City overview
Panama packs two oceans, a rainforest and one of the world's great engineering sites into a country you can cross in a day, and it does it with the largest and best-served kosher infrastructure in Central America. Panama City's skyline sits beside a UNESCO-listed colonial quarter and the locks of the Panama Canal, while the highlands of Boquete and the Caribbean islands of Bocas del Toro are a short flight away. The Jewish community numbers roughly fifteen thousand, mostly Sephardi families of Syrian and Lebanese descent, concentrated in Punta Paitilla, Punta Pacífica and Bella Vista. Kosher Panamá, the certification body of the Shevet Ahim congregation, supervises well over ninety establishments countrywide, and an eruv covers the main Jewish neighbourhoods.
Getting Around
Public transit
Panama City's Metro runs two lines.
Line 1 goes north to south from Villa Zaita to Albrook, and Line 2 runs east to west from San Miguelito to Nuevo Tocumen, with a three-station branch off Corredor Sur station that reaches Tocumen International Airport directly. A monorail Line 3 is under construction and not yet open. Metrobus city buses use the same rechargeable card as the Metro, sold at station machines. Outside the capital, long-distance coaches leave from the Albrook terminal next to Albrook Mall for David, Santiago, Chitré and the Costa Arriba, and domestic flights from Albrook's Marcos A. Gelabert airport serve Bocas del Toro, David for Boquete and the Guna Yala airstrips.
Rideshare
Uber is the most reliable option and covers Panama City, David and La Chorrera; DiDi operates mainly in Panama City and inDrive works more widely.
All three take cash as well as card. Uber picks up at Tocumen International from designated zones in the car park — request the ride in the app rather than accepting an offer inside the terminal.
Car rental
A car is worth having for Boquete, the Azuero peninsula and the Pacific beach corridor, where the Pan-American Highway is good and distances are long.
It is more trouble than it is worth inside Panama City, where traffic is heavy and parking is tight; most visitors staying in Paitilla or Punta Pacífica use rideshare and private drivers instead.
Airport
Tocumen International Airport (PTY), Avenida Domingo Díaz, Tocumen, +507 238-2700, sits about 25 kilometres east of the city centre, which is 30 to 45 minutes by road depending on traffic. It is Copa Airlines' hub and the busiest airport in Central America, with direct flights across the Americas and to Europe. The Metro's airport branch connects the terminal to Line 2 at Corredor Sur, and Uber picks up from designated zones in the car park. Airport taxis run a fixed fare of roughly $30 to $40 into the city. A kosher outlet, Fresh Kosher by Organik, operates in Terminal 2. Domestic flights to Bocas del Toro, David and Guna Yala leave instead from Albrook's Marcos A. Gelabert airport on the other side of the city, so allow time if you are connecting between the two.
Good to know
Best time to visit
December through mid-April is the dry season, with warm sunny days and far less rain than the rest of the year.
Insider tips
Every synagogue in Panama requires visitors to register in advance for security — fill in the form at visitors.centraldsi.com before you travel, not on arrival, and allow time for approval. The kosher scene is concentrated on a handful of Paitilla streets, above all Calle Ramón H. Jurado and Plaza Bal Harbour, so a hotel in Paitilla or Punta Pacífica puts you inside the eruv and within walking distance of most of it. Not every dairy place is Cholov Yisroel; the certified list marks the ones that are as Jalav Israel, and it is worth checking before you order. Chabad's Shabbat meals fill months ahead over the winter and summer breaks. Panama Kosher Fest runs each January. Bring a US-style plug and nothing else — the current and sockets match North America exactly.
Safety & emergency
Panama is one of the safer countries in the region and Panama City's Jewish neighbourhoods are comfortable to walk in, with visitors routinely wearing a kippah in the street without difficulty. The United States currently rates Panama Level 2, exercise increased caution, in an advisory issued on 19 August 2026, with crimes of opportunity and theft in tourist areas the main concern; two areas carry a Level 4 do-not-travel warning and no visitor should go near either, the Mosquito Gulf coastline and the parts of the Darién region towards the Colombian border. Keep valuables out of sight in Casco Viejo and around the fish market at night, and use rideshare rather than street taxis after dark. General emergency: 911 Police (Policía Nacional): 104 Fire (Bomberos): 103 Tourist information — ATP: +507 526-7000 Pacífica Salud Hospital Punta Pacífica: +507 204-8000 Centro Médico Paitilla: +507 265-8800 Tocumen International Airport: +507 238-2700
Local time
2:34 AM
+4 hrs from NYC
Plug
Type A/B
120V
Currency
Balboa
Kosher map of Panama City
Pick a place on the map or search an address or hotel to see what is kosher around it.