Azuero Peninsula Overview

The Azuero Peninsula is Panama’s heartland. It is the home of típico music, the pollera (traditional Panamanian dress), and Panama’s grandest fiestas, which involve bullfighting, drinking, traditional music, drinking, religious processions, and drinking. The peninsula is still heavily agrarian, with large green pastures filled with herds of cattle that frequently impede the flow of traffic. Many people travel by horse, the men often wear guayaberas (traditional 4-pocket shirts) and old-style straw hats, and the biggest crowd on a Saturday night is at the local cockfight. When a festival is not taking place—which doesn’t seem to happen often—travelers are lured by the natural attractions. The peninsula has over 270km of mostly undeveloped beaches, perfect for seclusion in the sun. Off Isla Iguana, the snorkeling and diving is top-notch; Playa Venao has world-class surfing; thousands of sea turtles nest on Isla Cañas; and in a country known for its fishing, the nearby waters are believed to be among the best. The towns of interest—Chitré, Las Tablas and Pedasí—all lie on the eastern side of the peninsula and are linked by the Carretera Nacional, which branches off the Interamerican Hwy. at Divisa. Santiago is farther west along the highway, inland from the peninsula, and halfway between David and Panama City.