I went there about five years ago. Wife has a friend whose former next door neighbor retired there after being a ship captain. We fished for Peacocks in Lake Gatun. They are smaller typically less than 2#. Fished for them with minnows. It was like fishing for very mean crappie. Checking out the canal was cool. We went around the city some. Did the rain forest which was pretty good. If I remember correctly they called the place pipeline road. My wife and her friend are big wildlife photographers. They got some good shots. Lots of birds and monkeys. We then went to the small town they lived in called Cermeno. Hung out there for a few days.toured around the area. Then went to the Anton Valley and stayed at a place called the Golden Frog Inn. I highly recommend it. It was cooler there inside the old dead volcano at a higher elevation. Very nice area to relax at. Wife also had a bird photography tour there.

All in all it's a pretty good place to travel to. Very consistent weather being towards the equator.

I should have went deep sea fishing there. They have some great fishing.

OP PM me for my facebook info, if you have an acct. My wife is from Panama and she and the kids were there last summer. They traveled a lot, and have some nice pics. If you want to do the beach thing, and go to the city every day, I recommend staying on Toboga Island. You have to take a ferry over there. It's a nice hour long ride out into the Pacific. So no riff raff out there. The ferry runs twice a day out of the port of BALBOA.

If you want to fish for peacock bass at Gatun Lake, then I would suggest you cross the Bridge of Americas and find Aerenosa fishing village. It's just past La Chorrera. I suggest you buy at least 100 minnows for the trip.
You can take a tour of the canal and see the locks and such. Old Panama (Panama Viejo) is nice to see as well. There is a resort in Vulcan in the Chiriqu� Province, (8 hours north)where my wife is from called the Camino Real. I think you would like touring that area. The locals in Chiriqu� are very nice compared to what you could run into in the city. The climate is cooler too, especially the higher up the mountain you go. Boquette and Bocas Del Toro are also a must see while you're there.

The safest place in the city to stay is one of the resorts off Balboa Ave. It's right off the Pacific Ocean and really nice at night with the cool breeze coming off the water. If you want to talk about it I'll give you my # as well/