Las Tablas, Panama

The sleepy town of Las Tablas is three hours west along the Pan-American Highway and then 90 minutes southeast along Panama’s Azuero Peninsula.

Las Tablas is one of the best places in Panama to live a stress-free, relaxed retirement—one of the main reasons people move to Panama.

Las Tablas is the first town of note along what is becoming this country’s Gold Coast.

Other beaches, certainly, are easier to access from Panama City. But these “city beaches,” as they’re called, have gotten expensive.

Panamanians like to be able to leave work on Friday afternoons and reach their places on the water by dinnertime, and they are willing to pay a premium for that privilege.

Properties at these Panama City beach areas, therefore, have appreciated in value over the past several years, but the experience doesn’t support the inflation.

The beaches aren’t great (they’re typically muddy and flat), and there’s no town, no community anywhere along this coast, just collections here and there of (often) down-at-the-heels weekend party houses.

The good news about this place is that you are greeted by a charming and lively town center, a welcoming local population, and a long- established community of Panamanians and expats who savor their seaside lifestyle.