Panama, baby! THAT'S the place to go! It's tropical, it's got REALLY good food, there's no exchange rate (they use American paper currency), and the people are friendly!

I don't know why, but I never even considered Panama. What's to do there, nightlife, places to stay??

Panama City is an amazing city. You wouldn't expect to find such a place where it is.

http://www.vacationscostarica.com/panama/info/panama_city_panama.htm

TY....I will check it out

Hi, I've been to quite a number of the Carib islands. Tortola (BVI) is nice as is Grenada, St Martin, Nevis, Antigua, St Kitts, St Lucia - BUT for my money - Aruba is the best

Rob

There's tons of resorts in Panama, from the "Melia Panama Canal" outside of the city of Colon, to "Bananas" in "Vocas Del Toro". The latter is a total singles' paradise- tons of half-naked people running around taking part in all sorts of lascivious stuff.

There's also the Hotel Washington in the city of Colon, which is the oldest hotel/casino there. It's got all sorts of 1940's charm and is a swanky place to hang out.

If you cross the Gatun Locks, you can also find your way to the former pirate fort at San Lorenzo- it was one of Christopher Columbus' first establishments when he discovered the "new world" (which, BTW, is evidently the beaches of Colon) which he controlled until the dreaded Sir Francis Drake took it over in the 1500s.

Panama City's got hotels and casinos all over the place, and there's tons of shopping, too. One particularly cool place to check out is "Isla Flamenco", which is essentially a shopping mall set in a whole island. There's also a really good restaurant there called "Bucanero's" with some TOTALLY hot waitresses.

There's also the town of Portobelo with it's most unique attraction, the "Church of the Black Jesus"- a wooden statue of a crucified Jesus (in blackface) over the main entrance. Visiting the church is said to bring good luck.

Thank you for all the info....