Panama - Isla Iguana V Playa Venao V Isla Cañas (and Lost and Found, too)

I am having some bother deciding which of these places to go to. Does anyone have any thoughts about any of these places? Or in fact, any unmissable places in Western Panama (not including Bocas Del Toro)?

And, where is this Lost and Found hostel? Up near Boquete somewhere isn´t it?

Ta loads in advance.

Pacific beaches are usually that salt and pepper sand and kinda murky water. Isla Iguana is a beautiful exception -- white sand beach. When I went my friends we had it all to ourselves. It was post card perfect. If you have any Blue Lagoon fantasies and anyone that looks like Brook that is a great place to be. Pedasi where you will have to catch a boat is nice but really not much going on -- bring friends and it can be fun.

Remember though to keep Carnival in mind. The party is not far away and Pedasi may get booked. And if you do get a place down there and pass through the Carnival towns and see all the people going nuts you may be tempted to hop off the bus and join them.

Please let us know about the other places Playa Venao and Isla Canas. Never heard of them. Where did you hear about them?

Great new places off the beaten path are popping up everywhere and the guide books can't keep up. Beats most places in Costa Rica if you ask me. The Lost and Found is in the Fortuna Forest Reserve along the highway between David and Bocas so it is a stop in the cloud forest on your way across the Continental Divide -- amazing.

Playa Venao is OK, but I'm not much of a beach person. There's a basic restaurant there and they have some very basic cabins they rent out as well. They seemed to be pretty cheap. Isla Canas I liked a lot. Not because it's so beautiful or anything but because of the people. The island is nice, and a great place to wonder around. But the "town" was prety cool and a great place to hang and just chat with the locals, expecially the kids. It's the sort of place where the TV's are in the local tiendas and everybody is sitting around watching. There's one tiny sort of bar with a pool table as well. To get there you go to the "port" and hope that the guy with the boat is waiting there. If the tide is out it's a bit of a hike through the mud to the boat, but the river is pretty cool as well. I don't know if i'd make a special trip there, but it's not bad to stop in at for a day or two. The accomodation(I think there's only one place) is a cabin with beds behind somebodies house. It's dirty and grotty and not worth the $10(per bed) they charge but it's all there is and it'll do.

I haven't been to the Lost and Found but my guests that have been there say it's pretty cool. Also had a couple of friends who stayed for longer than they had planned.

Stuart
Hostel Mamallena
Panama City, Panama

www.mamallena.com

All three locations are very close to each other on the Azuero. You could see all of them without much difficulty. Probably less then an hour by bus from one to another.

Carnaval celebrations in Pedasi tend to be pretty heavy duty.

i lived in cerro punta 2 years (the other side of volcan baru and boquete) and if you´re looking for tranquil beautiful beaches would highly recommend las lajas beach and punta burica. las lajas is about an hour outside of david. turn at san felix, then go down until the road ends and take a right. ask for graciano´s place. it is $10.00 for a beachfront cabana, or $6.00 for a bed in the dorm and they have decent food for $2-4 a plate. other than peace corps and carnaval, there are rarely any people there.
punta burica is the peninsula that separates panama and costa rica and is home to the last of panamas mono titis as well a large community of white faced and howler monkeys. there is a hostal called mono feliz which has rooms for about $10 or you can camp for much less. this place is a bit more difficult to get to, though they were working on a road about 6 months ago so will be a breeze if finished.
these are two of my favorite beaches in panama, but both are quiet and off the beaten track. so if you´re looking for bars and to meet many other travellers these are not where you want to go. enjoy your trip!

For directions to Lost and Found check out my post `directions or PM me if you need more help.

Yvonne