PEDASI, Panamá. a place to visit.
PEDASI, is located approximately 5 hours from the city of Panamá, capital of the Republic of Panamá, in Central América., in the province of Los Santos at the Azuero Peninsola.
Once you leave the city, via a modern highway named "carretera Interamericana" (the Inter-american Highway) you can enjoy charming villages and towns surrounded by green environment everywhere. And, if you travel in what Panamanians call: "spring", which is the non-raining season, (from January through April), you can appreciate the exotic "Guayacanes" which are beautiful trees, similar to the Japanese Cherry Trees, but in different colors (yellow, pink, hot pink, purple, orange). You can also appreciate these trees along the city of Panamá. That, along with a delicious summer breeze, is all you need to brighten your day.
On your way to Pedasí you will pass by several well-known tourist towns like Coronado (at 1.5 hours) with modern malls, emergency hospital and very modern supermarkets, where you can get everything you need for your adventure to Pedasí.
But before getting to Coronado, you must make a stop at "Quesos Chela", a trademark for locals where you can buy fresh fruit beverages, recently baked bread, cheeses, and of course, lottery tickets. Even though is a very small and simple place, Quesos Chela is where all Panamanians get together..and visitors love this. Very Panamanian.
Continuing your journey, you will also pass by the astonishing beach resorts and beautiful housing communities, some of them, reserved only to the "jet set" or famous, that have bloomed lately along the Isthmus of Panamá, with the arrival of thousands of new residents and visitors, trying to get a first hand view of the Panamá Canal ( one of the Eight Wonders of the World), or enjoy Panamá's mountains, beaches or an isolated town where a river crosses the town or property.
Once you get the newly inaugurated international airport of "Río Hato" (at about 3.5 hours from the city of Panamá) you will find a "Y" which will take you to a secondary road past famous towns like Chitré, Las Tablas, Pocrí, Macaracas, Monagrillo and others, very interesting for their culture and history and wood furniture makers, as well as their cattle farms. This place is the "Folkloric Center of Panamá", where ladies preserve their national dress, the "Pollera" for generations.
Finally, you get into the now famous Pedasí, where you have a choice of beautiful places to stay at the beach, which are very popular. Some of them offer what you might call expensive prices... but if you really want an exotic honeymoon, or a second honeymoon, or simply to give your family a tremendous cultural and relaxing vacation... this is the place. These are the reasons why some famous people like Mel Gibson ( US actor), a prince from Europe and others has chosen this place to have their second home. But Pedasí and its surroundings offer a variety of places, even if you are on a budget or a backpack journey.
As you can see, the trip to this town alone is worth a while to visit. In addition, Pedasí offers a variety of entertainment, not only for night get togethers and parties (which are very common, due to Pedasíbeing an otherwise very quiet town), but also especially for foreigners and visitors who want to experience something different, with little local restaurants with local dishes, pastries, and art and crafts stores, all at unique prices.
If the beach is what you are looking for, you got it in Pedasi, along with additional entertainment like scuba diving, snorkeling, jet skiing, family BBQ´s, and so many little things that you might find interesting when traveling to a totally different culture, not at all what you are used to seeing in those towns in Germany or Switzerland, or very unique places like in Japan.
But because Pedasi is a Latin American town, of course, Panamanians are very festive and love music and parties. So, don´t expect that noise sometimes is not there... especially if you go at Carnival time (this year will be March 1, 2014).. where people dance day and night for 4 days. In this time of the year, hotels have full occupancy, so at this time it is recommended to book in advance.
In other words, the entertainment in Pedasi is there for you for whatever you chose, whether a public bar, a restaurant, a simple river or beach, a grand resort, or just talking and interacting with locals. In general, visitors are the guests...and Panamanians are there to please them and to see that their guests have a great experience in Pedasí, Panamá.
Panamá is a very small country, but with many things to offer. It doesn´t have it all, but if you arrive with a positive attitude to enjoy new things, Panamá is very easy and accommodating.
But because Panamá's growth has been a phenomenon, there is still an enormous infrastructure still being built, and the government is working hard in order to do whatever is necessary to offer locals and visitors the best of Panamá.