice' traveler?

[Tiguere]

(10-15-2014 09:33 PM)Seth_Rose Wrote:  

Out of curiosity, what made you pick Panama City over other countries in Latin America as a 'novice' traveler?

To be honest, an $86 one way ticket was a big factor. I wanted to visit 3-5 countries during my first big trip (almost 4 months) so I decided to start in Panama and head North through most of Central America.

[Perdidogringo]

Pretty good data sheet. Props to you for writing it. I agree with most of it, having lived in Panama City for 4 years, before moving on to Colombia. A couple of comments and things I would add:

Quote:

Minimal Spanish Needed: With just a few basic Spanish phrases you will be able to get by. Most people speak English if you ask them to, especially young women. Often, women who don’t speak English will still put up with your broken Spanish and sleep with you.

Agreed, if you stay in the city center exclusively like you did. All the neighborhoods you stayed in, hung out in, and mentioned in your data sheet are the tourist/international barrios of Panama City. This means lots of extranjeros, educated Panamenos, hookers, and gringo hunting latinas. The vast majority of Panamanians, once you leave Marbella, Bella Vista, Casco, Cangrejo, speak little English outside a few words. San Francisco is a huge barrio, which extends all the way to Panama Vieja. If you hang out near Via Porras as it winds to Calle 50, you would have seen that virtually no one speaks English. This area and the area that extends north/east is where you'll rarely see a gringo and is more target rich, in my opinion (assuming you are looking for more authentic Panamanian chicas- I'm not into affluent, English-speaking ones). It's the "real" Panama City.

Quote:

Price: Panama City is quite expensive, especially rent. Expect to pay anywhere from $700-1,100 for a small studio/ one bedroom in the city center. The number of foreigners have driven rent prices up considerably. Food is not much cheaper either when compared to the United States.

You were living and hanging out in the best neighborhoods of Panama City (akin to Poblado in Medellin or the Zona Rosa in Bogota), so yes, rents are similar, if not more, than many places in the US. With the metro line heading now open and heading out north/east, you can save some cash by looking at neighborhoods for lodging out in that direction.

Quote:

Food: The food is not cheap nor is it that good. I struggled to find restaurants I liked during my time in the city. I ended up cooking a lot of my meals or eating at American restaurants like Smash Burger. American chains are all over Panama City. The plus side is some street food vendors were absolutely delicious

Welcome to typical Latin American food, sans Mexico, Peru, and maybe Argentina. Panamanian food is similar to Colombian/Venezuelan food- arepas, frijol, rice, sancocho, fish, etc. which means basic and not very flavorful. There are several awesome restaurants in Panama but they are international and more expensive (I.e., Market, Beirut, Guachos, etc.).

Quote:

El Cangero is a working class neighborhood where numerous teachers, expats, and hookers live in harmony.

I wouldn't call Cangrejo a "working class" neighborhood as most of the middle class Panamenos can't afford to live there. Cangrejo is a very traditionally upper class neighborhood and has been for over 50 years. The older (but sturdy) apts. might give it the appearance of working class, but it's not. And for the newer apts. in Cangrejo, you're looking at at monthly, long-term rents that range for USD $1200 all the way to $2500, depending on size and if it is furnished. Cangrejo is also the most popular neighborhood for expats and tourists alike, since it is the closest thing to a walking neighborhood in Panama, lots of cafes, restaurants, hotels and even casinos, a small park, and it's proximity to the new metro.

Quote:

Relic (Casco Viejo): The one bar everyone in Panama City says to visit and for good reason, it gets packed on the weekend and most speak English. The bar is connected to a hostel and quite international. This is a good starting point for any trip to Panama City during the weekends.

I hated Relic. I never understood why people move or visit Panama and then want to hang out with mostly foreigners (non-panamanians) in a bar connected to a hostel. And even the Panamanian chicas and other latinas who frequent the place tend to be gringo-hunters or have the attitudes of gringas from back home. Not my scene, but I can see how others who don's speak Spanish or are new in town and want to make connections might like it.

