Islas Secas PANAMA A remote island hideaway and a model for sustainable tourism opens on Panama’s wild Pacific Coast. Words: Emma Love • Photography: Jack Johns and Owen Tozer
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wenty miles off the Pacific Coast of Panama in the Gulf of Chiriqui, Islas Secas is a private island archipelago that recently opened to travellers as a luxury eco resort.
It has all the ingredients of a classic castaway paradise; lush islands blanketed in forest, deserted white sand beaches backed by palm trees, and turquoise water made for snorkelling. So it’s no wonder that it was snapped up by American billionaire hedge fund manager and conservation philanthropist Louis Bacon in 2009, who, from the get-go, wanted to protect the abundance of birds, plants and marine life, as well as the tranquillity he found here. To start with, the decision was made to limit development to the largest island, Cavada, and leave the other 13 completely untouched. Currently, there are just four red cedar and mahogany casitas – ranging in size from the onebedroom 51m2 Casita Mirador to the four-bedroom 207m2
Casita Grande – designed by San Francisco-based architects Hart Howerton and developed by Jim Matlock, founder of Pacific Panama and Director of Operations, who has been living and working on the archipelago for over a decade. “Sustainability comes from the materials but also from the quality of the building,” he explains. “These casitas will still be here in 100 years.” Each casita is set in its own tropical garden with a plunge
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