I retired 4 years ago and I'm very keen on Latin America. I have been to several possible retirement destinations: Granada, Nicaragua; Cuenca, Ecuador; Ajijic, Mexico; Guadalajara and Puebla in Mexico; San Salvador, El Salvador; Riobamba, Ecuador; etc. Never been to Boquete. While the surrounding mountains and forests look lovely the town itself does not strike me as particularly quaint, historic or charming. Compare that with picturesque Cuenca or Puebla or Granada. Also - how is the shopping? In Guadalajara and Puebla the gringo has everything: Costco, Walmart, Sears, etc. I am glad to see, however, there is a good number of restaurants. I will definitely check it out.
Yikes, you've been around. Boquete is definitely a small town. But it does have a lot. For shopping, it's not a place with huge choices. But going to David down the road, will give you all the choices most would care about. It's certainly not Guadalajara which is a BIG city by any account. Boquete is not. Closest to that in Panama would be Panama City.
Hi Pat and Viv. My wife and I are going to be in Boquete the later half of January 2024. We look forward to your videos so we are better prepared to know more about our destination. We are 70, so we are a little younger (Viv is 50 or so, right?) but are excited about our trip. We have watched a number of your videos and find them both informative and entertaining. We are also happy to see more of Viv in the content. I don't know if you live in the area or would be interested in meeting one of your subscribers yet we respect your privacy and understand if you didn't. We have a lot of questions and are trailing you by 10 years. Your Visa video was helpful and I used the recommended authentication service but the US State Dept is running very slow, these days. We look forward to more videos and was thrilled when you said you were going to have a series on Boquete. Thanks for your content. Best to both of you.
Wonderful video! We’d love to see a drive up Volcancito Road and see where Limecracker retreat is. Cannot wait for some restaurant visits and please show a few menus. 😀
Hi Pat, we just got back from Panama City and Boquete. Enjoyed watching your videos. We stayed 3 days in Los Molinos and 3 days at Inn at Palo Alto. We preferred staying closer to Boquete. We loved Finca Lerida for their coffee tour. We hope to return again to Boquete for another visit. Thanks for your videos!
Great Video!! How did Boquete do with food and fuel supplies recently during the protests? We heard that fuel had to be brought in from Costa Rica and that the supermarkets were going dry… what was your experience?
Boquete has been promoted so heavily for so long, I have to wonder if it's not going to be ruined by the time I retire! Is there any room left? How is the availability of long term apartment rentals?
Greetings from Florida! I actually just finish watching your video, very informative. Like the idea of taking the ride with you 😊 I'm from PR but been in the states most of my time, been looking into Panama would like to venture out try something different however scared at the same time one being a widow. Maybe some day go to visit. Will look forward to your next videos. Thanks for taking the time to show us Panama, which by the way reminds me alot of PR. Much success to both 😊
Thank you for the kind words. A visit would be a great start. Panama City would give you a nice feel for the country generally. I heard this line in a movie the other day and it really sums up retirement life. "Life should be a little nuts. Otherwise it's just a string of Thursdays."
HI, awesome video! It was exciting to see my drone picture at the beginning (I made it for the real estate company that was selling the house below in the picture), I live in Boquete since 2016 and I make my living as photographer, filmmaker and video editor across Panama, let me know if you need extra hands for the channel, bests regards!
Yes...It was a stunning shot Kake. Love to pic your brain at some point about flying your drone in Panama. I was reluctant to take mine (mini 2 & and Air) not knowing how strict they are there. Drone shots and videos are so much better than normal shots for context.
@@laptopseniors each one, drone and ground level camera have their own time and place on the video and here so far they are not strict yet. Thanks for answering
farmers market Is bigger and better than any cocktail happy hour.. and yes sugar and spice cafe rules. i used to go there every morning. but again.. a old crowd
Seems there is a lot of unrest (October 28, 2023) in Panama, road blockages, no food or fuel getting to many areas and resupply is in question? Some other channels recommending tourists( not residents) don’t travel now?
With so many people living all around such a small town is the traffic through town insane? Full of cars bumper to bumper crawling through town at certain times. And if it tends to get congested are there times that are better than others to decide to go to town?
Hi Laptop Seniors! Thank you for your 'real time' drive through Boquete. It answered a lot of questions without wifey and I having to go there. We could be wrong but Boquete gave us the same vibe as small towns in Northern Cal maybe because some of the people that we saw (i.e. walking the streets with shorts and floppy hats and couple trying to get into a taxi with total disregard for the incoming traffic) gave us Deja Vú. Looking forward to your next video.👍
Hi! Thanks so much! That's what we're trying to achieve in this series and all our videos. It's great to know they are doing the job. :). It is pretty laid back, in a friendly good way.
