Our stay in Colon was an interim one, providing an opportunity to rest and relax after a relatively long sail and a waiting point until we received notification of our schedule to transit the Panama Canal.
The main town of Colon is about a 30 – 45 minute drive from Shelter Bay Marina. We caught a lift with one of the locals, and initially we were dodging lots of pot holes as the road to the marina is in a sad state of disrepair. Empty and trashed residential houses, remnants of previous US officer quarters, line this section of road. Eventually we reached a checkpoint staffed by a Panamanian military guard and another official. With our local driver we were waved through, and once passed this point the state of the road improved (well relative to the other side of the checkpoint). Heavy vegetation with pools of stagnant water hugged both sides of the road. We were grateful not to be walking or cycling, as we would have been eaten alive by mosquitoes.
We crossed the newly opened Atlantic Bridge which spans the Atlantic entrance to the canal, and drove through the outskirts of central Colon. (Prior to bridge construction the only way to cross the Atlantic entrance was via a one hour ferry ride). The further we drove the more housing, shops and take away eateries we saw. We passed a couple of gated communities where the housing was far superior to that outside. Our friendly driver dropped us off at a bus stop next to pedestrian overpass which crossed the highway to the main shopping centre. Prior to getting out the car, he warned us not to venture beyond the centre as it was unsafe. We made our way across the overpass, then a major railway line until we reached the back of the shopping centre. As we did so, we were met with piles of litter and junk. Not sure where all the money from the canal is going, but they sure could use some for a good clean up.
The shopping centre is much larger than we expected with a myriad of shops including clothing, furniture, electrical, hardware, mobile phone services and accessories, supermarket, restaurants and fast food outlets. There were also a number of stalls set up on the pathways surrounding the shopping centre selling all sorts of random goods from toys to DVDs to sunglasses. Our main focus was Rays supermarket, and we headed here to stock up on groceries, fruit and vegetables for the short passage to Panama City via the canal. We didn’t have a ride back to the marina and were anticipating an expensive car ride, but luckily we spotted some cruisers from the marina who told us where to pick up the free marina bus. So with our goodies in hand, we headed for the bus and the marina.
General Information
Wifi: Free wifi is available at the bar/café located in the marina.
Transport options: These are limited to bus, taxi and Uber. NB Taxis in Panama do not have a meter, so it is important to settle on a price before getting into the car. Shelter Bay marina offers a free twice daily mini bus service to the Colon shopping centre.
Shopping: A grocery shop with a limited range of frozen and other goods is available at the marina. A shopping centre, refer above, is a 25 – 30 minute drive away.
Restaurants: A restaurant/bar is located onsite at Shelter Bay marina, http://seagoddessadventures.com/shelter-bay-marina/. We used this quite a lot during our short stay for meals, coffee and a glass of wine or two and can highly recommend the food and service. Apart from a kebab while out shopping we ate exclusively onboard or at the marina restaurant, as such we can’t provide any additional information regarding other eatery options in Colon.
Banks and ATMs: available in the shopping centre. A standard fee of $5.00US was in place for all ATM withdrawals throughout Panama.
Whilst the town of Colon is unlikely to be added to our list of must see tourist destinations, it provided us with everything we needed – rest, relaxation and reprovisioning. It was also the most logical place to prepare for and await our transit of the Panama Canal. Click here for our recollections of transiting the canal http://seagoddessadventures.com/panama-canal-crossing/ .