Colon Province

Colon is the second largest city in Panama. This is the main port on the Caribbean coast. Colon was founded in 1852. But the city was almost completely destroyed in 1885 during the riots led by the Pedro Prestan. Later French restores their power in Colon when bought the right to build the Canal. The heyday of Colon was in the mid-20th century, when the Colon Free Trade Zone was established in 1948.

colon_cruiseNowadays Colon is a port city which can hardly be notable for anything but the Colon Free Trade Zone. It is still the largest free trade zone after Hong Kong in the planet with annual turnover over $10 billion. Usually Colon is visited for shopping. Otherwise we don’t suggest staying there longer than half of a day, as city has very poor state of infrastructure and most of it can be described as decay.

Colon province is also interesting for its Caribbean cost line with a several points of interest on it. It is worth visiting Isla Grande and Portobelo.

Portobelo_Panam__225_48 km east of Colon along the Caribbean coast there is town of Portobelo. It was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1502, making it one of the oldest settlements in Panama. Portobelo is located on the ancient trade route Camino Real, the Spanish used it to reach Pacific Ocean. With the arrival of conquistadors Portobelo became of the main ports of the Caribbean coast in the Isthmus. To protect their transatlantic trade routes from pirates, the Spaniards built many forts here, the remains of which have survived to this day. In 1980, all the colonial buildings of Portobelo, including its surrounding forts were included into UNESCO cultural heritage.

Directions to Portobelo and Isla Grande

Car:  Take the Panama - Colón Highway and turn off at the Sabanitas exit. In Sabanitas turn right when you reach the El Rey supermarket and drive through Portobelo. Around ten minutes after passing Portobelo you will come to an intersection. Take the road to the left and drive until you reach La Guaira, where you can park the car and ride a boat over to Isla Grande.

Other than a car, we don’t suggest you use local transportation ways to reach Isla Grande.

Activities:

  • Diving
  • hiking around the island
  • beach vacations

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