Practical Panama guides
Panama Passage
Panama Passage is the practical guide to traveling, moving, living, banking, and doing business in Panama.
Why Panama matters
A gateway, a base, and a practical crossroads
Panama sits at one of the most important crossings in the Americas. The 80 km canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific. Tocumen International Airport (PTY) handles 12 million passengers a year across 360 daily flights to 92 cities in 42 countries, making it the primary air hub between North and South America. The Pan-American Highway enters from Costa Rica and ends at Yaviza, where a 106 km roadless gap called the Darién forces every overlander to stop and ship their vehicle by sea.
The country uses the US dollar as legal tender. There is no currency conversion, no exchange risk, and ATMs dispense USD. Panama ranked #1 globally in the InterNations Expat Insider survey for both 2024 and 2025. It is hurricane-free, gets roughly 12 hours of daylight year-round, and holds a BBB investment grade credit rating with 5–6% annual GDP growth.
For some readers, Panama is a transit problem: how to cross borders, move a vehicle, get connected, and keep going. For others, it is a longer-term question about daily life, banking, business setup, healthcare, neighborhoods, or a possible move. Panama Passage is built to handle both.
Overlanding
Routes, vehicle logistics, the Darién Gap, Panama City staging, and traveler field notes.
Travel Logistics
Airports, transport, borders, connectivity, payments, insurance, and onward travel setup.
Living
Cities, neighborhoods, daily life, cost questions, healthcare, renting, and longer stays.
Business
Company setup, commercial basics, operations, trade, hiring, and business banking links.
Banking
Accounts, cards, transfers, fintech alternatives, compliance, and practical money setup.
Guestbook
Traveler notes, route updates, border observations, and reader field reports as the site rebuilds.
Who this is for
Travelers, movers, operators, and people doing the homework
Overlanders driving the Pan-American Highway hit a hard stop at Yaviza, where the road ends and the Darién Gap begins. Shipping a vehicle from Panama to Colombia by RORO runs roughly $1,970 and up; a shared container starts around $1,150. The overlanding guide covers the full route from Paso Canoas through Panama City staging, border paperwork, and the shipping process.
Travelers arriving by air land at Tocumen (PTY), where Copa Airlines runs 88 destinations as a Star Alliance member. Visa-free entry lasts 180 days for most nationalities. The travel logistics guide covers airports, domestic transport, the two Costa Rica land borders, onward connections to Colombia, SIM cards, and first-day setup.
People considering a move or extended stay face a different set of questions: which neighborhood, what budget, how healthcare works, whether to open a local bank account, and how immigration status affects each of those decisions. The living guide compares Panama City, Boquete, Coronado, Bocas del Toro, David, and El Valle de Antón with specific rent ranges and monthly budgets. The banking guide covers account opening at Banistmo, Banco General, and other banks, plus Wise, FATCA, and transfer costs. The business guide walks through S.A. and S.R.L. formation, the territorial tax system, restricted professions, and the SEM multinational program.
Panama Passage is built for people who need Panama information that works on the ground, not promotional summaries. The six main pillars overlap by design: shipping a vehicle is both overlanding and logistics, opening a bank account is both banking and a living decision, and company formation connects to banking, immigration, and taxes together.
Key facts at a glance
The details that shape every decision
Panama uses the US dollar as legal tender. There is no central bank and no currency conversion. The Balboa exists as coins at a fixed 1:1 rate, but all banknotes are US dollars. This removes a layer of friction present in almost every other expat destination in the region.
The tax system is territorial. Foreign-source income, including remote work, foreign pensions, overseas investments, and foreign rental income, is taxed at 0%. Only income earned inside Panama faces tax, at 15 to 25%. US citizens still owe US taxes regardless of residence, and the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion covers roughly $128,200 of earned income in 2025. FBAR reporting applies to foreign accounts exceeding $10,000 aggregate.
Healthcare in Panama City is internationally accredited. Hospital Punta Pacífica is the only Johns Hopkins Medicine–affiliated hospital in Latin America, JCI-accredited since 2011. Hospital Paitilla is a Cleveland Clinic partner. A specialist consultation costs $50–100, an MRI runs $400–800, and a porcelain crown costs $350–500 versus $1,000–2,000 in the US. The Pensionado retiree discount program adds 15–20% off healthcare, prescriptions, and utilities for qualifying residents.
The country is hurricane-free and sits close enough to the equator for roughly 12 hours of daylight year-round. The dry season runs December through April. Internet is the fastest in Central America, with fiber plans up to 200+ Mbps available in Panama City. The crime index is 42.7 (Numbeo 2025), lower than Costa Rica. English proficiency is strong in private hospitals, banks, and hotels; Spanish is essential for government offices and smaller towns.