Managing mailboxes or PO boxes in Panama

@Cheryl

In Panama, there is no mail delivery. We do not have traditional addresses. There is such a thing as a Post office but a simple birthday card could take months to receive. There are, however many companies that receive mail and packages where you can pick them up. You receive a US (usually Miami) PO box and itbis shipped to panama from there. This system has eliminated our junk mail since we simply choise to reject it!

Recently, Amazon and places like Temu have started door to door service. When your items arrive in Panama, you are notified and you send a gps pin of your location.

The Panama mail system is perfect. It annoys me that foreigners are still comparing and complaining that things are not the same as back home. If you want it the same LEAVE. 

Depending on your destination you can rent an Apartado (APDO) for $30.00 year first time and $15.00 year after that if you are of retirement age with the "jubilado discount."

Where can one find the "APDO"

vcaver

The Apartado (APDO) or PO Box is rented at the Correos Panama found in most larger cities and towns.  Some smaller post offices don't have APDOs so you would use EG which means Entrega General (General Delivery).

We use Traveling Mailbox (a US company), but there are many others who do the same thing. All of our US mail is forwarded to their US location. We can then choose whether we want to to scan it so we can view it, forward it (for a small fee), shred and delete, or hold it (typically for a fee of $1/month). If it is important I download it. If it is a check you can either have them deposit it electronically or forward it to a trustworthy friend/family member to hold until the next time you visit them or they visit you here in Panama. For items we ask Traveling Mailbox to hold, we either have it delivered to a friend or family member so we can pick it up when we visit. We have only been here for 4 months, but so far it works well for us.