Trip Information

Accommodations

Our guests stay aboard our floating lodge. This provides our anglers with a clean and comfortable base camp. The mobility of the lodge allows you to travel to remote tropical settings where the fishing begins right at your front door. Newly renovated, the lodge can accommodate up to 16 guests. With four beds each, the four air-conditioned cabins share two clean bathrooms with hot-water showers and plenty of fresh water. Also to be enjoyed is a very comfortable, air-conditioned salon, as well as an on-the-water dining area along the front of the lodge, complete with a friendly cash bar. Delicious Panamanian/American cuisine is prepared daily by our chef. Featured is the “catch of the day” served with fresh vegetables and tempting homemade desserts.

Equipment

Five highly maintained, 28-foot Ocean Master center-console boats serve as your fishing platforms. These top quality boats are custom rigged for the many types of fishing Pesca Panama offers. Each is outfitted with twin four-stroke 150 hp Suzuki outboards, safety equipment, VHF radio, fish finder, GPS charter plotter, outriggers, tuna tubes, live-bait well, and an extra large T-Top. Guests are provided with top-of-the-line fishing tackle, including conventional, spinning and fly gear to accommodate almost any fishing situation. Anglers are also welcome to bring their own tackle.

What you’ll be eating

Pesca Panama has always been known to have fine cuisine aboard the Hannibal and as a client for 10 years prior to becoming one of the owners, I have come to expect great food as part of the experience. We continue to strive for excellence in our menu and are blessed to have a ready supply of fresh seafood and produce at our disposal as well as a fine chef. As you may suspect, we serve a lot of fish and seafood to our guests, and you will see none fresher. Our typical daily menu varies but would likely include items like this:

Breakfast

  • Locally grown high mountain coffee from Boquette, Panama.
  • Fresh locally grown fruit such as banana, pineapple, papaya, mangos and melons.
  • Eggs/omelettes, pancakes, cereal, bacon, sausage and toast.

Lunch

  • Sandwich with ham/cheese, turkey or tuna salad, lettuce/tomato
  • or fish or chicken tacos with pico de gallo.
  • Side of fish or chicken nuggets, tuna or macaroni salad and chips.
  • Snacks of fruit, chips and sashimi when fresh caught. Y

You may also opt to have lunch aboard the Hannibal

Appetizers

  • Ceviche
  • fish nuggets
  • sashimi from fish of the day
  • plus a variety of nuts such as peanuts, pistachios and mixed nuts.


Dinner:

  • Chef or mixed salad
  • Fresh caught seasonal fish with broccoli and boiled potatoes
  • Grilled marinated tuna steak with garlic smashed potato/vegetable
  • Fried Mahi Mahi fillet with beans/rice and vegetable
  • Linguini with shrimp marinara, garlic bread and squash

Dessert

  • Tres Leches (a Latin American favorite)
  • Chocolate Cake with Ice Cream
  • Cream Caramel Flan.

Beverages

  • Unlimited water, beer and soda
  • Cocktails: Full-service cash bar. 

We also will accommodate those with special dietary needs with advance notice and can provide heart healthy options to the regular daily menu. Special dietary requests can usually be accommodated.

Charter Rates

Please call for charter rates and to schedule your trip. We offer weekly six day trips, and can customize trips for 1-16 anglers for as few as one day or as many days as you desire every month of the year.

Charter Rates Include:

  • All shuttle transfers
  • Reservation service for your flights and transfers in Panama
  • Use of our 28-foot Ocean Master, center console fishing boats with twin outboards
  • Highly experienced local captain and mate
  • Top quality, well maintained fishing tackle
  • Daily breakfast and dinner aboard the barge
  • Soft drinks, bottled water, beer and daily lunches on the fishing boats
  • Laundry service on the barge
  • 4 full and 2 half days of fishing
  • 7 nights lodging — 2 nights in Panama City and 5 nights on the barge

Rates DO NOT include: in-country flights, extra hotel nights, meals, liquor or other expenses you might incur in Panama City, $150 cash National Park usage fee, Panama sales tax 7%, liquor on board the lodge, or cash tips for the Pesca Panama crew.

From The Captain

To our regular customers, a big “thank you” for your patronage, and to our prospective customers, we invite you to join us in what others have been saying is the widest variety of quality sportfishing opportunities to be found anywhere in the world. We continue to improve our operation and scheduling so that you, our valued customers, can be assured of the most rewarding experience possible.

Typical Week

Our fishing charter is a full day of fishing in the Gulf of Chiriquí, Panama on a well-equipped 27’ center console Ocean Master fishing boat with twin outboard motors, professional captain and mate, and all safety equipment for one to four persons

The tour begins at approximately 7:00 am and will last at least 8 hours and leaves from the Marina Puerta Pedregal Panama, a five minute drive South from the Enrique Malek Airport in David. From the marina we will take you on a 45 minute scenic cruise down the Old Chiriqui River along a pristine mangrove lined jungle to the Pacific Ocean. Along the way you will encounter a variety of tropic birds and an occasional troop of monkeys. Once you reach the ocean you will have a choice of fishing inshore for a variety of species such as roosterfish, jack crevalle, amberjack, cubera and other snapper species, grouper, bonito, mackerel, African pompano, bluefin trevally and more. You may opt for a trip offshore and fish for black or blue marlin, sailfish, mahi mahi, yellowfin tuna and wahoo depending on the season. We frequently encounter a variety of marine mammals such as bottlenose, spinner, and spotted dolphin, humpback whales, pilot whales and the occasional orca. There are also a multitude of seabirds such as gulls, boobies, frigates and more that normally ply these waters. We will have you back at the dock by 4:00 pm.

