Veraguas is the only Panamanian province with a coast on both oceans, and almost everything worth stopping for is on the Pacific side or in the mountains above it. Santiago, the provincial capital, sits on the Interamericana halfway between Panama City and David and is a place to change buses rather than a destination.
What brings people here is the water. Santa Catalina on the south coast has the best surf break in the country and is the jumping-off point for Isla Coiba, the national park and former prison island whose diving is the best in Panama by some distance. Inland and north, Santa Fé sits in cool mountain country of rivers, waterfalls and orchids, and sees a fraction of the visitors that Boquete does.
The Caribbean coast of the province is almost roadless and effectively unvisited.
