What are the costs in Panama?

If you were wondering whether traveling to Panama is cheap, I'm sorry to disappoint you. The answer is no. In fact Panama Panama is quite expensive to travel through. The prices themselves are not only high, but you don't always have a lot of choice. As a result, you cannot always choose a cheaper option. Are you curious about what costs you can expect in Panama? Then read this blog!

Currency

In Panama you pay with US Dollars or Panamanian Balboa. These are equivalent to each other and are also used interchangeably. The difference with the euro is not very big, very small actually. $1 = approximately €0.93 (at the time we traveled). The US Dollar is also quite stable so you won't really notice it getting cheaper or more expensive as you travel.

Costs for hotels

Hotels in Panama can vary a lot in price. For example, you can pay from €18 per night up to €300 per night for a private room. There is also a very clear difference in quality between these prices. Of course we didn't do the €300 haha. You can't expect much for around €23. For example, we slept in the old part of Panama-city in a hotel for €23 a night. The whole building was old, dirty and the neighbourhood was far from safe. You would rather not walk on the street, especially at night. It was also very noisy at night. 

From €35 to €80 per night you could sleep in a nice hotel. There was of course a big difference here. For €35 you got a simple clean room with everything you need. For around €80 you get a swimming pool, gym, restaurant and other facilities. Despite the high prices, you shouldn't expect much modern for that price. Only in Panama City could you expect luxurious and modern hotels for a higher price. 

The cheapest place to stay is of course in a hostel, here you can certainly sleep for €10 a night. However, we have not done this ourselves because we prefer a private room and bathroom. Despite the difference in price, you don't have much choice in hotels. As a result, you do not always have (many) hotels in every price range. For example, in some places you can only find hotels from €30 or €80.

Costs in Panama for food

The costs in Panama for food are quite comparable with the costs for food in the Netherlands. It may be slightly cheaper depending on where you eat. However, the prices for food in restaurants were sometimes higher than we expected. For a lunch we paid between €15 and €20 for the two of us. Sometimes this could also be €30, if you felt like something other than fast food or Mexican. For dinner we paid between €20 and €40. Here too, for example, you paid €20 for 2 pizzas and 2 drinks. But you could spend €40 for an appropriate meal and 2 drinks each.

Cost of transportation in Panama

The costs in Panama for renting a car are not extremely expensive. Renting a car is of course never really cheap. But we were able to rent a car for €370 for five days, with our pick-up and drop-off location in a different place. Although the costs for renting the car are not very expensive, the deposit they ask is very high. For example, the deposit starts at €1000 and can go up to almost €3000. For this you must have a credit card, with which you can reserve such an amount.

Other transportation in Panama that is a lot cheaper is the use of an uber. Uber is a convenient and inexpensive mode of transportation in Panama. For example, a taxi can sometimes charge double what you pay for an Uber. Unfortunately, Uber is not always available in Panama. You can use Uber mainly in and around the major cities. We advise to do so if possible, because it saves you a lot of money compared to a normal taxi. You can read why an Uber is even more convenient to use than a taxi in our Panama travel tips blog.

The cheapest means of transportation in Panama is the bus. In a local bus you pay the same prices as the local people. These prices are extremely low. Especially if you compare it with all the above. For example, you pay between €1.50 and €16 for a bus, depending on the distance and duration of the journey. From David to Boquete the two of us paid less than €3 for an hour-long bus ride. From David to Almirante we paid €15 for a four-hour ride. 

Besides the duration and distance, bus drivers may charge tourists more money than locals. This can be very different per bus and also depends on where you are. In addition, they sometimes charge a little extra for your backpack. Nevertheless, we generally paid about the same amount as the locals.

Expenses for Activities and Tours in Panama

We have not booked many tours in Panama ourselves. Actually only on Bocas del Toro we booked a tour to Zapatilla Island. This cost about €32.50 and lasted all day. We also did activities for which you had to pay an entrance fee. This could differ between €1 and €20 depending on the activity. The Panama Canal, for example, was a fairly expensive trip, with the entrance costs around €20. This was besides the full day tour the most expensive of all.

Our costs in Panama

We did not travel very cheaply in Panama. Not only because of the high prices, but also because we wanted to start our trip in a nice way. That is why I would like to add that you can definitely travel cheaper than how we did it. But to give you an idea of ​​our average costs in Panama per person per day:

Would you like to know more about how you can save money? Or are you interested in more tips for traveling through Panama, read our Panama travel tips blog.