For Panama City waters you want three things: a large-scale chart of the Balboa approaches (US NGA 21603 or its Admiralty equivalent), a coastal chart of the Gulf of Panama (NGA 21605 or BA 1929) for Taboga and Las Perlas, and the ACP's own Amador tide table. Electronic charts from Navionics and the free OpenCPN sources cover the bay adequately but thin out between the Pearl Islands. The zones to draw on them yourself are the canal fairway and anchorages, the naval and port areas, and the Bahía de Panamá wetland east of the city.
Paper charts that cover Panama City
Panama does not have a national hydrographic office producing its own recreational chart series, so boaters here use the US and British charts, which are derived from the same surveys.
| Chart | Title | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| NGA 21603 | Approaches to Balboa | The causeway, the Balboa anchorage, the fairway, Taboga, the city shore. The chart to have aboard. |
| NGA 21602 | The Panama Canal from Gamboa to Balboa | North of the Bridge of the Americas; transit planning, not day boating. |
| NGA 21605 | Panama to Bahía Piña | The eastern Gulf: Las Perlas, Isla del Rey, the Darién coast. |
| NGA 21601 | Morro de Puercos to Panama | The western Gulf: Punta Chame, Vista Mar, Azuero. |
| BA 1929 | Panama, Pacific Coast, Gulf of Panama | Admiralty small-scale cover of the whole Gulf. |
| BA 5504 | Mariners' Routeing Guide, Approaches to the Panama Canal | How ships approach both entrances; useful for understanding the traffic you share the water with. |
NGA charts are public-domain and can be printed on demand by chart agents; the Admiralty charts are sold through agents too. We did not find a stocked chart agent in Panama City itself: order before you arrive or have a chart printed in Florida. Marinas on the causeway and the cruiser community can often lend a copy to photograph.
ACP charts and the tide tables
The Autoridad del Canal de Panamá publishes two things every Panama City boater should download.
Tide tables. The ACP posts annual PDF tide tables for Amador, Diablo and Balboa on the Pacific side and Limón Bay and Cristóbal on the Atlantic, in local time, with heights referred to the same datum as the local navigational charts. Add the predicted height to the charted depth; if the height is negative, subtract it. These are the tables the marinas, the yards and the ferries all work to.
Canal navigational charts. The ACP's small-craft notice N-11 requires non-commercial operators certified to operate in Canal waters to carry "Canal navigational charts" and the Small Craft Operator's Manual aboard. The ACP issues these charts with the operator's course rather than selling them to the public; ask the Transit Operations Division how to obtain the current set if you take the certificate. The ACP's harbor operations notice (N-2) names the Pacific anchorage areas, the general merchant ship anchorage and the explosives anchorage, that Flamenco Signal Station assigns ships to; those areas are on NGA 21603 as well. See the Balboa canal entrance guide for how to behave in them.
Electronic charts: Navionics, OpenCPN and what they miss
Navionics (Garmin) covers Panama's Pacific coast in its Central America and Caribbean region and is what most local sport-fishers and charter boats run. Detail is good along the causeway, in the Balboa approaches and around Taboga, and thinner between the Pearl Islands, where cruising guides repeatedly warn that rocks and reefs are poorly charted or unmarked. OpenCPN users rely on free raster and vector sources plus community satellite overlays; for Las Perlas, a satellite layer at low tide shows more rock than any chart. Treat every electronic chart here as a guide to where to look, not a guarantee of depth, and keep the paper chart for the restricted areas, which electronic layers often draw faintly or not at all.
The no-go and take-care zones
Nobody publishes a single recreational zoning map for Panama City. The zones below come from the ACP notices, the port concessions and the protected-area designations; draw them on your chart.
- Canal fairway and lock approaches. Prohibited to small craft under ACP notice N-11 except for approved crossings. North of the Bridge of the Americas requires a Canal pilot or advisor.
- Balboa anchorage areas (general and explosives anchorages seaward of the causeway). Transit only, under Flamenco Signal's instructions; no anchoring, no water sports, no fishing.
- Port of Balboa and the Rodman naval and port area on the west bank. Commercial and security areas; stay outside the buoyed limits.
- Marina concession waters. Flamenco, La Playita, Amador Marina, Ocean Reef and the Club de Yates y Pesca hold AMP seabed concessions; their breakwaters, moorings and approach channels are private water in practice. Enter at idle, and only if you are going in.
- Melones and Taboguilla terminals. Fuel and bulk terminals served by ships from the anchorage; keep clear of berthed and manoeuvring tankers.
- Bahía de Panamá wetland (see below), east of the city from Juan Díaz toward Chimán.
- Taboga and Urabá islands: a wildlife refuge for nesting seabirds; keep off the cliffs and out of nesting areas in season.
For the eastern shore's drying flats, fish traps and the mangrove channels, see the Bahía de Panamá boating guide.
