Panama for Digital Nomads

• US dollars. Panama’s balboa is pegged one to one to the dollar, and US notes are the paper money everyone uses.
• US hours. On UTC-5 all year, the same as New York in winter and an hour behind it in summer.
• Territorial tax. Panama taxes only Panamanian-source income, and the remote worker visa is built around income from abroad.
• Flights. Copa’s hub at Tocumen has direct flights to most capitals in the Americas, plus routes to Europe.
• Variety. A big modern city, Caribbean islands, cool mountain towns and Pacific surf beaches, all within a short flight or a few hours’ drive.

Panama suits remote workers on US hours, people who want city comforts and easy travel in a dollar economy, surfers and divers, and anyone looking for a gentle first step into Latin America. Boquete and El Valle also have long-settled communities of North American retirees.

It suits you less on a tight budget, if you dislike heat, humidity and heavy rain, or if you want a big nomad scene. Asian business hours are very hard, and outside Panama City and David, serious medical care means a trip back to the capital.

• Panama City: the capital, with the coworking spaces, hospitals, malls and flights. Most foreigners live in El Cangrejo, Obarrio, San Francisco, Punta Pacífica or Casco Viejo.
• Bocas del Toro: a Caribbean island archipelago near Costa Rica, with surf, reefs, water taxis and a young, social long-stay crowd.
• Boquete: a cool mountain town at about 1,200 metres in Chiriquí, below Volcán Barú, with coffee farms, hiking and a large retiree community.
• El Valle de Antón: a small, green town in the crater of an old volcano, about two hours from the capital, with mild weather and weekend crowds.
• Pedasí: a quiet town on the Azuero Peninsula, near surf beaches and whale watching.
• Santa Catalina: a remote Pacific surf village and the gateway to Coiba National Park.

Our where to base yourself in Panama page compares them in more detail.

• Visa-free entry: citizens of the US and Canada can stay up to 180 days as tourists; most other visa-free nationalities, including the UK and EU countries, get 90 days. Officers may ask for an onward ticket and proof of funds.
• Short Stay Visa for Remote Workers: for people working remotely for employers or their own business outside Panama, with income of at least $3,000 a month ($36,000 a year) from abroad. It lasts nine months, can be extended once for another nine, and costs $300 in government fees ($250 plus $50 for the ID card).
• Residence routes: the Pensionado visa (for retirees with a lifetime pension), the Friendly Nations visa (for citizens of listed countries with a job offer or property) and investor visas suit people who want to settle.

Our visas, taxes and money page explains the remote worker visa and the process step by step.

A comfortable month for one person costs about $2,000 to $2,600 in Panama City, $1,500 to $2,100 in Boquete or Bocas del Toro and $1,300 to $1,900 in El Valle, Pedasí or Santa Catalina. A lean budget is about $1,200 to $1,500 outside the capital. A furnished one-bedroom apartment in a good part of Panama City rents for about $900 to $1,500, and a set lunch at a local fonda costs a few dollars. These are ballpark figures.

Costs that catch people out: electricity for air-conditioning, which can add $100 or more a month in the lowlands, imported groceries, water taxis in Bocas, and health insurance, which the remote worker visa requires.

Panama is on UTC-5 all year, with no daylight saving: the same as New York from November to March and an hour behind it in summer. It is one of the best time zones for working with North America, and the European afternoon overlaps with your morning. Asian hours fall in the middle of the night.

Panama is tropical and lies south of the hurricane belt, so the seasons are about rain rather than temperature.

Fibre from +Móvil (Cable & Wireless) and Tigo is widely available in Panama City and the larger towns, often at 100 to 500 Mbps, and modern apartment towers usually have it already installed. Since Digicel closed in 2024, they are also the only two mobile networks; both sell prepaid SIMs and eSIMs registered with your passport, and coverage is good in towns and along the main highway. On the islands of Bocas del Toro and in small coastal villages such as Santa Catalina, internet is slower and power cuts are more common, so check the connection before you rent.

Uber and inDrive operate in Panama City, and inDrive also runs in several towns in the interior; they are cheaper and easier than hailing a street taxi. The capital has a metro, and long-distance buses leave from the Albrook terminal for every part of the country. Domestic flights from Albrook airport (Marcos A. Gelabert) serve Bocas del Toro and David, the nearest city to Boquete. In Bocas, water taxis link the islands. Panama drives on the right, and traffic in the capital is heavy at rush hour.

Private hospitals in Panama City are among the best in Central America, including Hospital Punta Pacífica and Hospital Paitilla, and David has private hospitals that serve Boquete. In Bocas del Toro, El Valle and the Azuero coast, care is basic. The remote worker visa requires health insurance that covers you in Panama; get nomad health insurance. The emergency number is 911.

Panama is one of the safer countries in Central America. The usual risks are petty theft, phone snatching, robbery at night in some neighbourhoods next to Casco Viejo and in Colón city, and strong currents on Pacific and Caribbean beaches. The Darién jungle on the Colombian border is off-limits for independent travel. Check your government’s travel advice.

• The remote worker visa doesn’t allow local work. You sign a sworn statement that you won’t take work from Panamanian people or companies.
• Carry ID. Police checks are common, and you can be fined or detained without your passport or a copy plus your entry stamp or visa.
• Drugs carry long prison sentences.
• Guna Yala (the San Blas islands) is an autonomous Indigenous territory with its own rules, entry fees and limits on where visitors can stay.
• Visa runs are risky: officers can refuse entry to people who look like they are living in Panama on back-to-back tourist stays.