DIRECTIONS TO THE
UVERITO BEACH HOUSE
Panama City
is simple, yet confusing due to the lack of road signage. We find most places by the use
of landmarks. Below you will find
detailed driving instructions from the Tocumen International
Airport to the Uverito Beach House.
DOMINGO DIAZ
AVENUE IS THE NON TOLL HIGHWAY FROM
THE TOCUMEN INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT TO PANAMA CITY.
CONSTRUCTION TO WIDEN THIS ROAD IS IN PROGRESS ALONG SEVERAL
POINTS, SO PLEASE BE CAREFUL. ALSO,
DRIVERS ALONG THIS STRETCH OF ROAD CAN BE VERY AGGRESSIVE WHEN CHANGING LANES,
SO BE A DEFENSIVE DRIVER AT ALL TIMES.
If you did not get rental car insurance, go back in and pay for it (you don’t
want to cause yourself a headache if you get into a car accident). Before
starting to drive, set your odometer to 0, so you will be able to gauge when
the turnoff to the Centenario
Bridge will come. Exiting the Tocumen International Airport, you
will need to go around a round-about toward the left onto the Domingo Diaz Avenue
highway and head off to Panama City
by following the Panama Centro sign. You will need to
drive straight on this highway for approximately 17 kilometers.
It takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour to drive from Tocumen International
Airport to the Centenario Bridge;
however during morning or evening peak hours prepare yourself mentally to
duplicate this time. You will need to drive through several
secondary underpasses and three main overpasses. Once you drive over
the 2nd overpass, you will be exiting the town of San Miguelito and the Domingo Diaz Avenue
will now be called Tumba Muerto Highway. You will need
to continue straight ahead passing a McDonalds and Puma Gas
Station until you reach the KIA
Car dealer and a big department store called DISCOVERY CENTER, both located
on the right hand side of the road. Get
in the right hand lane because you will soon see an
overpass highway interchange coming up. At this point, your odometer will be
at or near 17 kilometers. Just to
the right you will find an overhead road sign that reads PATACON/
PTE CENTENARIO, AUTOPISTA PANAMA-ARRAIJAN you must turn right at this
exit just before the overpass.
You have now driven onto the CENTENARIO
HIGHWAY / AUTOPISTA PANAMA – ARRAIJAN, which also leads you to
the Corredor Norte. You will need to drive straight
ahead, passing a Puma
Gas Station and 2 exits to the Corredor Norte. DO NOT TAKE ANY
OF THE CORREDOR NORTE EXITS AT ANY TIME.
Keep
straight and you will find yourself on a 4 lane road until you reach the ROD CAREW BASEBALL STADIUM
on the right hand side of the road.
At a speed of 100 kilometers per hour (or 62 MPH), you
should reach the Centenario
Bridge in about 10-15
minutes. Before you get to the Centenario Bridge, start getting your camera
ready. Once you get to the Centenario Bridge,
you can take your first pictures of the Panama Canal. (Driver – keep your eyes on the road).
Once
you cross the bridge, take the Inter
American Highway toward the beaches. Drive about 2 hours toward Divisa. These
are the towns (pueblos) you will encounter:
Arraijan, Chorrera, Capira, Campana, Sajalices, Bejuco, Chame, Coronado, San Carlos, Santa Clara, Decameron,
Playa Blanca, Rio Hato, Anton, Llano Marin, Penonome, El Caño, Nata, and Aguadulce.
After
you pass Aguadulce get in the right hand lane.
After about 20 minutes, you will see a sign on the right side of the
road that will read Divisa. Take the
ramp to the right and go over the freeway overpass toward Azuero/Chitre/Los
Santos. You will need to go about 2
hours to reach Las Tablas. Once on this
road you will encounter these pueblos: Santa
Maria, Potuga, Parita, and La Arena.
THIS IS WHERE MOST PEOPLE GET LOST,
SO PAY ATTENTION. After you pass La
Arena be on the lookout for a huge cross with Jesus hanging from it on the
right side of the road. Shortly after, you
will also see a sign on the left side of the road that should read “Hotel Hong Kong”
with an arrow pointing to the right. When
you get to the fork in the road go to the right toward the Hotel.
When you reach the first stop light at the end of this street the Hotel Hong
Kong will be on the left and the Banco Nacional will be on the right. Turn right at the stop light and follow this
street toward Guarare and Las Tablas.
When you get into Las Tablas you need to make a left after
reaching the second Delta Gas station that is across the street from the Police
Station if you look to the right. Take
this road to Uverito
Beach. On the road
to Uverito Beach, you will come to a fork in the
road with a sign reading “Cocobolas” to the left…take the road to the right. After about 10-15 minutes on the road you
will see signs on the right side of the road pointing toward Uverito Beach
to the left. If you miss the turn you will get to the Port of Mensabe. Turn back around and make the first right heading
back out. When you are on the road to Uverito Beach
keep left and drive past the beach on the right, go over the small hill with
the restaurants on the right, and after three or four houses you will see the
white beach house on the left. Juan should be waiting for you there.
Tips:
- Follow
the speed limits. The speed limits
are between 60 and 110 kilometers per hour. The speed limit in most pueblos (towns)
slows down to 60 kilometers per hour, so slow down because their usually
is a cop in town looking for speeders.
- If
oncoming traffic is flicking their headlights on and off, that usually
means that there is a cop down the road looking for speeders or that your
headlights are on high beam.
- It
is “technically” illegal to payoff the cops, but if you have to the
highest I would go is about $20.
- Look
out for construction crews working on the roads. They have a tendency to not set up their
safety cones with enough lead time, so be ready to move over to either
lane when you encounter them.
- On
the road to Uverito
Beach, there may be
cows, vultures, chicken, etc. in the road so be careful, especially at
night.
- Even
though we pay the light bill, try to conserve energy by turning off the
lights and air conditioner if not in use.
- HAVE A SAFE TRIP!
