Leaving in Pedasi

If you mean Pedasi, then I will be glad to give you more information. Have not heard of Pelosi.

you're right Pedasi

We are moving to Pedasi on August 1 and have already rented a house. We rented from Christine Small, her email is xtine0311 @ yahoo.com, just drop the spaces. She and her husband have lived in Pedasi for over 2 years. We met them on our first trip there in January of 2012, there are really nice people. Tell her you were sent to her by Mikkel and to give you a good deal.
Pedasi is a small village of 2,000 people, just 2 km off the beach. The people are great and there is just enough infrastructure to make it livable without it being spoiled.
There are many great beaches and super fishing. You can walk everywhere and there are small van/buses that run to Las Tablas (30 minutes) and Chitre (1 hour) if you need something that you cannot get in Pedasi. Several great restaurants and you do not want to miss Yeli Dulceria, they have wonderful desserts.
You will fly into Panama City and can either rent a car there or take the bus from Allbrook to Las Tablas and then a Taxi to Pedasi. Our first trip we took the bus to Chitre and rented a car there. This past January we rented a car at the airport and drove to Coronado, El Valle, Santiago, David, La Barqueta, Boquete, Pedasi and then back to PC before flying home. It convinced us that we wanted to live in Pedasi.
If you have any specific questions please feel free to email me and I will answer them as best I can.
You may want to join the "Americans in Panama" forum on Yahoo as it probably gives the most correct impression of what is really happening in Panama. It is also a good place to ask questions after you search the archives and cannot find an answer to any questions you might have.
Buena Suerta

Thank you for this very complete information. Just for my info what should I expect as a price for renting a small house or apartment for 3 to 4 months?
Yesterday we went to El Valle and loved the village. You did this also, why you preferred Pedasi?
We're actually in Albrook at our friends house. We will fly back to Montreal on April 3rd and we will be back in Panama next year for seriously starting searching our future "paradise" somewhere far from Canada where we are actually living.
Any opinion from people like you are much appreciated.
Bogdan

Hi Bogdan,

I'm also a big fan of Pedasi. It's my favorite place in Panama. It's one of the friendliest towns here. And when I say friendly, I mean the local Panamanians living there and the foreigners. What I found to be so cool about Pedasi is that it's not all Americans like some of the other expat-heavy destinations. In Pedasi you'll find people from the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Spain, France, Israel, etc. It's awesome.

With the new airport opening up there and the new hospital on its way, it's probably one of the most realistic living options outside of Panama City, Coronado, David, and Boquete. For being so small, it actually has a lot to offer, and with it's close proximity to Las Tablas and Chitre, you should be able to easily find anything you can't get in town. One restaurant owner told me he gets his meat from a butcher in Las Tablas. One other foreigner said she makes the 45minute-1 hour trip to Chitre to visit the mall and catch a movie (it's a small 4 screen movie theater though).

Mikkel gave you tons of great info, all of it true. The only thing I wanted to touch on is that if you're going to take a bus from Albrook to Pedasi, you will need to take it to Las Tablas, like Mikkel said, but from that point you don't have to take a taxi. You certainly can, but it might cost a little bit since Pedasi is a good 30 minute drive from Las Tablas. If you leave the bus station and either walk or take a taxi over to the main street in Las Tablas, you'll find small Coaster buses parked across from the first supermarket in town (can't remember the name, but it's closer than Super Carne). These Coaster buses will only cost $2.40 each way. You might have to wait for a few other passengers to get dropped off along the way, but it has to be a lot cheaper than paying for a taxi.

I'd follow Mikkel's advice and contact someone who lives in Pedasi before going, just to make sure you don't miss anything. I had a friendly Panamanian woman take me around and I got to see the port built by the Japanese, where a small fishing boat was donated to the people of the area, I was taken to Playa Venao (which is technically outside of Pedasi, but still a big part of life there, as many Saturday evenings people come in on buses to party until the sun comes up), and I was taken out to meet a boat captain who will take you over to the beautiful Isla Iguana for $60 per boat-full. So if you round up five of your friends it would be a pretty cheap trip over to the island.

I can't wait to go back to Pedasi. I'll be headed back soon as I plan to write about it in my new site that should be launching right around mid-April at www.panamaforreal.com. Right now, the site is under construction, but if you want to read more about random Panama facts, check out my blog at www.thestayathomegringo.blogspot.com.

Whatever you do, definitely find time to take a trip out to Pedasi. Make sure you're there on a Tuesday or Friday night so you can head over to Smiley's and catch the live cover band and order one of their gigantic pitchers of sangria.

Chris