Are you going to hit Nicaragua? I think you'll like it better.

[Tiguere]

Appreciate the thoughts and corrections on a few things. I will be hitting Nicaragua for a month or so coming up shortly. I have only heard good things about the place from a number of people. What areas/cities do you recommend in Nicaragua?

[Kdog]

Heading to Panama in a few days, and I was wondering if anyone has any recent updates. Stuff to do, women, bars etc. Will be staying in Panama city at first then heading to the beach for a few days.

[Dantes]

This is fairly accurate based on my experience in Panama.

I look forward to your write-up on Nicaragua.

I would consider 7 bangs in one month very successful. That is a new girl very 4 or 5 days. What were the quality of you bangs? Dd must of them come from online, Daygame or Nightgame?

[Tiguere]

(12-02-2014 06:51 PM)Dantes Wrote:  

This is fairly accurate based on my experience in Panama.

I look forward to your write-up on Nicaragua.

I would consider 7 bangs in one month very successful. That is a new girl very 4 or 5 days. What were the quality of you bangs? Dd must of them come from online, Daygame or Nightgame?

All of my bangs came from night game and online game. While I did a number of day approaches, I never got a bang out of them in PTY.

My quality was pretty high in Panama and I was pleased when I left. My only regret was not getting the Venezuelan flag after not being able to close a couple girls on first dates.

While Ticas may be more attractive than Panamanian girls on the whole, once you throw in the non-hooker Colombians and Venezuelan girls I think Panama City has the best quality in Central America.

[Tiguere]

(12-02-2014 01:45 PM)Kdog Wrote:  

Heading to Panama in a few days, and I was wondering if anyone has any recent updates. Stuff to do, women, bars etc. Will be staying in Panama city at first then heading to the beach for a few days.

This sheet should still be accurate. I was only in PTY a few months back and just saw friends from PTY last weekend. After talking with them, I don't think much has changed man...

Stay in Casco or Marbella. Pipeline hard before you arrive. Then go out every night to supplement the pipeline. Don't forget to check out the canal.

[Kdog]

Thanks man^

[Roustabout]

How is the live music scene in Panama City? Do the bars typically have bands playing each night of the week? If so, is it rock, blues, jazz, etc.?

[Ghaleon]

I want to move to Panama but I've heard the rent is expensive. Maybe it's cheaper outside the city?

[Grodin]

I visited Panama back in 2006 so I'm sure a lot has changed since then. Purpose of the trip was to study spanish and just enjoy a different city, banging chicas wasn't really my goal.

But I did. First day there, first trip out of the hostel, a girl tried to pick me up. She looked like a girl out of a rap video, I've never been a player but she was hot. Thought she was a prostitute, she walked with me and helped me find ish at the drug store but I didn't try to hit it... didn't even have a phone. Back at the hostel the other guys told me that she wasn't a ho, that's just how the girls are on Calle Argentina they said. I don't know.

In 2 weeks I banged two girls, one I met at an Italian restaurant, the other at La Fuera de Azuero. Like I said earlier, I had no game, more like negative game. These girls were probably 7s to the community here

Back then I thought the restaurants in Panama were pretty good, especially if you like fish and italian food. Some of the restaurants I went to were comparable to the restaurants I visited in North Boston. I'm not well travelled, so YMMV.

Also, the most beautiful girls in Panama in my opinion were in the Azuero region. Very distinctive look and with "spanish" features. I like country girls though, so that might have something to do with it.

[Ghaleon]

(04-04-2015 02:56 PM)Grodin Wrote:  

But I did. First day there, first trip out of the hostel, a girl tried to pick me up. She looked like a girl out of a rap video, I've never been a player but she was hot. Thought she was a prostitute, she walked with me and helped me find ish at the drug store but I didn't try to hit it... didn't even have a phone. Back at the hostel the other guys told me that she wasn't a ho, that's just how the girls are on Calle Argentina they said. I don't know.

