Playa Blanca (Panama) Travel Guide: All you need to plan your trip
Are you looking for the best things to do in Playa Blanca, Panama? In this travel guide, I’m going to tell you everything you need to know to plan your trip to this Panama destination, explaining how to get to Playa Blanca from Panama, what the beach is like, recommended accommodation, safety, other nearby beaches you can go to and what to do.
Let’s go together to Playa Blanca!
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Where is Playa Blanca?
Playa Blanca is on the Pacific coast, 120 kilometers to the west of the capital Panama city, in the province of Coclé. It is actually to the southwest, since the map of Panama is shaped similarly to the inverted ñ tilde. To better understand its location, you should look at the map at the end of the article.
How to get to Playa Blanca, Coclé, Panama
Basically, there are 3 ways to get to Playa Blanca: by car, by bus, or by private transportation. Below, I explain each of these ways so that you can choose the one that suits you best.
By car
Most people that go to Playa Blanca do so by car, either their own or rented (I recommend using this webpage if you need to rent a car, since it compares the prices between different agencies and it’s usually cheaper). This is so because, as you’ll see, it is one of the most practical ways.
The trip is 120 kilometers from Panama, 115 of which are by 2 lane highway in each direction, so in 2 hours you’ll be stepping on the sand. This time usually varies, especially in peak hours. For example, we went on a Sunday in the opposite direction (that is, we were coming back from Playa Blanca to the city of Panama); at certain places, there were endless rows of cars coming back from the beaches. I recommend having this in mind when planning your trip.
After going through a tunnel, Playa Blanca begins, located one kilometer before Rio Hato, just in front of the cemetery. If you want to go to Playa Farallon beach, you have to detour as soon as you cross the tunnel and follow the signs to the Decameron hotel.
Private transportation, the easiest way to travel to Playa Blanca
If you don’t have a car, then the easiest and fastest way to get to Playa Blanca or Playa Farallon is by hiring private transportation. What’s interesting is that not only can you get picked up at your accommodation in the city of Panama, but you can also choose to be picked up directly at the airport, both the Tocumen and the Albrook Airport (the ideal option if you’re not planning on staying in the city).
🚖 Book your private transfer to Playa Blanca here.
How to get to Playa Blanca by public transport
To go to Playa Blanca from the city of Panama by public transport, first you have to go to Albrook Bus Station, to which you can get by metrobus.
Once in the station, look for the ticket offices that go to Anton, Penonome, El Cope, or Aguadulce (they are all one next to the other), since all of them go through the locality of Rio Hato, where you need to get off to go to Playa Blanca.
We took the bus going to Aguadulce, since it left at 2pm and there were only 10 minutes left. We paid 4 dollars each for the city of Panama – Rio Hato trip, and we let the driver know we’d be getting off at the detour to Playa Blanca.
The bus was big and punctual. The only inconvenience was that the air conditioning was freezing cold, and the driver went too fast (we felt like we were in Southeast Asia!). Throughout the trip, there are many stops where people get on and off.
When we were about to get to the detour to Playa Blanca, from where we had 3 km left to do on foot along the highway or by taxi, it started to pour. So, as it was very difficult to get a taxi in this area, we got to where Rio Hato begins at just 1 km away. The bus stop is where the pedestrian bridge crosses the highway, and in front there’s a taxi stop. The trip to get there was exactly 2 hours, but it also depends on the traffic.
The taxi from Rio Hato to our accommodation in Playa Blanca (a 4 km trip) was 4 dollars.
Accommodation in Playa Blanca
We chose the all-inclusive Riu Playa Blanca hotel.
I booked several weeks beforehand from the Booking webpage, which I like since it allows me to cancel it for free some days before check in and doesn’t charge anything in advance. Ideal if your plans change at the last minute, or if anything comes up.
The attention was very cordial from the first moment and they pleasantly surprised us by giving us a room upgrade: the reservation was for Garden View and they offered us an Ocean Front room for free (frontal view of the sea). Wonderful! (I hope you are as lucky, but if not, I highly recommend choosing Ocean Front when booking, since the economic difference is not that much and I swear waking up with that view is priceless!).
The hotel is ideal for a few days of relaxation, without worrying about anything, since it offers everything in one place: beach, several swimming pools (even for children, with slides and games), night shows, etc. There are also several options for eating or drinking: it has a buffet restaurant where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served, as well as 3 specialty restaurants and several bars, also included in the rate.
Due to the excellent value for money, I always recommend it to those who want to stay a couple of nights in Playa Blanca (in fact, it was cheaper to stay a couple of nights there with absolutely everything included than going to the San Blas islands).
