Prices in Panama
February 19th, 2008 Posted in Beers of the World, Cheap Latin America Travel, Destination reports, International living/working, Travel bargains
I’ll admit that I spent a limited amount of time on land in Panama on this recent trip, but I did keep my eyes open and jot down some key prices for important things, like rum and beer. Here’s a Panama price check as of early 2008.
12-ounce beer in a dive bar in Portobelo - 75 cents
1/2-liter beer in a beer store - 60 cents!
12-ounce beer in a convenience store - 55 to 75 cents
12 ounces bottled water in a convenience store - 75 to 95 cents
Haircut at a basic salon in Panama City - $2
Manicure at the same salon - $3
Admission to a basic museum or site - $1 to $2
375-ml bottle of El Abuelo rum - $2.75 (decent stuff, so a screaming bargain)
One hour of Internet access in Panama City - 75 cents
Phone call to the U.S. from an Internet cafe - 5 cents a minute (sweet!)
Meal of the day at a cheapo restaurant - $2.50
A big bowl of sancocho soup, the national dish - $1.50
5 pound bag of rice - $2.25
Bunch of bananas - 19 cents a pound
Taxi from the airport to the banking district - $28 incl. tolls
Before you decide to pack up and move down there, however, note that real estate prices are spiraling out of control, but a typical bilingual call center employee only makes $375 to $500 per month. Better have a virtual work situation going where you can get paid from home (unless you’re in shipping or international banking).
The keen-eyed among you may have noticed that beer is cheaper than bottled water and rum is not much more than bottled water. Fortunately, the tap water is fine, so no need to create more landfill trash that will outlast your great-grandkids.
3 Responses to “Prices in Panama”
By Jimbo on Feb 20, 2008
Let me get this straight: my cell phone company says it will cost me $1.99 a minute to make a phone call from Panama, but if I duck into a storefront instead it’s 5 cents a minute? Let’s guess where the difference is going.
By Darrin on Feb 20, 2008
Thanks for the update. Every time I’m in Panama, I stock up on the Ron Abuelo. Glad to hear it’s still cheap, even when PC condo rates are skyrocketing. Abuelo is great stuff, even when poured on top of vanilla ice cream. It’s actually cheaper if you buy the bottles at a grocery store than at the so-called “duty-free” airport store. Maybe you noticed that too. And last time I was there, the duty-free shops didn’t have the hiccup–I mean handy–hip flask size, but the grocery stores did.
By tim on Feb 20, 2008
Darrin, yeah that price was at a grocery store. I drank a fair bit of Ron Abuelo and even straight it was pretty good, especially for that price. It’s no 15-year Ron Zacapa (which I did buy at duty free for the bargain price of $25), but great stuff for cocktails. No small bottles of anything at duty free though unless you get some gift pack of little airplane bottles. Man is that airport one big store or what? 20 duty free stores, one little coffee shop/bar/restaurant. Lame.