Playa la Barqueta

Playa la Barqueta is located just 30 minutes outside of David fronting the Pacific Ocean. In the last five years this area has grown from a small farming community to a little beach resort destination thanks to large development project called Las Olas. The project has already produced a quality high end hotel in the Las Olas Beach Resort, 7 condo buildings with 42 units facing the ocean, a track of beach front homes priced from the $350,000 depending on size and amenities and a track of high end luxury homes starting from $600,000 and up. Now picture this as just the beginning of what the Las Olas projects intends to achieve. A new golf course is planned for the next phase which will include a driving range, club house, golf course lots and down the road even a commercial center.

This beach is very similar to Las Lajas in that it is a wide, flat beach with good surfing opportunities. Common sites include turtles, osprey, pelicans, terns, and other birds. Fisherman are also a common site putting out a few nets near the end of the beach. ANAM has a turtle egg enclosure at Los Hicacos, 5 miles east with all the plots labeled with the date they were placed there for incubation.

The weather and the waters are warm year round with temperatures averaging 32°C / 89°F during the day and 20°C / 68°F at night. August through November are considered the winter or rainy months in Panama but at Playa la Barqueta the rain visits infrequently. The average recorded annual precipitation is only around 58 inches which is low for Panama.

Playa la Barqueta also offers several beach shack restaurants my favorite is La Costena Restaurant & Bar where you can get some of the best fried fish and patacones (flatten fried plantain) for about $4 dollars and rent a small Bambu rancho for $8 dollars. La Barqueta is very popular with Chiricanos, on the weekend you will find a lively and enjoyable crowd eating, drinking, playing music and enjoying the water.