There are many cruiser
marinas in Panama where boats may be
for sale, but no real effective brokerages for sail boats.
Balboa Yacht Club, Panama City. On the Pacific side (Panama City), take Amador causeway to get there. Almost all other
marinas in Panama City are
power boat oriented.
Shelter Bay Marina, Fort Sherman. About a 1:45 drive from PC.
Linton Bay Marina, Puerto Lindo. About a 2 hour drive from PC.
PanaMarina, Puerto Lindo. Ditto.
Turtle Bay...close to Nombre de Dios...a bit more of a hike, about 2.5 hours from PC. A smaller, less popular marina, which sometimes has a few boats for
sale.
Colon Caution. When driving to all the above marinas you will
head in the direction of Colon from PC. DO NOT drive into Colon proper...it is a full on slum, and can be dangerous. Cuatro Altos, a major cross roads near Colon, is a close as you should drive.
Bocas del Toro has several marinas: Red Frog, Bocas Marina, Carenero. Its a grueling drive from PC to Bocas (actually you can only drive to Almirante, then
water taxi to Bocas). However, if you have the time, and break this up into a multi day drive, then you can see a lot of Panama. Alternatively, you can fly to Bocas from PC.
Re driving. Panama City can be a real hassle to drive in, street layout is like a bowl of spagghetti, traffic is always bad 24 hours a day...where its bad just shifts, and...there are no street addresses (street names only, no numbers, no kidding!)...locations are described by nearby landmarks. I suggest mostly using Uber...its way better than taxis for several reasons...not the least of which is getting "gringo'ed" by the taxis. If driving, be VERY sure you get a PanaPass tag and top it up...there are several major toll way sections in Panama City which have no warning you are about to enter a tollway and no convenient way to deal with not having a PanaPass...you just get stuck at the unmanned toll booth...bad system. Once out of PC driving is much easier and the roads are generally good.
Google Maps is very accurate in Panama City and the rest of Panama.
Re Expat Life. Panama is a good option. Ive been a
USA expat in
Central America for almost 20 years now (Belize,
Guatemala, Panama). Currently based in Panama. Happy to answer any related questions.