Panama has many rivers, an estimate of nearly 500, of which 350 drain into the Pacific and 150 drain into the Caribbean. Foreigners and nationals alike enjoy water sports such as kayaking and tubing since Panama’s rivers are short but very mighty.

The rivers of Panama that drain into the Pacific are of greater magnitude, many of them are navigable due to the long distance that they run to get to the ocean. The most important rivers draining into the Pacific are: Chucunaque (231 km) ,  Tuira (230 km) , Bayano (206 km) , Santa Maria (173 km) , Balsas (152 km) , Chiriqui Viejo (128 km) , San Pablo (126 km) , Cobre (111 km) , Chiriqui (108 km) , Tabasara (109 km) , Grande (97 km) and Chico (76 km).

Rivers draining into the Caribbean

The rivers that drain into the Caribbean are short since they rise from the mountains near the sea and they can be used to generate electricity. The main rivers are: Sixaola , Changuinola , Caricamola , Cañaveral , Calovebora , Candelaria , Concepcion , Veraguas , Carti Grande , Belen , Petaquilla , Cocle del Norte , Indio , Gatun , Cascajal , Chagres , Mandinga and La Miel.

Diverse species of fish inhabit The Rivers of Panama 

In the rivers of Cocle del Norte, Rio Indio and Miguel de la Borda, which are rivers draining into the Caribbean, there are several species of sweet water and peripheral fish, which the locals use for food or trade. Among these we have: sabalos (Brycon obscurus), pejeperros (Galapagos sheephead wrasse), “barbudos”, river sardines, and bottom feeders among others.

There are approximately 190 species of sweet water fish, as per the experts, of which 56 are endemic of the Occidental Region and 30 are of special interest. Of the 30, 24 are of interest as food, 3 are rare species, 2 are not determined and 1 is considered the first registered in the area.

Meanwhile the Changuinola River has eight species of that are catadromous, meaning that they live most of their life in sweet water but migrate to the sea to reproduce. Among these we can mention: “boca chica”, “sarten”, “anguila”, “ronco”, “guabina”, “chupapiedras”, “chuparenas”  and the “chupapiedra cabezon” . 

Main Hydrographic Basins

The Chucunaque River in the province of Darien, specifically in the Wargandi and Embera-Wounaan reservations, is the biggest river and is the main tributary to the Tuira river, second river with great extension. The Tuira, Chucanaque and Balsas rivers form a hydrographic basin of 10.664.42 km², which is the largest in the country.