Arrival: With our new fishing schedule, most of Pesca Panama’s anglers will arrive late Saturday evening at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City. You must have passport that does not expire for at least six months. You will first pass through immigration, then claim your luggage, pass through customs, and proceed through the waiting crowd, watching for PESCA PANAMA sign. Simply give the attendant your name and the Pesca Panama shuttle will transport you to your hotel.

Sunday: This is the start of your vacation! At 9am our transport shuttle will take you to Marcos A. Gelabert Airport for your one-hour connecting flight from Panama City to David. The cost of the flight, will have already been prepaid (60 days prior) with your final payment to Pesca Panama. In David you will be greeted by a captain from Pesca Panama, who will take you on a short 5-minute ride from the airport to the marina, where your 28’ Ocean Master, captain, and mate will await you. The lodge will have already departed for its four hour journey down the tidal Chiriqui River and out to the first group of protected offshore islands where it will moor for the night. You will meet your crew, board, and depart port, intercept the lodge in transit somewhere along its route, rendezvous, unload your luggage and fishing gear, have a hearty lunch, and head out for an afternoon of fishing. Your first evening on board will set the tone for the next week of world class fishing and adventure, with appetizers, dinner, cocktails, and music. You will be rested and ready for an early Monday morning breakfast and departure.
OPTIONAL: For those of you on a more hurried schedule, you can fly into Panama City on Sunday evening, spend the night there, and then catch the early morning flight to David. You will be met at the airport, and following a 5-minute drive to the marina, be introduced to your captain and mate. They’ll load your gear in our boat and you’ll head out for your first day of fishing. By evening, you will meet up with the barge.
Monday: You will be up early, refreshed and ready to head out for your first big day of fishing. Today you will fish all the way to world famous “Hannibal Bank” and “Coiba Island.” For your five days of fishing, you will ply the region’s prime offshore and inshore fishing grounds as the lodge moves to follow the action. (Note: That means no long return trips to the mainland every evening!)

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday: For the duration of your stay, the lodge will remain near the prime fishing grounds so that you, the angler, can spend more time fishing and less time getting to and from the fish.
Friday: On your last day of fishing, plan to depart the barge early and fish your way back to David. You will re-trace your arrival route by fishing a half day, intercepting the lodge as it works its way up the tidal river to port. You can change and pack gear, then your crew will take you to your transport shuttle in time for the 3pm flight from David to Panama City

Saturday: Take the Pesca Panama shuttle from your hotel to Tocumen International Airport for your departing flight home.

Language

English is considered Panama’s second language. In Panama City you can expect the people in the nicest hotels, bars and restaurants to speak English fluently. Once outside of the cities, you may find it helpful to have brushed up on your Spanish, as you are in Latin America.


Money

As a tourist, you will have no difficulty with the currency “exchange” because there is none. Panama has adopted the U. S. dollar as their currency, though locals call the dollar a “Balboa” after the famous explorer. Credit cards are accepted at the finer hotels and restaurants in Panama City. Otherwise, it is best to carry a large supply of smaller denomination bills. Bills of $50 and $100 can be hard to spend or exchange throughout the country.

Sanitation

Food and water is safe to eat and drink in both Panama City and David. You should not worry about being bothered by “Montezuma’s Revenge,” which is so common in Mexico. Panama’s sanitation standards are good.

Safety

The people of Panama are friendly and the crime rate is low. Panama City is a large metropolis, so just as you would in any big city, exercise caution. In the central banking and shopping district (where you will be staying), you can feel very safe. If you go out at night, just take one of the many friendly cabs. In David, you are safe day and night.

What To Bring

When it comes to clothing, you can pack light for our tropical climate, and we provide an excellent daily laundry service.

Clothing

  • Long pants and sport shirt (with fish on it!) for your air travel and when in Panama City.
  • Two pairs of fishing shorts
  • two fishing shirts (long pants and long-sleeve shirts are advisable fishing attire for anyone with fair skin).
  • A light weight rain jacket for fishing.

Other items to pack include

  • passport
  • sunglasses
  • prescription glasses (plus an extra pair of each),
  • lip balm
  • deck shoes
  • your favorite lures and flies
  • reading material
  • any personal items you might need (there are no villages or stores on these remote islands).

All fishing gear is provided, but you are welcome to bring your favorite tackle and please remember to bring a camera, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and rain gear depending on the season.

Weather

Panama’s weather is tropical, with daytime temperatures averaging around 80° to 90° on the ocean, and only about 5 to 10 degrees cooler at night. The weather is tropical and averages 80-90 degrees and cooler at night season, often with little or no rain. The other months of the year experience tropical rain showers in the afternoons, sometimes strong, but usually of short duration, with pleasant temperatures.

PANAMA WEATHER