Jewish travel guide to Panama: what observant visitors need to know

Who makes up Panama’s Jewish community?

The largest community by far is Shevet Ahim, the Sephardi community founded in 1933. Its main synagogue is in Bella Vista, and it runs branch shuls in Punta Paitilla (Ahavat Sion and Ateret Yosef) and Punta Pacífica (Bet Max ve Sarah), plus beach synagogues in Coronado and Santa Clara.¹ Its kashrut department certifies almost every kosher business in the country.²

Beth El is the Ashkenazi congregation, which describes itself as Orthodox Zionist; it has been in its Paitilla building since 2014 and houses the women’s mikvah, Mikveh Rachel.³ Kol Shearith Israel, founded in 1876, is the oldest congregation and the only Reform one; its center in Costa del Este also holds the Panamanian Jewish Museum.⁴ Chabad of Panama City in Paitilla is the main address for travelers, with daily minyanim year-round and communal Shabbat meals by reservation, and there are Chabad houses in Boquete and Bocas del Toro too.⁵

Nearly all of this sits in a small area: Punta Paitilla, Punta Pacífica and the edge of Bella Vista, which is also where the kosher restaurants cluster. See synagogues in Panama City for each community’s details.

What should I book before I fly?

Three things are worth settling before you buy anything else:

1. A hotel within walking distance of shul. The hotels in Punta Paitilla and Punta Pacífica are 4 to 10 minutes on foot from Chabad or Beth El, by our map routes. Our guide to where to stay as an observant family compares the areas and the walks.
2. Your security registration. Every synagogue and the Chabad house admit visitors only after approval from the community’s security department (DSI). Register and pay online at least 72 hours before you arrive;⁶ it costs $20 for the person registering and $10 for each extra visitor aged 13 or older, and children under 13 are free.⁷ Our visitor registration page explains each step and links to DSI’s official form.
3. Shabbat meals. Chabad’s communal Friday-night and Shabbat lunch meals are booked online, and bookings close on Wednesday evening, or earlier when full.⁸ You can also request kosher Shabbat meals for your hotel through us.

Is it easy to keep kosher in Panama City?

Yes, in the city. One agency, Kosher Shevet Ahim, certifies the restaurants, caterers and kosher markets and publishes the full list at kosher.com.pa, with each place’s meat or dairy status and its Cholov Yisrael, Pas Yisrael and Bishul Yisrael details.² Meat is glatt Beit Yosef. Cholov Yisrael is not the default, so check each place.

There are two full kosher supermarkets in Paitilla, Super Kosher at Pacific Center and Deli K Market at Multicentro, and a certified grab-and-go shop airside in Tocumen airport’s Terminal 2. Outside Panama City the picture changes: Boquete and Bocas del Toro have Chabad-run kosher food, and the beaches, Colón and David have no certified food listing at all. The full picture is in kosher food in Panama.

What is Shabbat like in Panama City?

All three Orthodox communities light candles 18 minutes before sunset. Because Panama is close to the equator, sunset moves only about 48 minutes across the whole year, from about 5:54 PM to 6:42 PM, so Shabbat starts at nearly the same time every week.⁹ Shevet Ahim and Beth El end Shabbat about 35 minutes after sunset, by our reading of their published sheets;¹⁰ Chabad ends it when the sun is 8.5° below the horizon, which can be a few minutes earlier.⁹

A community eruv covers Punta Pacífica, Punta Paitilla and parts of Marbella, Bella Vista, Avenida Balboa and the Cinta Costera.¹¹ The community checks it weekly, we’re told (as reported, Nov 2026), but no status is posted publicly, so confirm the eruv status each Friday at your shul or with Chabad. Plan the weekend with Shabbat in Panama City and check this week’s Shabbat times.

Entry rules, money and time: the short version

• Entry: US and Canadian citizens need no visa and may stay up to 180 days; British and Israeli citizens may stay up to 3 months.¹² Panama asks every visitor for a passport valid at least 3 months, a return or onward booking, and proof of at least US$500 per adult (cash, a bank statement or a card); children under 18 are exempt.¹³
• Money: US dollar notes are the currency, with Panamanian balboa coins worth the same as US coins. Bring small bills: many shops refuse $50 and $100 notes because fakes have circulated.¹⁴
• Time: Panama keeps UTC−5 all year with no daylight saving, the same as New York from November to March and an hour behind it the rest of the year.¹⁵
• Power: Type A and B sockets, 120 V and 60 Hz, as in the US and Canada.

More detail: flights and arrival and money and tipping.

How do visitors get around?

From Tocumen airport, the official airport taxi charges a published $30 to Panama City for one or two passengers; the drive to Punta Paitilla is about 23 km, roughly 25 minutes with no traffic and much longer at rush hour.¹⁶ Uber and inDrive both operate in the city. The Metro has a station at the airport, but neither line stops in Paitilla or Punta Pacífica, so with luggage a car is simpler.¹⁷

On Shabbat, the Paitilla area is compact enough to walk: the Cinta Costera waterfront park starts there, and the main shuls and many hotels are within about 10 minutes of each other.

Where to go next

• Shabbat in Panama City: plan the whole weekend.
• Eruv, mikvah and minyan basics for visitors.
• Panama with kids and teens: ages, heat and kosher logistics.
• Day trips from Panama City: the Canal, Casco Viejo, beaches, Boquete and San Blas.
• Is Panama safe? Safety and medical basics.