Panama - Costa Rica

[Anonymous]

We will be traveling to Panama for a wedding and would like to make a vacation out of the trip. We have the option of staying in Panama (based in Panama city and maybe doing some day trips - this would be the cheaper option as we could borrow an apartment there) or we could go to Costa Rica. Anyone been to both? How do they compare? Recs? We have also heard Belize is beautiful... so I'll throw that in the mix.
We have two small kids (3 and 5) who are coming with us.
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I haven't been to Panama but I have heard it is beautiful (although somewhat less tourist "infrastructure" than CR). I would just stay there (especially because a visit to CR usually involves a lot of travel around the country and that will be a pain, even if you didn't have small children).

[Anonymous]

I'd probably stay in Panama. You can do a few day trips to the beach from Panama City, plus there's the park right within the city limits, the canal--lots of stuff that the kids would enjoy. You also could take some time up in the mountains, either in Boquete or Guadalupe.

It's been several years and was pre-kids, but we stayed in one of the chalets at Hotel Los Quetzales: http://www.losquetzales.com/ I'm not sure about transport into the chalets, and it's probably too far for the kids to hike in, but we thought it was amazing. The hotel seemed nice enough, too. You can drive or do a short flight into David; the Guadalupe and Boquete are each about 45 minutes-1 hour from David. Boquete has become fairly popular and Americanized in the last few years, while Guadalupe was just an agricultural town on the "wrong" side of the volcano when we were there.

As far as how Panama and CR compare, Panama is the less-touristed cousin. They are very similar in terms of stuff to offer, but Panama is just less well known and frequented. That's probably a large part of why we liked it so much better than CR.

If you can do a direct flight from Panama City to somewhere other than San Jose, CR, then CR would be more doable in my opinion. If not, though, as the PP notes, San Jose is a few hours driving or another short flight from anywhere you'd want to be.

Belize IS beautiful, but you'd also need to spend some time getting from Belize City to a vacation destination. You can take a short flight or a ferry to Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker (I'd recommend the former; there's not much swimming off the beach on Caulker). Anywhere on the mainland would be a couple of hours drive from BZE.

[Anonymous]

PP's, thanks so much. That was VERY helpful.

[Anonymous]

I'm lucky enough to have been to all three countries. I liked CR better, but Panama has some nice offerings, too. A visit to Barro Colorado Island is nice. Panama City has some nice churches and history but definitely had some rough sections, too. A train ride could be nice with the kids. You can find some nice molas in the city markets, too. In CR, I'm not sure where plan to go, but the rainforests and coast are awesome. In Belize, I only saw Mayan ruins, which were awesome. CR will be the cheapest money-wise. Panama uses the US dollar, and I think Belize has a fixed 2:1 exchange rate with US currency (?). Anyway, it should be a fun trip however you slice it. If you questions about specific places, feel free to ask.