Secluded but not Isolated
Playa Grande, a rural beach community on the western edge of the Panama Province in the Republic of Panama.
We are 1 hr 15 minutes from Panama City and 10 minutes from the town of Coronado. We are secluded but not isolated. If there is anything that you forgot from home it can probably be found in Coronado where you will find supermarkets, pharmacies, shops, as well as a modern clinic with English speaking doctors.
We are a 8-minute walk to a secluded beautiful beach.
As you approach the beach, the last 2 minutes of the walk are through a jungle trail with the warm tropical Pacific Ocean waiting for you. Something that attracted the owners to the area is the miles of black and white sand beach that has plenty of natural shade from the rainforest that grows close to the water’s edge. The beach is a great swimming beach and almost always calm except on the rare occasion when storms can produce a powerful shorebreak. If you wake up early you can see the sunrise over the ocean and the local fisherman and lobster fishermen bringing in the catch of the day. You may run into the Istmo staff buying your afternoon lunch. The beach is also a nesting ground for marine turtles that come to these shores once a year to lay their eggs.
We are 30 minutes away from El valle a picturesque town nestled in the crater of an extinct volcano. In El Valle there are some beautiful hikes in the cloud forest, hot springs, horseback riding, a butterfly farm, a zip line, and an artisan and fruit/vegetable market, amongst other attractions.
Istmo is located on 4 acres of land, an acre of which is intact rainforest. You can enjoy the wilderness by taking a stroll on our short walking trail to a natural pond on the property. The pond, home to a family of dwarf caiman, flows into a creek that runs through the property and around the yoga studio, eventually working it’s way to the beach.
Our property hosts a variety of fruit trees, some were recently planted and many already producing. Fruit trees include 3 varieties of mangoes, cashew nut, orange, mandarin, grapefruit, star fruit, guava, soursop, rambutan, avocado, tropical plums, custard apple, sapodilla, jobo, hicaco, dragon fruit and two varieties of limes. We proudly serve these fruits to our guests and have incorporated them into our menu.
Besides our two children and 3 dogs, we share our property with other wildlife including, tamarin monkeys, iguanas, colorful toucans, motmots, crimson back tanagers, yellow-bellied flycatchers and blue tanagers, dwarf caiman, amongst others. We are also in close proximity to a private forest reserve that is home to deer, jaguarundis (small rainforest cat), coatis, sloths, agoutis, and other wildlife. You will be awakened in the morning by flocks of parakeets flying overhead and go to sleep to the sound of frogs singing from the creek. Honestly, we think it’s the best place on earth!
All of our retreat packages included transportation to Istmo.