Free Zone in Colón

I went on a week end and it was closed, so you have to plan on going on weekday. Anyway, after paying some bribe they let me in on the deserted streets (I just wanted to get to know the place). Seems like a lot of warehouses and more geared to buying in bulk... but someone who has already shopped there should know better than me. The town outside is a bit sketchy, although there is the pier where the cruises dock.

The zona libre is definately geared more toward bulk, and on top of that you actually have to ship it out of the country as the items are not allowed to enter Panamanian soil outside of the Zone. This is great if you are guying 200 pairs of jeans for your shop, or are selling things in bulk, but it is not great if you just want to get a cheap rolex or some personal electronics. The prices are incredibly cheap so it could be worth a visit if it serves your purposes...but also keep in mind that Colon is not an incredibly safe place and locals often warn you not to go the zona unless a cruise ship is at the dock because that is when security is at it's highest.

If you are in the area, you could do a detour to Portobello, which is a spanish fort some kms. from Colon... Seems to be a refugee for yachts sailing in the area...

Not set up for browsing and only a few stores sell "al detal" or "al menor" which is retail the majority of the outlets are for wholesale purchases only "al mayor".
If you really know what you want - camera, TV, watch etc then you might get a good deal. They will ship it to the airport in bond but not sure of how long that would take - next day delivery is probably not that reliable.

Also you then need to take into account what you can legally take back to Brazil - a new large LCD tv isn't the easiest to sneak through customs.

I had some friends just move there from here and they did buy a lot of new furniture etc before leaving but they can bring in their container load on their immigration status.

Cheers,
Andrew