Great video. Thank you. New subscriber as of today. I have started investigating Panamá as a future destination for me. I'm retired, but I'm currently working on setting up a renewable energy company in Florida. My plans are for the company to be set up in early 2025. I would like to investigate a possible division for that company in the western part of Panamá. A way to expand into Central and South America. I have lived most of my life in the US but I read/write and speak Spanish. I wonder if you, yourself, are familiar with the bueracracy or how well American companies are welcome in Panamá. Or if you know of another youtuber that talks about such interests in Panama.
We're not super up on that info Peter. A renewable energy company, we think, would be received well (like solar or wind farms etc). And making jobs. But knowing what's going on with the copper mining demonstrations, Panamanians are not real thrilled with outsiders coming in and causing environmental damage or pulling out their natural resources for profit. Actually that last point is now a given all across Central and S. America and Aftrica too. Countries are done letting foreigners take their natural resources for a profit like the colonial days. Now, they want ithe profit and to control it. Your company, it would seem, would not be caught in that.
Beautiful place, I would love to visit one day! The funny fact is that the name of the city is an obscene word in my native language (Brazilian Portuguese).
Hi there. I’m sure your daughter-in-law is a lovely person. Everybody seems to love some part of Panama so I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. 😁You might like to take a look at the two Marriott hotels in Panama City that we have reviewed. It will definitely depend on what part of Panama you plan to stay in. We have reviewed a few other hotels but definitely take a look at the areas and decide first.
I miss boquete I built the two story house behind the Texaco and I built palo Alto hotel. I wish I had never sold either of them !!!!!!!!!!!!! Now im living in Philppines.
I was curious enough to look at Boquette using Google Maps. Did the Google Streets drive through the town. Boquette might be bucolic but it literally in the middle of no where. Panama as a choice of countries is questionable. Costa Rica is a much better choice with large and established ex-pat community.
Boquete is the choice of many we believe, mainly because of the warm temperate climate all year round and the spectacular views. There is a very welcoming expat community as well as friendly Panamanians. It’s also an easy drive into David and the oceans on both sides. Statistics still show Panamá to be very safe relative to Costa Rica and other countries.
I've seen year round rentals go from $550 up to $2500 a month. You'd be fairly safe assuming you could rent a nice home for somewhere between 850 - 1400 but you may not find that with a realtor. It'd be directly with an owner via signs in a window or word of mouth.
I live a few miles north of San Juan. At a beach development at playa Marsella. Bosques Del Mar. Nicaragua.. relator has a drive thru on youtube. I can walk to the beach, 1000' easy walk. The house is in a canopy of huge trees. Super safe and dirt cheap. Marsella is the prettiest beach in Central America. Yeah, I'm a little biased , but I got a good reason. Bosques Del Mar Rules. I can electric kayak to town in about 25 min. Beach the kayak in town, and get on an electric trike to drive around town. Super safe place to park the trike. Don't need a car, don't want one . Have a atv at home to move kayaks.. I rent them. Kayak at the coast in early morning calm water is a killer experience. Come on down.
Hi Randy. Thanks for watching and for your comment. We are still touring around and deciding but Bacchetti and the area around. It are very high on our list. It’s a common statement in Panama to hear that people typically move around to three different places before they find the perfect one for themselves, so it’s not recommended to buy something right out of the gate. Good luck to you and please subscribe if you haven’t yet there are many more videos to come.
Sorry Leslie....we've not been in Panama for 10 years. First visit was 10 years ago. Then we went back in 2022 and did the visa's, licenses, cedulas, etc. So still getting the hang of local stuff. We've show a lot of Boquete (8 video series). Maybe you haven't seen those?
i lived in boquete. too slow for me. no beach and people are too old.. if i want to see old, i just look in the mirror. i bought a beach lot in san juan del sur Nicaragua. I love the Buru area. much prefer Volcan, Cerro Punta compared to Boquete.
You must be a lively person! Boquete would love you to return 😆. Although, that was much of our reaction back in 2013 when we first went to check it out. Well, other than the old people thing.
I continue to be amazed that there are people who are surprised to find "old people" living in one of the world's most highly regarded retirement communities. Likes Volcan and Cerro Punta, but Boquete has no beach?
