Boca La Caja

About Boca La Caja:

Boca La Caja covers roughly twelve hectares on the San Francisco shore, with a little over 700 metres of waterfront. No sign marks its edge, but on the ground it is easy to read: the Punta Pacífica fill and Multiplaza on the west, the public school grounds along Vía Israel to the north, the bay to the south, and Coco del Mar further east along the same shore. Since the late 1990s the Corredor Sur has run just offshore on its viaduct, so the barrio now meets the sea through a line of highway pillars. You come in from Vía Israel, the Calle 50 offices are minutes away by car, and the Corredor Sur takes you to Costa del Este and Tocumen without crossing the city.

The barrio began in 1932, in the middle of the Depression, when 72 fishing families settled by the water here; it is the first informal settlement on Panama City’s record. The old national airport at Paitilla, opened in 1929, had already cut this strip of shore off from San Sebastián on the other side. Plans to move the families came in 1946, 1949 and 1950, and some of them left to found Alcalde Díaz, but most stayed. Then came the Punta Pacífica fill and the Corredor Sur in 1997 and Multiplaza in 2004, which closed in the remaining sides.

About 1,870 people lived here in 2023, in some 618 homes, fewer than in 2010. Fishing is still the largest single trade, and boats lie moored off the shore below the towers. Many other residents work close by, in homes, hotels and offices, as builders or as taxi drivers, which is the main reason families value the location. The Dr. Hernando Martiz Pujol health centre on Calle 78 Sur serves the barrio, the casa comunal hosts its meetings, and in 2026 the municipality approved a pocket park and a better bus stop on a neglected easement next to the health centre.

Two homes in three are lived in by their owners, about one in seven is rented, and none carried a mortgage in 2023. Titling of the plots began in 2013 and 2014 and was only completed in 2020, with titles handed over house by house in batches as late as 2023. Planning has lagged further behind: a 2025 municipal draft proposed a low-density residential code for the barrio’s lots, residents asked for a code that would allow buildings of up to 20 floors, and the question is still open. The shore has also flooded with high tides and heavy swells, with the worst events recorded in 1997, 2008 and 2015.

Houses in Boca La Caja:

The housing stock is low-rise family houses, most of them built by the families themselves over the decades and packed close together, with the density of a much taller neighbourhood. When one of the houses for sale in Boca La Caja changes hands, the buyer is paying above all for the ground under it, a few hundred metres from some of the most expensive towers in the city. That makes two checks essential. First, confirm that the plot is registered in the Registro Público in the seller’s name, and not just occupied, because titling reached different houses in different years. Second, ask the municipality what land-use code applies today and what is proposed, since the barrio has no adopted code of its own and you cannot assume that a larger building will be allowed. Inherited houses are common, so every registered owner, or every heir once the estate is closed, has to sign.

Apartments for sale in Boca La Caja:

The apartments sold with Boca La Caja in the address are in the towers on its edges, on the Punta Pacífica side and in the streets off Vía Israel such as Calle Federico Velásquez. Look at the registered address on the title, because the same building may be advertised under Boca La Caja, Punta Pacífica or plain San Francisco. Each unit is under propiedad horizontal: you buy the apartment plus a share of the common areas, pay a monthly cuota de mantenimiento, and live by the PH reglamento, which sets the rules on rentals, pets and short stays. Parking spaces and the depósito may carry their own registered title or only be assigned by the PH, and that difference shows in the price. A unit facing the bay looks out over the low roofs of the barrio today; whether that view stays open depends on the zoning Boca La Caja finally receives.

Apartments for rent in Boca La Caja:

Rentals in the edge towers are long-term lets, taken by people who want Multiplaza, Hospital Punta Pacífica and the Calle 50 offices close by and the Corredor Sur on the doorstep for Costa del Este. Ask how many parking spaces come with the flat and whether the reglamento allows furnished stays of a few weeks before you plan on one. Inside the barrio, about one home in seven is rented, mostly to people who work in the surrounding buildings. If you rent a house here, get a written lease from the registered owner.

Frequently asked questions:

• Where exactly does Boca La Caja begin and end?

  Picture the low-rise block between the Punta Pacífica fill and Multiplaza on the west, the school grounds on Vía Israel to the north and the bay to the south, with the Corredor Sur viaduct running offshore. The towers around it are not part of the barrio itself, even when they are advertised with its name. The registered address on the title settles it.

• How do I know a house here has proper title?

  Ask for the registered property number and pull the record from the Registro Público before anything else. Titles here were issued in batches from 2013 to 2023, so a neighbour’s title tells you nothing about the house you want. Check that the registered area matches the walls on the ground, that every owner or heir signs, and walk away from any sale based only on years of occupation.

• Could I build upward on a lot in Boca La Caja?

  Not on current rules you can count on. The zoning San Francisco adopted in 2025 left Boca La Caja out, a separate proposal for the barrio is still being worked on, and the 2025 draft pointed to low-density housing. Get the municipality’s answer in writing before you pay a price that assumes a building.

• Does Boca La Caja flood?

  The houses closest to the water have flooded with high tides and swells, most seriously in 1997, 2008 and 2015. Ask neighbours how high the water came on the street you are looking at, and check the floor level of the house against the shoreline. In the edge towers, ask the administrator whether the basement or car park has ever taken water.

• Can a foreigner buy property in Boca La Caja?

  Yes, with the same rights as a Panamanian, and the property is recorded in the Registro Público. In a tower, also confirm that the parking and depósito you are paying for are registered or assigned as promised and that the PH has no unpaid special assessments.