Living in Boquete

[emmie]

Greetings to all here. My husband and I are considering seriously a move to Panama within the coming four to six months. One of the huge decisions that we face is finding an area in which we might live comfortably, make friends, live a relaxed lifestyle while working on web based businesses, and getting around without a car, since we are not planning to transport our car. Consequently, we have targeted Botquete as a potential place to live. We are searching for specific information regarding the ease with which we might be able to live in town without a car...how far to get around to services? what about snorkeling, diving, hiking, shopping, food costs? We are also planning to bring our Corgi who loves to be active. Please offer as much info as you have. Thanks for helping. emily

[Julio Santamaría]

If you live in Bajo Boquete, you can get around without a car without any problems. You'll be close to all the services you'll need. Maximum 10-15 minutes walking all around town.
If you live elsewhere, you have to make sure that taxis past frequently. The best way to find out is to come down and rent a place for a while.
At 1000 meters above sea level, you'll have to go the the islands of the Gulf of Chiriqui to dive/snorkel: www.hablayapanama.com/ecotourism/islands.html
Boquete is hikers paradise: Il Panisita, Bajo Mono, Pipeline Trail, Quetzals Trail, Baru Volcano Hike, La Artilleria, Lagunas Perdidas de Chiriqui, Finca Lerida just to name a few...
You can find more info about Boquete at:
www.hablayapanama.com/school/boquete.html
Good luck with your research!

[Howling Success K9 Services]

As far as bringing your Corgi, if you are going on the same flight as the dog you can do the process yourself as far as getting the dog through customs and vet checked.
A good website for what you need as far as paperwork is www.movetopanama.com. This site offers the service of getting your dog through customs but if you are there when he gets off the plane you can save yourself a lot of money and do it yourself.
If you will contact me I can share a couple of other tricks I have learned to save money bringing your dog in.
good luck, Kristine Berg
www.howlingsuccess.com
[e-mail]
6473.8418
Skype number is kris.berg

[H.J. Macaulay (panamalady.com)]

You have received good advice from both Julio and Kris and I would re-iterate that coming here, renting for a while, and checking things out first....would be best. You will only know yourselves what you like and dislike. Boquete is a wonderfully social place, more so than David or other areas and therefore it is my "opinion" that it would be easier to find things out here. If you want the ocean.....I would say the same thing: go visit, stay a while and see if you like those areas.

Best of luck,
Regards,

Heather (panamalady.com)