The bargain-beautiful Panama we’ve been writing about for years is alive and well…especially in Las Tablas. This little colonial town differs from hot retirement destinations like Panama City, Boquete, or Bocas del Toro. It’s in an area surrounded by farms and ranches, and that makes the climate, the landscapes, and the people unique.
The locals are proud of their work ethic and keep their town neat and clean. The climate is hot, but less humid than Panama City. Much of the land for sale consists of large tracts. But you can find smaller lots…if you know where to look.
Las Tablas is not on the coast, but it’s close to a good selection of beaches—Uverito beach is a 10-minute drive from the Las Tablas central plaza. From here to the tiny beach town of Pedasi, some 45 minutes from Las Tablas by car, isolated “undiscovered” stretches of coastline abound.
Not many foreigners know about this area, however, which means the property prices have remained low.
One couple from the U.S. moved here about three years ago and bought prime beachfront property on Uverito (house and lot) for about $60,000. The house is worth double or even triple that now.
I’ve only been to Las Tablas, the capital of the Los Santos province, during Carnival, the four days of debauchery that precede Ash Wednesday. Driving to this small town on the Azuero peninsula around noon on an ordinary weekday, I was struck by how quiet it was in the countryside. On the outskirts, I passed the Panamanian version of the Marlboro man…he was on a horse, his hat providing scant protection to his leathery neck.
Entering the town center, Las Tablas greeted me with vestiges of Spanish-colonial Panama—houses with red-tile roofs and ornate grillwork, and even some quinchas, traditional homes made of earth and clay. The unpretentious town square is dominated by the simple façade of the Santa Librada church, the golden altar within it the only visible symbol of wealth.
Property prices are unbelievably low for such a desirable location. Sure, there are other places in Panama where you can buy a home and lot for $40,000…but I personally would not want to live in most of them. If I’m going to be far from the city, I need a place that offers a lot of fun activities. Las Tablas does just that. The many festivals, genuine people, and overall authentic Panamanian feel of the place make it feel like it truly could be home...a home I can afford.
One of the first properties I found for sale is a three-bedroom, single-bath home. It’s a simple box construction, like most modest Panamanian homes, but it sits on a lot of just under 5,000 square feet, so there’s room to expand. Price: $30,000.
Another house is on offer for $40,000. It’s in a quiet part of the town, away from the plaza, and has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large terrace, and a small pool.
Though you won’t find luxury properties and fixtures in Las Tablas, there are quite a few houses that stand out because of their better quality. One such home has an extensive lawn, three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a studio, and a garage. Price: $105,000.
Another home on Uverito is for sale for $65,000. It’s set back (second row) with an empty lot just in front of it that could potentially be sold (to date, no one has wanted to buy this lot, as it is small). The house is more than 3,000 square feet and costs $65,000. The neighbors here include Las Tablas’ first expats…a couple of guys from the U.S. and a Brit and his Canadian wife.
If you’re interested in buying a lot, a good local real estate agent can help you find the few smaller pieces of land that are available. There’s one parcel just outside Las Tablas on offer for $75,000. The 17-acre lot comes with a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house, caretaker’s cottage, corral, reserve water tank, and artificial lake.
If you prefer the deep blue ocean to wide green pastures, look to Uverito Beach. There aren’t many front-row ocean lots for sale here, but I found one that’s nearly a quarter-acre in size and on offer for $95,000.
There are rental properties in this area…not a lot, but certainly enough to meet the small demand. One three-bedroom, one-bathroom home in the center of town rents for $175 a month. I found another house for rent that has three bedrooms and two bathrooms with a small yard and gated parking space for $225 a month.
If you’re looking for a short-term rental for weekends or holidays at the beach, one spacious house for rent is on the water’s edge at Uverito. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom cottage has a covered terrace and sundeck with outdoor shower and bar. The nightly rate is $90.
To residents of nearby pueblos, Las Tablas is a place to shop, seek medical attention, or have a “night on the town.” But to a city-dweller, it’s a “mini-town.” And for foreign residents, this is virtually uncharted territory.
In better-known locales like Panama City, Bocas del Toro, and Boquete, the expat influence is apparent…signs in English, “gourmet” restaurants and delis, North American-style housing, and expat clubs have begun to pop up. Not so in Las Tablas.
Here, two local pizzerias on the plaza are the most exotic places to eat. Spend a bit more for Panamanian fare at El Caseron and Los Faroles. For a birthday celebration or special outing, the restaurant/bar Rincon del Faro on Uverito Beach is a must. If you feel like a night of drinking with the locals, head back into town and stop by Royal Gin, an open-air bar, or Cash Casino, quite possibly the smallest casino I’ve ever seen—just a few slot machines and a bar.
There is a supermarket and various “mini-supers,” Internet cafés, good roads, banks, shops, and clinics…all the basic amenities and comforts…but none of these is geared toward expats. That means that you’ll encounter fewer English speakers, including doctors or dentists, than in, say, Panama City. And you won’t find the range of U.S. products available in Panama City, or lively nightlife.
That’s probably the reason most things in Las Tablas are still so inexpensive. I’d go as far as to say they’re dirt-cheap, compared with any of the other places you might consider living in Panama. You can get a pizza for $2…a beer for less than a dollar…a half-pound of coffee for $1.65.
This is truly a place where you come to live like a local and enjoy the slow, easy pace of life. I felt the city stress ebbing away almost the minute I got here.
In the main square, people of all ages sit on benches, greeting each other, eating ice cream...even the ones in business suits looked unhurried. I found myself slowing my pace and smiling back at people. In the evening, the houses I passed were mostly quiet, clean-swept porches and thick whitewash adding to the overall neatness of the town.
If I didn’t know any better, the sense of tranquility would have fooled me. But beware…Las Tablas is far from ho-hum. During Carnival, this town bursts into color, filled with multi-hued parade floats, scantily clad Carnival queens, glittering gowns and getups, ear-splitting murga bands and, most of all, throngs of people from all over the country, cramming into the modest plaza.
And Carnival isn’t the only time of year things pick up around here…the Azuero Peninsula is known as the cradle of Panamanian folklore and thus is the site of some 700 festivals every year. If you enjoy local folklore, typical music, till-dawn dances, festival fare, and just plain Panamanian-style partying, Las Tablas is the place to be. And, of course, Las Tablas is close to beaches, well-known national parks like Isla Iguana and Sarigua, and colonial towns like Parita. Plus, it’s more or less equidistant from Panama City and the Chiriqui Highlands.
For information about any of the property listed here, contact Jean-Paul Villamil of Cristal Realty. Jean-Paul works with his wife, his brother-in-law, and his father, Jose Villamil, a renowned Panamanian architect known for designing Panama City’s Atlapa Convention Center. The family knows Azuero well and the company has been in business since 1998. They can also recommend construction workers, a rental manager, a dentist, or a good place to shop. Tel. (507)994-0112.