Playa Venao
One of Panama's top surf destinations — consistent beach breaks on the Azuero Peninsula, a growing boutique hotel scene and pristine Pacific beaches.
CTD · MPCE · Panama
Alonso Valderrama Airport
Chitré — Herrera — Azuero Peninsula. 30 min to Pedasí / Playa Venao.
Runway
1800m
Surface
Asphalt
Elevation
34m
Hours
6am-6pm
Book your private flight to Chitré
Airport at a glance
Chitré — Panama
The Azuero Peninsula is where Panamanians go to find out what Panama was before the canal. This is the country's colonial and folkloric heartland: whitewashed churches from the 1600s, the pollera — the national dress, hand-embroidered over months — and a calendar of festivals that is taken more seriously here than anywhere else in the isthmus.
Chitré, capital of Herrera province, is its commercial centre, and Capitán Alonso Valderrama Airport sits 2 kilometres northeast of the city, a little over a kilometre inland from the Gulf of Panama.
Asphalt runway at 10 metres elevation. ICAO: MPCE. Coordinates: 7°59′15″N, 80°24′35″W. The Alonso Valderrama non-directional beacon (Ident: CHE) is on the field; the Santiago VOR-DME (STG) lies 59 km west. Daylight operations. Scheduled service is operated by Air Panama to Albrook.
This is a medium-capacity runway, sized for the regional turboprop traffic operating to Albrook.
Getting there
Alonso Valderrama Airport — Getting there
Chitré is roughly four hours from Panama City by road, down the Pan-American and then out along the peninsula. The charter from Albrook is about 30 minutes.
The more useful hop is lateral: Chitré to Río Hato is under 30 nautical miles, and Chitré to Santiago about 32 — trivial by air, an hour or more each by road. For an itinerary combining the Coclé resort coast, Azuero and Veraguas, short charter legs remove most of the driving.
| Panama City | ~30 min | ~4 h |
Nearby
Things to do near Chitré
Azuero's festivals are not staged for visitors. They are the year's structure.
Carnaval in Las Tablas, 40 minutes south of Chitré, is the largest in Panama and among the largest in Central America. The town splits into two rival tunas — Calle Arriba and Calle Abajo — which compete for four days with floats, costumes, competing queens and culecos, the daytime water trucks. It runs the four days before Ash Wednesday, and accommodation across the whole peninsula sells out months ahead.
Corpus Christi in Villa de Los Santos, in late May or June, is the older and stranger event: masked diablicos dancing a Catholic-indigenous morality play in the streets, in costumes and masks made by hand in the town, a tradition with unbroken roots to the sixteenth century. UNESCO recognises it as intangible cultural heritage.
The Festival de la Mejorana in Guararé, in September, is the country's principal folk music and dance gathering.
Anyone flying into CTD for one of these should book everything — aircraft, hotel, ground transport — very early. This is the one part of the Panamanian calendar where the infrastructure genuinely fills.
The rest of the peninsula. Parita and Natá, colonial towns north and west, hold two of the oldest churches in the Americas — Natá's basilica dates to 1522. Sarigua National Park, 20 minutes from Chitré, is an eroded coastal badland that looks like desert and is in fact the result of centuries of deforestation and salt intrusion — geologically interesting, ecologically a cautionary tale, and visually unlike anywhere else in Panama.
South, the coast improves steadily. Pedasí, about 90 minutes from Chitré, is a small colonial town that has become the peninsula's beach base. Isla Iguana, offshore, is a wildlife refuge with reef, frigatebird colonies and, from July to October, humpback whales. Playa Venao, further round, has the best consistent surf on the Panamanian Pacific and hosts international competitions.
At the far southwestern tip, Cerro Hoya National Park protects one of the last remnants of Pacific dry and humid forest on the peninsula — remote, barely visited, and reached only with effort.
Isla Iguana Wildlife Refuge
Marine protected area off the Azuero Peninsula — nesting site for frigatebirds, humpback whales during migration and pristine coral reefs.
Sportfishing — Azuero Peninsula
World-class sportfishing from Pedasí and the Azuero coast — black marlin, Pacific sailfish and yellowfin tuna in productive offshore waters.
Premium Surf — Pedasí & Playa Venao
The Azuero Peninsula's consistent Pacific swells attract serious surfers — private coaching, equipment rental and uncrowded breaks near Pedasí.
Luxury Villas — Pedasí
Boutique villas and private estates on the Azuero Peninsula — total seclusion, Pacific Ocean views and access to Panama's least-visited luxury beaches.
Humpback Whale Watching — Azuero
The Azuero Peninsula is one of the best humpback whale corridors in Central America — private vessel expedition from Chitré during the July–October season, with guaranteed whale encounters and a marine biologist onboard.
Kitesurfing — Bahía de Parita
Bahía de Parita's consistent trade winds make it one of Panama's premier kitesurfing destinations — private instruction and guided sessions on the flat-water bay, with offshore excursions to the Isla Iguana Wildlife Refuge.
Archaeological Expedition — Azuero
Private expedition to the pre-Columbian archaeological sites of the Azuero Peninsula — less visited than Panama City's museums, with intact huacas (tombs), ancient pottery and a certified archaeologist guide.
Where to stay
Hotels near Chitré
When to fly
When to fly
Azuero is the driest region in Panama — the "Arco Seco", the dry arc. The dry season, roughly mid-December to April, is emphatic here, with the surrounding country turning brown and dusty. The rainy season runs May to mid-December with afternoon convection, heaviest September to November. Carnaval falls in the dry season; Corpus Christi at the start of the wet one.
FAQ
Alonso Valderrama Airport — Frequently asked questions
Where is Chitré Airport?
About 2 kilometres northeast of Chitré, in Herrera province on the Azuero Peninsula, at 10 m elevation. ICAO: MPCE.
How long is the flight from Panama City to Chitré?
Roughly 30 minutes from Albrook (PAC), against about four hours by road.
When is Carnaval in Las Tablas?
The four days before Ash Wednesday, in February or March. It is the largest carnival in Panama; book far ahead.
What is the Corpus Christi festival at Villa de Los Santos?
A masked diablico dance tradition with roots to the sixteenth century, held in late May or June, recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.
How do I reach Pedasí and Playa Venao from Chitré?
Pedasí is about 90 minutes by road south; Playa Venao roughly half an hour beyond it.
What is the Arco Seco?
The "dry arc" — the Azuero region, the driest part of Panama, with a markedly more pronounced dry season than the rest of the country.