Retirement in Volcán and Cerro Punta is wonderful.  The area has a nice climate.  The people who live there are very kind and generally working-class.  They include native and aboriginal Panamanians to a European cultural mix.  The Volcán and Cerro Punta area is a place of much vegetation with beautiful landscapes and a rural lifestyle.  You should visit these two places to realize how great they are!!      

I believe the retirement in Volcán and Cerro Punta, Chiriqui Provence, Panama would be wonderful for anyone who wants "the great outdoors", a cool climate (versus a hot climate), a slower pace and plenty of time to "smell the roses".

 

This part of Panama is becoming more popular all the time, but it is slower in development than say Boquete which is known as a "haven for gringos", with tons of new developments, a new high-speed highway from the city of David, restaurants, cultural activities, etc.  In contrast Volcán and Cerro Punta are far less developed, more rural in their feeling and lifestyles and a lot slower paced.

 

I do not live in Volcán or Cerro Punta but I have been to both areas several times since I have come to live in Panama (about seven years now).  I actually live on the Caribbean side near Portobello, Colon.

 

Volcán has a couple of decent super-markets, a few restaurants and hotels and a great cooler climate which is very refreshing in Panama.  The areas near Volcán are known as the "bread basket" of Panama because most of Panama's local produce comes from this area.

 

I really like Cerro Punta because it is even more remote and cooler (climate wise) than Volcán.  Cerro Punta also has a wonderful hotel with spa, restaurant, horseback riding and other "jungle cabanas" which can only be reached by 4-wheel-drive vehicles and where you need to pack in all of your food and beverages.

 

I have stayed in both the hotel and jungle cabanas and they are both great.  I think I prefer the remote cabanas because they are right smack in the middle of the jungle. 

 

Guides take all hotel and cabana visitors on a complimentary tour of the jungle for hiking, seeing waterfalls, the trout ponds, and if you are lucky, the mysterious and beautiful Quetzal bird which is the national bird of Panama.  We personally saw Quetzals on our last stay at the jungle cabanas.

 

While there you can also tour the "Dracula House", named for the "nighttime" orchids raised there.  The Dracula House is a great place to visit and I believe it is the largest exporter of "night" Orchids in the world.

 

The area abounds in beautiful National Parks as well.
 

What is it like to retire to the Volcán and Cerro Punta region? Of course, it differs from gringo to gringo. For this particular gringo, me, it is wonderful. I first retired to rural southern France. It was wonderful in many ways, but the cities and the superhighways and the bureaucratic nightmare of a government was like I had never left the States. Here in the Tierras Altas (Highlands) of western Panamá, I could not be happier. The lifestyle is "tranquilo", to use the Spanish word. It is peaceful and relaxed here. The landscapes are gorgeous, the people incredibly friendly, the food terrific, the air and water mostly pollution-free, the costs low. If like me you are of an artistic bent (I am a professional full-time writer of books, and part-time a professional musician), you will find this region inspiring; in the two and a half years I have lived here I have completed something like six books of several different types - which for me is an astonishing quantity and quality and variety of output! If, on the other hand, you want to be around a lot of fellow gringos, look into Boquete or the cities (Panamá City, Davíd, etc.). If you want a lot of night life and culture, the cities. But - bear in mind - Panamá is a small country, about the size of South Carolina, and you can, as I do, live up here in Paradise and go to the cities now and then.