One Relaxing Day in El Valle de Antón
A local market, hot-stone massages, fresh corvina, thermal pools and absolutely no checklist.
There are plenty of things you can do in El Valle de Antón.
That doesn't mean you need to do all of them.
Our entire approach to Panama was pretty simple: relax, be on vacation and unwind. We weren't trying to build a highlight reel or work our way through somebody else's list of the ten things we absolutely had to see.
Our day in El Valle may have been the best example of that philosophy.
We had one reservation. Everything else was allowed to happen.
El Valle itself makes that pretty easy. The town sits surrounded by the mountains of an ancient volcanic setting, creating a landscape dramatically different from the beaches and coastal communities where we were staying. It's also a popular destination for hiking, waterfalls, thermal springs and simply escaping into the cooler mountain scenery.
Start With a Market. See What Happens.
We drove into El Valle after breakfast at Hawks Nest. The only thing on the clock was a late-morning appointment for hot-stone massages that we had booked before leaving home.
That gave us time to stop at a small farmers market first.
We wandered through the vendors, looking at fruits we didn't recognize and buying a few to take back to the B&B. One was mamey, a tropical fruit neither of us had tried before.
For the record, I tried it.
For the record, I don't need another one.
I was also hunting for something considerably less ready to eat: green coffee beans.
I'd started asking people around Panama whether I could buy some unroasted beans to take home and roast myself. I asked several vendors at the market.
No luck.
That little quest would become considerably more interesting before the day was over.
A $60 Hot-Stone Massage
Our one actual reservation was at KiruMaki Bienestar.
We had looked at more elaborate spa options before the trip. Elysium Spa & Wellness Center, for example, offered the kind of polished resort experience you might expect, but when we checked, a couples hot-stone massage would have cost more than $500 for the two of us.
At KiruMaki, our hour-long hot-stone massages were $60 each at the time of our visit.
And they were great.
KiruMaki wasn't a sprawling resort spa. It was tucked into a small commercial square with a few other businesses around it. Inside was a small reception area, two private massage rooms and a restroom. Everything was exceptionally clean, with the soft music, incense and quiet atmosphere you'd expect.
It did exactly what we wanted it to do.
Current listings still place KiruMaki at Plaza Paseo el Valle beside Café Unido.
And Then the Coffee Hunt Got Interesting
After the massage, I wandered into the little coffee shop next door.
Naturally, I asked about green coffee beans.
They didn't have any.
But instead of simply saying no, they put me in touch with Carlos.
That introduction eventually led somewhere much more interesting than buying a bag of beans off a shelf. Carlos became our connection to a much deeper coffee experience in Panama, one we'll cover separately.
Read about it here: Ask One More Local.
It's also a perfect example of something we've learned repeatedly while traveling: sometimes the most useful question isn't answered by the first person you ask.
Ask one more local.
Lunch at Los Hermanos
By then, massages had done their job and lunch sounded like an excellent idea.
Randy and Wanda had mentioned Restaurante Los Hermanos, so that's where we headed.
This wasn't elaborate dining. It was inexpensive local Panamanian food, exactly what we wanted.
Gina ordered the fried corvina with patacones. I ordered patacones topped with seafood, and we shared both.
Neither of us had eaten corvina before.
That changed in Panama.
The fish was fresh, mild and delicious, and this would definitely not be the last time we ordered corvina during the trip.
Los Hermanos remains listed on Avenida Central in El Valle, and current local dining guides continue to describe it as an inexpensive place for traditional Panamanian food.
We Could Have Bought the Spa Version
After lunch, we drove.
Not because we were headed toward the next item on an itinerary.
We just drove.
Randy and Wanda had mentioned that there were thermal springs around El Valle. We had already found a polished resort option offering a day pass, but it was about $100 per person when we checked.
That wasn't really what we were looking for.
Eventually we found Piscinas Termales El Valle de Antón.
This was much more our speed.
We were the only Americans there at the time, surrounded mostly by Panamanians. Admission was around $12 when we visited.
There were several shallow cement pools with warm water piped into them, surrounded by tropical vegetation. Mud was available if you wanted to cover yourself in it.
We didn't.
We just soaked.
For about 90 minutes.
There was nothing particularly sexy about the place. It wasn't polished. It wasn't trying to manufacture a luxury-spa atmosphere.
It was rustic, raw and relaxing.
And the water was warm either way.
Panama's official tourism site continues to highlight El Valle's thermal pools and their natural mud as one of the area's classic experiences.
Then We Let Waze Take Us Home
When it was time to head back, we punched the B&B into Waze.
The route didn't send us down to the main beachfront road. Instead, it sent us twisting through the back roads for about 45 minutes.
Perfect.
We loved those roads.
If we spotted a little stream or waterfall, we'd pull over and explore. Sometimes Gina would simply search “waterfall near me” and we'd see what happened.
One of those stops produced the waterfall in the photo at the top of this article.
No reservation.
No timed ticket.
No spot on the day's itinerary.
Just: That looks interesting. Let's stop.
That may be the best description of the entire day.
Home Was Part of the Vacation Too
By the time we got back to Hawks Nest, we'd had a full day.
So we stopped.
We changed into our bathing suits, climbed into the hot tub and had a beer with Randy. Later, we made beef stir-fry for dinner and asked Randy and Wanda to sit down and eat with us.
No dinner reservation.
No evening attraction.
No feeling that because we were in Panama, we needed to squeeze one more experience out of the day.
We'd already had one.
The Best Part of El Valle Wasn't an Attraction
If you're looking for a carefully optimized El Valle itinerary, this probably isn't it.
And that's the point.
We went to a market. We got massages. A conversation in a coffee shop led to something we never could have planned. We ate inexpensive local food. We soaked in rustic thermal pools. We drove mountain roads and stopped when something looked interesting.
Nothing about the day felt rushed.
There are certainly more things to do in El Valle. You can hike, visit waterfalls, seek out wildlife and spend considerably more time exploring the area.
We didn't need to.
Travel planning matters. Reservations sometimes matter. Research absolutely matters.
But occasionally the smartest thing you can put on the itinerary is empty space.
Panama wasn't supposed to be a checklist.
It was supposed to be a vacation.
And on this particular day, we remembered to have one.