"I'm transiting the canal"
The Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) treats boats up to 125 ft as small craft ("handlines"). You file a transit request, get admeasured, pay a toll plus a refundable buffer, and transit on a scheduled day with an advisor and four line handlers. Most cruisers stage at Shelter Bay on the Caribbean side or at La Playita or Flamenco on the Pacific side.
- Start with the Panama Canal & cruising hub, then the canal transit and arrival clearance collections.
- Staging marinas: Shelter Bay Marina (Colón) and La Playita de Amador (Panama City).
- Approaching from the Pacific side: boating around the Balboa canal entrance.
- Then read how a small-boat transit works, what it costs and how to clear in on arrival.
"I'm buying a boat in Panama"
Boats in Panama are sold privately, through a handful of brokers, and increasingly through Facebook and classified sites. The process is familiar if you have bought in Florida, but the paperwork runs through the Autoridad Marítima de Panamá (AMP) and a notary, surveyors are fewer, and haul-out slots for a survey need booking ahead. Many boats are foreign-flagged, which changes the transfer.
- Start with buying a boat in Panama City and surveys and sea trials in Panama City.
- Then the buy & sell hub, including international and foreign-flag purchases.
- The Florida checklists still apply: boat buying checklist and how to spot purchase scams.
"I own a boat here"
Owning in Panama means an AMP registration (or a foreign flag with a current cruising permit), a slip or mooring on a coast with big tides, and a maintenance plan built around rain, humidity and lightning rather than hurricanes. Yards exist on both coasts but parts often come from Miami.
- Start with owning a boat in Panama City: real yearly numbers and Panama City marinas and boat storage compared.
- Then the ownership hub: registration & the AMP, costs & insurance, maintenance.
- Country-neutral maintenance reading: corrosion prevention and electrical and battery safety.
"I want to work on boats"
Captains and crew in Panama work for charter operators in Panama City, sportfishing lodges in Chiriquí and Piñas Bay, cruising yachts passing through, and the handful of superyachts that winter here. Licences come from the AMP (gente de mar), and foreign crew need the right to work, which is a Migración question before it is a maritime one.
- Start with captain jobs in Panama City and hiring crew in Panama City (useful on both sides of the interview).
- Then the careers hub: captains, crew, yacht brokers.
- From Florida: foreign work eligibility for crew and the crew résumé template.
"I want to run charters or boat tours"
A legal charter or tour business in Panama needs a registered company, an aviso de operación, registration with the Autoridad de Turismo de Panamá (ATP) as a maritime tourist transport provider, a vessel and crew that meet AMP rules, and a marina or dock that lets you pick up paying guests. Fishing charters add an ARAP licence; whale-watching trips add seasonal rules.
- Start with starting a charter business in Panama City and what boat tours from Panama City look like today.
- Then the charter business hub, starting with licensing.
- Pickup rules at the main Pacific marinas: Flamenco Marina and the Amador causeway guide.
"I just want to be safe and legal"
Carry the boat's documents, keep life jackets for everyone aboard, know the tide and the afternoon forecast, and expect a SENAN (Servicio Nacional Aeronaval) boarding at some point. Emergencies go to 911 and SENAN; there is no commercial tow network like Florida's, so plan to self-rescue or call a friend.
- Start with the safety, enforcement & wildlife hub and official resources (every agency, phone and website on one page).
- Local: Bahía de Panamá boating guide (anchorages, tides, no-go zones) and boating zones and official charts.
- Country-neutral basics: pre-departure briefing, float plan, life jackets, VHF, DSC and EPIRB.
Coming from Florida by boat?
Most boats arriving from Florida come down through the Bahamas and the western Caribbean to Colón or Bocas del Toro, or ship on a freighter. Our Florida pages on the Florida to Bahamas trip and returning to Florida by boat cover the US end; the passages collection covers the Panama end.