In any case, it is not the only hotel in the area and there are other alternatives with good opinions that I recommend checking out:
7 Things to do in Playa Blanca, Panama, and its surroundings
1. Walking on the beach, from end to end
If you enjoy walking like we do, you will have a 2 km long beach ahead of you. If you stay at the Riu hotel, you will be able to do it from the Farallon River in the east to the Hato River in the west.
At first, the beach surprised us because, due to its name, we imagined it to have whiter sand than it really is. After visiting many other beaches in Panama, we came to the conclusion that it may be one of the whitest in the area, and hence its name.
The sand is not super fine (if we compare it, for example, with Punta Cana beaches) and its color is marbled, with areas of white sand and sectors of black sand. Walking east from the Riu hotel, you pass the Playa Blanca Resort with a fairly sloping beach and then you come to the mouth of the Farallon River, where the freshwater flows into the sea.
If, on the other hand, you walk to the opposite side, you’ll cross a building with apartments, and a little further on, a tower building that can be seen hundreds of meters away and completely out of tune with the whole landscape (I wonder, does anyone control that?). Before reaching the mouth of the Hato River, there is a complex of villas with a very beautiful beach area, with white sand and a calmer sea.
2. Farallon beach or Palmer beach
Passing the Farallón river is the Farallon beach (which, in some places, is called Palmer beach), where the Decameron hotel and the town are located. It is not possible to go along the coast, since the river is there, so to get there, you’ll have to take a detour on the route following the signs to the Decameron. Continuing a little more, you’ll arrive at the town, where there are some restaurants and a parking lot.
It is a wide beach, where on weekends, you can see many families enjoying the day or groups of friends playing volleyball. During the week, it is very quiet.
The sand is also “marbled”, with areas of dark sand and others with small oysters.
3. Farallón island, ideal for snorkeling in Playa Blanca
This rocky island is located at about 2 km from the coast, in front of Farallon beach. It is an island with loads of birds and perfect for snorkeling. However, if the sea is choppy, the visibility goes down.
You can access the island in boats that take you in less than 15 minutes from the coast of Farallon Beach for about 60 dollars. Once on the island, you can snorkel or even go into the island, though the land is steep and going up is not for everyone.
4. Santa Clara Beach
This is the favorite beach for most people, since it is considered to be one of the prettiest beaches of the Pacific riviera near Panama city. It is wide, so it’s perfect for walking.
You can see some fishing boats and there are some restaurants along the beach, ideal for tasting fish with rice and patacones (fried green plantains).
You can rent deck chairs, lounge chairs, umbrellas and hammocks. On weekends and on holidays, it is obviously more crowded.
5. Water activities
If you enjoy doing activities on the sea, you’ll have several options to choose from, such as renting jet-skis or even a sort of floating couch where many people get on and a boat pulls it.
6. Anton Valley, an alternative plan to do in Playa Blanca
Valle de Anton, or Anton Valley, is a different plan since it’s away from the sea and into the country. It is a town surrounded by nature that is located inside a crater of an extinct volcano. Sounds amazing, right?
In the area, there are cascades, thermal waters and several trekking trails, so, if you like those types of activities, then you should consider this plan.
Anton Valley is 50 km from Playa Blanca or Farallon Beach, so it takes about one hour by car to get there. There are also excursions in which you can zipline in the valley, but they leave from the city of Panama (➥ BOOK IT HERE).
7. Watching the sunset over the Pacific
Who wouldn’t like to enjoy a sunset over the sea? The sunset in Playa Blanca is amazing, and when the full moon rises it is just as beautiful; this coincided with our stay and it was stunning.
Is Playa Blanca safe?
Before visiting Playa Blanca, we were afraid that the area wouldn’t be safe enough to walk on the beach, since it is one of the activities we enjoy doing the most in the morning and at sunset.
Now that we’re back, we can say that to us it was pretty safe and we were alone in almost all of our long walks on the beach.
Even though Playa Blanca is safe, you should never let your guard down completely, as you wouldn’t anywhere else, and you should always keep an eye on your belongings and be careful when walking on the beach at night.
In any case, I always recommend asking the people in charge of your accommodation about what security measures in Playa Blanca must be taken into account. And I’m not referring to robberies. For example, when we went, the sea was very rough because there was a storm offshore and it was not safe to enter it in any part of the beach, due to the currents.
Recommendations when visiting Playa Blanca, Panama
Map – Things to in Playa Blanca, Panama
I hope this Playa Blanca in Panama travel guide was useful to plan your trip. Do you have other suggestions for cool things to do in Playa Blanca that I missed? Let me know in the comments!
