If you are planning to visit Panama, it is important to gather valuable tips for traveling to Panama to ensure an enjoyable and safe experience. Since we live in a smartphone-connected world, we’d like to share some tips to help you take advantage of technology and make your next trip to Panama more enjoyable.
Sim Cards
Although many restaurants and cafes offer free Wi-Fi, we recommend obtaining a SIM card and purchasing a prepaid plan. SIM cards typically cost USD $2.00 and plans can range from USD $5 – $30 depending on its features.
Service providers include Digicel, +Movil, Tigo and Claro. You want to compare their prepaid plans to understand advantages and disadvantages. For instance, some carriers offer unlimited data plans that cannot be used for personal hotspot. Some carriers may offer roaming plans through Central America, while other carriers may offer free usage of social media applications such as Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp.
Recommended Apps
Downloading a few resources on your phone will make your trip easier, and possibly more fun. We suggest having these applications on your smartphone or ipad – along with a good prepaid data plan:
Google Maps or Waze help you navigate to any destination with easy turn-by-turn instructions. They not only show you directions, but also use real-time traffic information to find the best route to your destination, either walking, driving, or in public transit.
Google Maps:
Waze:
Google Translate is a great tool to translate websites and texts for free and immediately. We strongly recommend it for communicating with locals if you do not feel comfortable with Spanish.
WhatsApp is the most popular instant messaging application to communicate with anybody in Panama – including companies. You can message, call, or video-call your contacts.
Degusta searches through hundreds of thousands of reviews in less than a second and sorts restaurants by relevance, score, and distance. You can filter by Zone, Cuisine, Price, Hours, etc. It also allows you to search for dishes, features, addresses, etc. You can even search for restaurants near you or on the map.
With the Uber app, you can choose your destination, share your route, split your fare, choose your payment method, and be in full control of your mobility. It’s easy, simple and safe. Do you want to take a cab instead? Be sure to inquire about the price and have a good understanding of your destination – otherwise you are likely to be overcharged.
Encuentra24 allows you to advertise, buy, and sell in Central America. You will find anything from houses, apartments, land, real estate, vehicles, furniture, electrical items, household, office, cars and most other products.
PedidosYa is an online store that allows you to place home orders from restaurants, supermarkets, beverages and even pharmacies.
You can certainly visit Panama without these apps. Although they are not mandatory, we recommend them to make your trip easier, safer and more enjoyable in Panama.
Contact us
The Kraemer & Kraemer team can support your legal needs in Panama and Offshore, whether for business, tax, real estate, immigration, asset protection, and more. Contact us or email us at info@kraemerkaw.com.
