Even when Ronan misses his meetings, he ends up getting lucky.

Dan Prescher
Publisher, International Living

How I Discovered the Best Beach in Panama

Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008

The Pacific beach area is the most developed stretch of coast in Panama. Here you will find a string of all-inclusive resorts, golf courses, large gated communities, and exclusive homes. The infrastructure is good, the amenities first-class, and the climate perfect for sun-worshipers. This makes it all the more difficult to believe that the best beaches along this stretch of coast are in a place that the taxi drivers don’t even know about.

I found it by accident. Earlier this year I was looking at land on the Azueros peninsula with friend and Mr. United Nature, Robert Kroesen. We both had 3 p.m. meetings back in the city. At 2.45 p.m. we were stuck in traffic on the Pan American highway near the Pacific Beaches, 45 minutes from Panama City. We weren’t going to make our meetings.

“Have you ever been to Punta Chame?” Robert asked. “Punta where” I replied. “Wanna go? My friend Angel is at his beach house there today” Robert said and before I knew it we were taking a sharp right and heading toward the ocean. The first section of road had been recently paved but still we bounced from pothole to pothole--even in Robert’s SUV.

When we got to the beach it was worth every last bounce. The beaches here are the nicest I’ve seen on Panama’s Pacific coast...and yet there has been practically no development. From Punta Chame you look across to see Panama’s skyline shimmer in the sunlight.  There is 22 miles of white-sand beach, wrapped around an interior of wooded hills, mangroves, and coconut palms. One side of the point is favored by surfers, particularly kite surfers; the other is calm, and a recently announced high-end development--the first major one in Punta Chame--has plans that call for a marina to take advantage of the sheltered waters. 

Today, this place is known by a small section of Panama’s elite, who keep weekend retreats here, and kite surfers who gather for a competition once a year. The elite don’t want the road to come. They want to keep this place all to themselves. Work on the road continues however, and it’s slated for completion at the end of next year. Once complete you will be able to drive to Punta Chame from Panama City in an hour.
 
Word is starting to creep out. In the past year several large parcels have been sold to high-end hotel groups. Don’t expect to see the big resorts you see a few miles down the beach...just yet.  Development here is in its early stages--the family that owned the entire peninsula only started to sell chunks of land in the last five years.  This area has missed the frenzy of construction on every other stretch of Pacific coast close to Panama City. It will catch up but right now, it is the setting for vacation homes for the elite.

At Angel’s house we grabbed a cold drink and walked straight out his front door and onto the beach. The beach was deserted except for a solitary kite surfer. Angel is a successful stockbroker in the city. He finds it harder and harder to drag himself into the office. He points to the beach, the sea and his cell phone and says “this is my office”.

Immediately adjacent to his home Angel has built 18 condos. We take a look. Angel decided not to sell pre-construction. “The buyers will be my neighbors so I want to make sure they see what they are getting before they buy and that they are 100% happy” he told me. Prices here start at $1,700 per square meter for a 193-square-meter (2,077 square-foot) unit. This compares very favorably with the bigger projects down the beach where you pay over $3,000 per meter. You also have the benefit of buying a completed unit and not relying on a set of drawings. The generously sized three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartments all have an ocean view. Go here for more information.

We waved goodbye to Angel and family as the sun began to set. I asked my colleague, Margaret Summerfield to take another trip out there the following weekend. She jumped in a cab outside her Casco Viejo home and asked the taxi driver to take her to Punta Chame... “Punta where?” he replied.

Ronan McMahon

Editor’s Note: In the interest of full disclosure, please note that Pathfinder Ltd. may receive commissions from this project. Learn more here.

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