Something like that would never happened in the states. Everyone here is antisocial and paranoid.

[godzilla]

For reason I cant say. 1 night in Panamá City. Came here a little while ago but finally posted

Relic - this place is garbage. It is known though out the city as a gringo place. Actually a colombian dude told me come here
Even though im just sort of conversational at this point in spanish, about a 5 to 1 ratio on thursday. If you look latino, western chicks greet you like the local guy and blow you out (even in english) damn haha...this is because the panamanian dudes and westerners here have 0 game so they blow up everyone whose dark. this place is full of social circle game btw for westerners.

La buat..this place also sucks ass on thursday. Didn't walk in because only 10 ppl.

Zaza ..much better. ...finally. ...still not great but not a gringo shithole....approched a cute local, she is cool but her friend is a total nightmare and cockblocks...finally some venezuelan girl walks in...flag taken ☺...I was lucky

No joke bout the colombiana hookers
.they wont stand at the hotel but they will be right across the street.


So casa vieja is not a great neighborhood. ..heres my secret

Anytime I feel like im in a shit neighborhood, I take off my shirt ...im in good shape but pretty skinny...havent got robbed in 32 years...its best to be the wierd fucking idiot in the neighborhood, dont do this if your muy gringo

[Turkish Republican]

Currently in Panama. This place is very interesting, but beware its very hard to navigate around without Spanish. Only a fraction of the population knows English. Hopefully I will get my first notch today as I have a date lined up from Tinder, if she flakes I'll opt for plan B and do night game approaches.

Been here for 4 days so far

Pros:

You'll constantly get eye fucked if you're above average in looks, the local competition is very poor in terms of looks. My brother who is better looking than me got approached by two girls, they ASKED for his number in broad daylight.
The people are warm and receptive.
If you like gambling, there are a LOT of options.

Cons:
Its very expensive, double everything compared to Bangkok, triple compared to Chiang Mai.
My dads friend is living here, he pays 2000$ in rent for a 3 bedroom condo.
A decent meal at a good restaurant will set you back at least $30 per person. The prices are comparable to New York.
English skills of the general population is very poor, Spanish is a must here if you want to do daygaming.
The talent is somewhat poor, as the OP said, most good looking girls are either from Colombia or Venezuela.

[Turkish Republican]

Update on Panama.

So far I got my first flag from Tinder. I'm getting a lot of IOIS in clubs, had two 6's approach me last thursday. Yesterday a 7.5 who matched with me on Tinder asked me If I was in the club called "Bling" the other night, and yes I indeed was. I'm guessing that this was a huge IOI as well since she remembered me from the club. Maybe I'm not that ugly as once I thought I was

The most remarkable moment of my trip was when I went to a cafe, I tried to ask the bill in sign language because the waiter did not speak English, she thought I asked for her number and slipped me her number instead of giving the bill Haha that was a good one.

In terms of getting laid, this place is as easy as Thailand if you speak Spanish, which I happen to be not. The girls who approached me that night immediately lost interest after I was unable to speak a word of Spanish. The general population does not know English here. I did not receive this many IOI's even in Thailand, a country where I had the white god factor.

Now guys, if you want to navigate here without Spanish, getting around is gonna be a bitch, nearly every cab driver will try to fuck you when they find out you're a gringo. Uber is a life saver here. I feel like a social retard here because I don't know the local language, now I understand why so many people head to Thailand. Even the tuk tuk drivers there understand basic English phrases.

My dad is on some type of business trip here, So I'm chilling with him, there is no way I would of had the balls to come here on my own. Anyway I will update you guys as my trip progresses. I hope the OP doesn't get pissed as I'm using his thread to post my experiences, I just don't think my experiences so far warrants its own thread.

I would probably have caused serious damage here If I had a wing who knew Spanish. But I got 12 days left and I'm not gonna give up!

[Kdog]

I had zero Spanish while I was there and agree it made it very hard. Luckily my friend spoke a little and girls I met all were pretty proficient.