Villa Marina - Recreation

VILLA MARINA and Surrounding Attractions

Villa Marina and its surrounding beaches offer multiple recreational activities, including swimming and snorkeling in the clear waters of the Pacific Ocean, horseback riding in its high hills, nature walks in a tropical dry forest, or just going for a romantic walk.

• For aficionados of the sport or for those who want to learn and get an excellent workout, Venado’s surf is tops in Central America.
• In the months of March through May, visitors from all over the world join the world’s top surfers who battle for surf and boogie board trophies, not to mention the beautiful young people that follow the sport.

photos: surfeapanama.com

• Venado boasts many rolling hills and trails ideal for horseback riding with dramatic views of Playa Venado, Los Achotines Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

• Located in an area whose main industry is cattle, locals hold regular rodeos, “lazo” competitions, and races.

• Due to the closeness of the continental shell, Pedasi hosts some of the best deep-sea fishing in the world, just twenty minutes away from Villa Marina.

• Species found include the Yellowfin Tuna, Dorado, Wahoo, Black Marlin and Sailfish.

• During the months of June to August, you can watch hundreds of whales as they pass in front of Villa Marina on their annual migration.

• We can arrange for fishing trips in local pangas, for a small fee. In the near future we will have a 22 feet boat available for fishing and acuatic sports.

(click here for more fishing pix).

yachting and sailing

• Each year, dozens of sail boats moor inside Playa Venado on their way to the Panama Canal.

•Pedasi hosts some of the top scuba diving spots in Panama, including Isla Iguana National Park, a pristine white sand beach as well as a seagull and dolphins sanctuary.
•For the leisure snorkler, Achotines Bay provides 150 species of fish, and hosts the largest coral reef in the oriental mainland coast of the Americas.

• Walking on the sands of the Playa Venado beach you could encounter sea turtles coming out of the sea in order to lay their eggs.
• During the months of September to November, something incredible happens in neighboring Isla Cañas; thousands of female sea turtles come here to nest. The young of the hawksbill, green, loggerhead and sometimes leatherback turtles will hatch from the hundreds of laid eggs and their instinct will lead them to the sea.

• Achotines Bay is also home to the International Tuna Commission lab, which has the world’s only aquarium with live tunas.
• Maintains a 200 hectare natural forest reserve.

• Walking around Villa Marina, you will find magnificent mangroves.
• In Isla Cañas, you can delve in 40 km of pristine protected mangroves.
• Visit an authentic independent community of farmers who live off organic fruit farm.

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Reforestation with native species

• Headed by the Smithsonian Institute and the Yale University School of Forestry, Villa Marina has a privately-funded reforestation project with native plant species.
• Learn about the dozens of hardwood plants that are endemic to the region, and the scientific methods used to replant them.

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Villa Marina has many steep hills ideal for hiking, including El Morro, an island connected to mainland when the tide is low, with very steep rocks.

• Azuero is the seat of Panamanian folklore, including the national dress, the pollera, the national music, the cumbia, and many other traditions inherited from Spain.
• During summer, visitors can enjoy the world famous carnivals in Pedasí and Las Tablas, where beauty queens battle for people’s support, as hundreds of thousands watch and enjoy week-long festivities dancing on the streets.
• On any night, tours can be arranged to the town of San Jose to watch women stitch the delicate fabric used for making the pollera, the colorful national dress.
• On weekends, visitors can visit villages to watch a rodeo or a horse race in this highly agrarian society that prides itself on its dominance over nature.

• One of the most spectacular natural lakes and rain forests in Panama.
• More than 30 endemic species.
• Only 2 hours by sea and 25 minutes by air from Playa Venado.
• Spectacular hiking and nature walks.

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Tours to Coiba National Park

• Described as Panama’s Galapagos for its ecological diversity, including unparalleled coral reefs and more fish species than anywhere else in the continent.
• Villa Marina is half-way between Panama City and Coiba.

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