Veraguas is the only province that touches both oceans, and cacao follows the water. On the Caribbean side, around Calovébora and the coast that borders the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca, rain and shade look much like Bocas and small plantings are going in. Above Santa Fe, a cool, coffee-growing valley, growers are experimenting with cacao on the wetter slopes. Officially the province counts only a few dozen hectares, but it appears in MIDA planting projections and in the national cacao plan as a growth area. It is also one of the easier places in Panama to see cacao and coffee on the same hillside.
What to know
- Third in the official 2023–24 area ranking, with 21 hectares, after Bocas and Colón.
- Santa Fe growers report very different rain patterns from Bocas: a harsh dry season inland, heavy rain on the coast.
- Santa Fe National Park and the Calovébora road make this a good hiking-plus-cacao trip.
Visiting
Base yourself in Santa Fe (hostels, river swimming, orchids). Ask at the cooperative coffee shop about cacao plots; the road down to Calovébora is spectacular and rough.
Sources: Revista SUMMA, Industria del cacao y el chocolate de Panamá · MIDA, informe mensual de programas, diciembre 2025