Money in Panama

Panama uses the United States dollar as legal tender and has done for more than a century. The balboa is the national unit, pegged one to one, and it circulates only as coin. There is no conversion to do and no exchange rate to check, which removes the single largest practical friction in regional travel and replaces it with a much smaller one.

The coins are the only surprise

Balboa coins are struck in the same denominations and to the same sizes as United States coins and circulate alongside them interchangeably. The one dollar coin is widely used and is called a martinelli by many Panamanians, after the president who introduced it. Nobody will blink at either set of coins; the only thing to know is that balboa coins will not spend once you leave.

Cash, cards and the city line

Panama City, the resort areas and the larger towns take cards readily. Beyond them, and particularly on the islands, assume cash.

• Guna Yala is cash only, and there are no machines. Take everything you will need for the whole stay, in small notes, before you leave the mainland. This is the single most common money mistake visitors make here.
• Bocas del Toro has machines and they run out, especially at weekends and in high season.
• Small vendors, taxis and boatmen cannot break a fifty and often not a twenty. Break big notes at supermarkets and hotels whenever the chance comes.

ATMs

• Use machines inside a bank, a supermarket or a hotel lobby in daylight rather than a street unit at night.
• Expect a fee from both the local bank and your own, and a per transaction limit lower than you are used to.
• Carry two cards from different institutions, stored separately.
• Tell your bank you are traveling.

Tipping

• Restaurants: about ten percent, and check whether service has already been added.
• Guides and boat crews: expected, and it is the single most useful thing you can do for the people who actually make a trip work.
• Hotel staff and porters: small notes, which is one more reason to keep them.

Buying from makers

Guna molas are sold by the women who stitch them, and a mola is weeks of work. Bargain gently or not at all, and buy from the maker rather than a reseller where you can tell the difference. The culture guide has more on this.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Panama travel advice: the index to the entry, safety, regional and health pages this cluster draws on, and the standing guidance that no travel can be guaranteed safe. Accessed 17 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Panama entry requirements: three months without a visa when arriving by land or air, a passport valid at least six months after the day you plan to leave Panama, a return or onward ticket, and proof of at least one thousand US dollars in funds. Accessed 17 September 2026.