Golfing, Fishing and Bird Watching in Panama

Panama welcomes you and wants you to enjoy a bevy of vacation activities that will leave long lasting memories. What is there in Panama for the special interest traveler?

Well, let's take a look:

Golf

In Panama the golfer will find a variety if championship courses some of which are open to the public and some that are part of a hotel or resort complex.

Just a half hour drive from Panama City is the Summit Golf Club. This 18- hole golf course enjoys sweeping views of the Panama Canal and also offers a 6-hole executive course for juniors or beginners. Designed by Jeffrey Myers there is no hotel here but there is a club house, pool, restaurant and pro-shop.

The Coronado hotel and Resort is sea-side just an hour from the city and offers 78 suites and a championship 18-hole golf course designed by tom Fazio.

An hour and half drive from the city will get you to the Mantaray Golf Club. Here you can enjoy an 18-hole, par 72 course that has been designed by Randall Thompson. This golf club also has two driving ranges, a practice putting green, six flood-lit par 3 holes for evening play and a club house with restaurant and bar.

Whilst in Boquete (Chiriqui Province) you will find the Valle Escondido Resort which offers, besides scenic views, a challenging 9-hole course.

Fishing

It may not be well-known but Panama is a world class fishing destination and is known for its record breaking catches of blue, black and striped marlin, yellow-fin tuna , wahoo and sword fish.

You can find no better deep sea fishing and facilities than the Pacific Ocean. And one that truly sticks out is the Bahia Pina in the Darien. This is the location of the famous Tropic Star lodge which holds more than 170 world records.

A short distance from Panama City is the Pearl islands which are another prime timer center. There are charter boats sailing out of Contadora Island and from the Hacienda del Mar resort on isla San Jose, which holds no less than 16 black marlin records.

Isla Coiba in the Gulf of Chiriqui is legendary for its fishing but within one mile of the boundary of the national park protected area you can only catch and release.

Hanibal Bank and isla Montuosa are the most famous areas in the Coiba archipelago and the big catches here are yellow-fin tuna and black marlin.

Should you be looking to catch peacock bass then you cannot beat a trip to Lake Gatun or if it is trout that you desire then look no further than the rivers running down the Baru Volcano in Chiriqui Province.

Bird watching

Panama boasts at least 950 registered species of resident and migrant birds which is in fact more than the U.S. and Canada combined.

The massive Harpy Eagle is the national bird of Panama and is largest by far of the nation's 50 raptor species.

Common throughout the country are Toucans whilst Panama's coastal wetlands are particularly rich in migratory shore birds, including herons, spoonbills and white ibis. Boobies, frigate birds and pelicans find nesting sites in the coastal mangroves. Scarlet macaws can only be seen on Isla Coiba whilst the resplendent quetzels are at home around the Baru volcano. The forests of Panama are alive with squawking parrots of which there are some 18 species and macaws that show off their blues and golds.

Hotspots for bird watching include the Darien highlands where you should see macaws, toucans and tanagers. The Darien lowlands known for its harpy eagle habitats on Soberania national park and the Pipeline road are also home to more than 525 species.

Birders should also head out to Isla Iguana in Los Santos Province and Swan's Cay in Bocas for some great seabird sightings.

Serious birders should consider taking a bird watching tour where a tour member can expect to see 100 or more species.

Source: Recommend