Panama spare parts

[Fliegerfahrer]

Hello everybody,

we are in need of several spare parts to prepare for our pacific journey. Are there good and cheap shops in Panama where you can buy boat stuff, or is it better to ship everything, I understand it can be done tax free??

Can anybody maybe give some tipps?

Thanks and all the best

Georg

[chris14679]

Yes there are excellent chandlery and engineering shops in Panama City, mostly clustered round the marina. You can get pretty much anything there. Round the marina the Chandlers, Yanmar specialists etc. are not cheap but things in the city which are not yacht specific such as injector service were very well priced.

Edit: shipping stuff is difficult, they literally don't have addresses! Parcels can be picked up from a post office but I don't recommend it unless you have a local friend/marina with their own PO Box service.

[belizesailor]

There are many options depending on what you need. What kind of spares do you need?

Several popular ones are: Centro Marino, Pesqueros, Abernathys. They are all more oriented toward the power boat/sport fishing market, but have many common things.

Importation duty for a YIT is inexpensive (2%), but not free. I agree that I would not normally use the postal service, but there are many services for shipping into Panama which make it convenient. I live in Panama now and ship things in quite often...no problem.

Cost of shipping varies mostly by delivery speed. How quick do you need parts?

[Fliegerfahrer]

Nothing really special, just lots of consumables and things we wanna put on board for 1,5 years of remote cruising.
I thought shipping in would be nice as I can get everything from one place and can save as well on taxes..

[belizesailor]

Recent post re shipping into Panama:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/....php?p=3053632

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Fliegerfahrer

Nothing really special, just lots of consumables and things we wanna put on board for 1,5 years of remote cruising.
I thought shipping in would be nice as I can get everything from one place and can save as well on taxes..

Consumables like fuel filters, belts, etc you can get locally. By the time you add various fees that tend to get tacked onto shipping, I doubt you will come out ahead.

Consumables like food are pretty favorably priced in Panama already. There are several major markets in PC where you can find anything you want including USA brands at Riba Smiths or Price Mart.

Consumer electronics, if you need any, are priced equal to the USA. PanaFoto is a good source.

The link below is to a recent edition of the "Panama City Cruiser's Guide"...chock full of information on where to find most anything a cruiser might need.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...Us5ow5IWp05HYD

[belizesailor]

Getting around to get stuff. As mentioned in a post above there are indeed no street addresses in Panama City. This does not affect shipping as you pick up at agents location or its delivered to the marina/boat anyway, but it does complicate getting around in PC. Uber avoids this issue all together by using GPS for both your origin and destination. Uber also avoids getting "gringo'ed"...over charged by taxis...which is a VERY common practice...Uber provides a fixed rate up front. Overall its WAY better than typical public taxis in PC.

Another good option is to hire a guy like Rogelio (Roger) who speciliazes in working with cruisers. He is a great guy who already knows the drill and all the typical cruiser destinations. He is also bilingual (English & Spanish). His contact info is listed in the PC Cruisers Guide under "Transportation".


Buenas suerte!