Protected areas near the city
The Bahía de Panamá wetland is a Ramsar site (no. 1319, designated 20 October 2003) and a national Refugio de Vida Silvestre covering about 85,665 hectares of estuaries, mangroves and mudflats along the eastern shore of the bay. It hosts an estimated one to two million migrating shorebirds a year, including a large share of the world's western sandpipers. MiAmbiente is the authority; the Panama City municipal government has also defended the designation in court. For a boater the practical rules are: no landing in the mangroves, no wake in the channels, no discharge, no disturbing roosting birds on the flats at low water, and do not anchor on the mud banks off Juan Díaz and Tocumen even where the chart shows water.
Further out, Las Perlas has local protection of some islands and beaches, and the Pacific's big protected areas, Coiba National Park and the Golfo de Chiriquí, are well to the west and need MiAmbiente permits to visit. The environment sub-hub covers them. If you fish anywhere in the bay you need an ARAP licence as well.
Your practical starting checklist
- Order NGA 21603 (Approaches to Balboa) and NGA 21605 (Panama to Bahía Piña), or the Admiralty equivalents, before you arrive.
- Download the ACP Amador tide table for the year and learn to add the height to the charted depth.
- Draw the canal fairway, the Balboa anchorages and the bridge line as no-go areas on your chart.
- Mark the marina concession waters and the Melones and Taboguilla terminals as take-care zones.
- Mark the Bahía de Panamá Ramsar wetland east of the city and treat it as a no-wake, no-landing area.
- Run electronic charts for position and a paper chart for restrictions; neither alone is enough in Las Perlas.
Frequently asked questions
¿Dónde consigo cartas náuticas de Panamá?
Panamá no publica una serie propia de cartas recreativas. Se usan las cartas estadounidenses NGA (21603 Aproximaciones a Balboa, 21605 Panamá a Bahía Piña) o las británicas del Almirantazgo (BA 1929, Golfo de Panamá), que se compran a agentes de cartas en línea. Las tablas de marea de Amador las publica gratis la Autoridad del Canal en pancanal.com.
Which single chart should I carry for Panama City day boating?
NGA 21603, Approaches to Balboa. It covers the causeway, the fairway, the anchorages, Taboga and the city shore at a usable scale.
Does Navionics cover Las Perlas well?
Adequately around Contadora and the main channels, thinly elsewhere. Cruising guides warn that many rocks and reefs in the archipelago are poorly charted or unmarked; use a satellite overlay and arrive in daylight at a rising tide.
Is the Bahía de Panamá wetland off limits to boats?
It is a national wildlife refuge and Ramsar site, not a closed area, but there is no reason to take a boat into the mangrove channels or onto the flats. No wake, no landing, no discharge, and keep away from roosting shorebirds at low tide.
Where are the ACP's own charts sold?
They are not sold to the public in the usual way. Notice N-11 requires certified small-craft operators to carry Canal navigational charts, and the ACP issues them with the operator's course; ask the Transit Operations Division.
En español: cartas náuticas y zonas de navegación en la ciudad de Panamá
Para navegar frente a la ciudad de Panamá conviene llevar la carta NGA 21603 (Aproximaciones a Balboa) y, para Taboga y Las Perlas, la NGA 21605 o la británica BA 1929 del Golfo de Panamá. La Autoridad del Canal publica gratis las tablas de marea de Amador, Diablo y Balboa. Las zonas prohibidas para embarcaciones pequeñas son el canal de navegación y los fondeaderos del Canal frente a la calzada; el humedal Bahía de Panamá, al este de la ciudad, es refugio de vida silvestre y sitio Ramsar.
The next question to answer
The rules behind the fairway and anchorage zones on your chart. Read Balboa canal entrance boating guide.
Anchorages, drying flats and the eastern shore in detail. Read Bahía de Panamá boating guide.
Where the charts thin out and what to do about it. Read Las Perlas from Panama City.
Same topic in Florida: coming from the US? Compare Miami Boating Zones and Official Maps.
Official resources
Use the relevant Panamanian authority for current requirements and fees. These resources are the next place to check; a practical recommendation is not an agency determination.
- ACP: Tide tables (Amador, Diablo, Balboa; datum notes) ↗
- ACP: OP Notice N-11-2026, small craft in Canal waters (prohibited areas; charts and manual to be carried) ↗
- ACP: OP Notice N-2-2025, Harbor Operations (Pacific anchorage areas, Flamenco Signal) ↗
- Ramsar Sites Information Service: Bahía de Panamá, site 1319 ↗
- AMP: Contratos de concesión vigentes (marina seabed concessions on the causeway and Punta Pacífica) ↗
- American Nautical Services: NGA chart catalogue, Central and South America (21601–21605) — chart agent ↗
- American Nautical Services: BA 1929 Gulf of Panama — chart agent ↗