Lounge 180 - The View (from the mall)

Located on top of the Multiplaza mall. This lounge has a decent view of downtown, but nothing extraordninary.

Dj plays house music, mostly techno type, but some occasional soulful house. Nothing special about this place. Some of the lounge chairs are TOO big! You have to sit on the edge of them if you want to eat or talk to friends. Again, this is another place where people don't socialize outside their own circles.


This place must be sponsored by Grey Goose, because the bar is full of Grey Goose bottles everywhere.

We got here around 11pm. The food and the service were average at best.

This is a place that tries to be a place to be seen. MAYBE its okay for a date, but the music is so loud that maybe it isn't. Plus who wants to bring a date to the mall. My friend did that and he said that when they walked through the mall, the woman kept hinting how she'd look "so great in this and that"...as if he was going to say "You're right...let me buy it for you."

Prive - Night Club (bring your tampons)

Located in Calle Uruguay. I went here Saturday for a friend of friend's birthday. This club caters to the rich (or wannabe rich) crowd. Not much dancing, not much socializing, and not very diverse. Just people hanging out in their own groups and dancing a little. The music was mostly a mix of house, pop and reggaeton. Cover was $10. Not my kind of spot...I'd only return here if they had a really good guest DJ or if I came with a bunch of friends.


The music is also VERY loud. Luckily me and the lady brought "tampons" aka earplugs. My spanish is bad, but the word for ear plugs sounds like tampons.

Coconut Water - The Shakedown is Over

I don't really like coconuts, but I love coconut water. I'm not talking about coconut pulp, its actually water from a coconut. It great for hydrating anytime, especially before or after a workout. Apparently its also better for your than Gatorade and any other "thirst quencher" type drink because it naturally has potassium and electrolytes.

In the US, its at least $1.75 to $3 for about 16oz. Here in Panama, you can get 1.5 liters (about 50 oz) for $3. I drink this stuff all the time, my only concern is the sugar. Its natural, but I need to research if I'm overdoing it.

(The picture shows a coconut water stand, I haven't seen one yet, but I buy that brand in the store all the time)

The $6 Massage

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I found $6 massages at Multi-Plaza (a mall). $6 gets you 15 mins on the chair. $10 gets you 30. I figured that the massage wouldn't be very good because its $6 and in a mall hallway. Man I was wrong!!! They jam packed that 15 mins with one of the best massages I ever had.

For $6, best believe I will be back.

**** TIP: Get a massage during the day. I believe the employees work from 10am to 9pm. So if you come at night, they might be tired and give you a weak massage. I did that once and the lady was barely doing anything. I didn't say anything because I knew it was getting late and she was probably exhausted.

Banks - I'm not a drug dealer!

In Panama, the currency is the US dollar. The highest bill you will normally see is a $20. Many different sources have told me that no one trusts anything over $20 (not $50's, $100's, etc). At Banco General, the manager told me that even if they gave me 100 dollar bills, they wouldn't take them back (if I came in another time).

If you go to the bank and withdraw $1000 in cash, they will literally give you a stack of fifty 20 dollar bills (at least at Banco General). YOU CAN ASK THEM FOR CHECK INSTEAD IF YOU WANT TO AVOID THIS.

I saw a guy withdraw some money which had to be about $8,000. They gave him 2 HUGE stacks, which probably each contained 400 twenty dollar bills . On top of that, he just stuck it in his pocket (no envelope or bag) and walked out.

The funny thing I noticed is that a huge window sits right next to the teller counter, so anyone outside can look in and see the teller hand you a stack of cash!

If you want to feel like a drug dealer for a day, just go to Banco General and withdraw a chunk of money, and have fun walking around Panama worrying about all that cash in your pocket. :)

Sidewalks - Pay attention or you might end up in the hospital

Holes in the sidewalk are EVERYWHERE. I'm not talking about a hole that you would get your foot caught in, NO I'm talking about holes that your whole body will fall in. Some of them are 5 feet or deeper.

Whenever my girlfriend and I are walking through the city, we are always telling each other "watch out for that hole". These holes can be anything: manhole, sewer, broken pavement, etc. I wonder how many people fall in these holes when there not paying attention?

By the way, I've NEVER seen one sign, cone, or anything to warn you about a hole.

Side note: The sidewalks here are terrible in most places.

Zona Viva - Clubs, Clubs and more clubs

I read that if you want to go dancing, ask for a "disco" not a "club". Otherwise you might end up at a strip-club.

In Panama City, their are three main places that I know of that have nightclubs or lounges: Zona Viva, Calle Uruguay and Casco Viejo.

Calle Uraguay is the area of high end clubs, kind of like Las Vegas. Apparently its where all the rich and wanna be rich people go. I haven't gone myself, except for dinner with my girlfriend so I can't comment much on Calle Uruguay.

Casco Viejo is an older, somewhat historic part of town. Here you'll find a few clubs and mostly bars that caters to a late 20's and up crowd. The area is pretty calm, but some people don't go to it because its near a poorer part of town. We went to two Salsa clubs here, both were just okay...people weren't really dancing.

Zona Viva
Zona Viva is near the Amador causeway, which is a thin strip of land on the water. This place is like Disneyland for 20 year olds who like the over the top club scene. It is about 2 blocks longs and EVERY building is a night club with a neon sign and LOUD music. *TIP - Bring earplugs if you go out dancing in Panama.

Zona Viva has all types of music (house, reggae, regaeton, pop, hip-hop, etc). The average age here is about 22 years old. The cover charges of the clubs range from $5 to $15. It also seemed like some of the people were there just to hang out The place is supposed to be 18 and over, but I KNOW some of those folks were under 18. In fact, I've been told that lots of high school kids go there. If you want nightclub overload, go to Zona Viva.