{"id":78062,"date":"2023-06-02T14:47:04","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T14:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=78062"},"modified":"2025-10-14T15:10:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T15:10:29","slug":"nayara-bocas-del-toro-panama-experience","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/nayara-bocas-del-toro-panama-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"GRAZIA Travel Guide: Bocas del Toro \u2014 Guests at Nayara Bocas del Toro Go Off the Grid &amp; Connect to the World Around Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-78075 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/panamas.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While Costa Rica, with its pristine rainforest and beaches, takes center stage as a coveted Central America vacation destination, its underappreciated, uncrowded neighbor to the south, Panama, is positioned to steal the spotlight \u2014 and with good reason. The beautiful country on the isthmus linking North and South America enjoys a prime location between the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, just a short plane ride away from the United States (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.copaair.com\/en-us\/\" target=\"_blank\">Copa Airlines<\/a> offers direct flights from several cities).<\/p>\n<p>On a recent afternoon, I took a 50-minute flight from Panama City to Bocas del Toro Town on the southern tip of Isla Col\u00f3n. Locals and visitors were already dining at candy-colored restaurants and whooping it up in waterside bars to celebrate what\u2019s locally known as \u201cfilthy Friday.\u201d The vibe was relaxed yet lively \u2014 but I was looking to disconnect completely and discover bliss of a purer nature. I was greeted with a glass of bubbly at my water taxi and climbed in for the short 20-minute ride to a destination that felt a world away: <a href=\"https:\/\/nayarabocasdeltoro.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nayara Bocas del Toro<\/a>. The private nine-acre island paradise is dotted with several elaborate towering treehouse accommodations. My home, however, was one of 18 overwater villas flanked by native mangroves arching their roots into the tepid Caribbean Sea. I couldn\u2019t wait to join them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-78080 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/IMG_181978-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Life here, naturally, revolves around the water. A day is well spent exploring the island setting aboard a kayak while frigatebirds circle and play in the thermal updrafts overhead. My snorkeling adventure off nearby Bastimentos Island included a pit stop in the shallows of a small mangrove island in an area that my guide referred to as Hollywood. The reason? Rather than celebrities, orange starfish lounge beneath the sparkling surf, an underwater Walk of Fame lining the sandy seafloor. In such a relaxed aquatic environment, it didn\u2019t come as a surprise when one barefooted guest showed up to dinner that night in a wet bathing suit. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to get judged here,\u201d Nayara Bocas del Toro Founder Dan Behm reassures me. \u201cWe strive for casual elegance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-78078 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/IMG_17268-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This part of Panama still has the feel of a new frontier, and Behm is working hard to make sure it stays that way. While guests\u2019 comfort is key, the two-year-old property is equally focused on preserving what makes this area so special. Behm understands both the urgency of sustainability and the economic importance of ensuring others like me that they can continue to experience the area as it should be\u2014unspoiled. That\u2019s why Nayara Bocas del Toro is working with Caribbean Coral Restoration to regrow critically endangered coral around the island, including on artificial reefs that can be viewed through windows set into villa floors. \u201cWe built on this island because of the crystal-clear water and the coral reefs,\u201d Behm says. \u201cIf we lose that, we\u2019ve lost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-78079 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/06\/IMG_177848-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p>On my final night, I enjoyed a sunset cruise through Dolphin Bay with my fellow intrepid explorers: pods of dolphins returning from a day spent in the surrounding sea. As my boat glided past a pair of the playful mammals slicing through the water, I took in the distant hazy purple rainforest beneath a sherbet-orange sky aglow from the setting sun. I had mere hours left to enjoy these dreamy surroundings that felt a world away from reality. \u201cOur goal is to have this be the best experience of our guests\u2019 lifetimes and something they\u2019ll always cherish,\u201d Behm says of Nayara Bocas del Toro. He adds that a success for him is when those who visit here cry when they have to go, as they often do.<\/p>\n<p>There were no tears in my eyes when I hopped aboard the boat to head back home, but I felt better off \u2014 for there was a big smile on my face.<\/p>\n<h4>Night at the Museum<\/h4>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-78082\" src=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/IMG_1655.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" \/>Panama City is a must-see destination when traveling to or from Nayara Bocas del Toro, and walking through the doors of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hyatt.com\/en-US\/hotel\/panama\/hotel-la-compania\/ptyub\" target=\"_blank\">Hotel La Compa\u00f1\u00eda<\/a> in the colorful Casco Antiguo neighborhood is like stepping into a history book. \u201cThe Hotel La Compa\u00f1\u00eda is more a destination than a hotel,\u201d General Manager Fidel Reyes explains of the sprawling property that took nine years to complete and just opened last year.<\/p>\n<p>Known as the \u201cLiving Museum,\u201d the hotel takes up a full city block and is divided into three sections that reflect the area\u2019s multicultural roots: the American wing played host to the American Bazaar clothing store in the early 20th century, the French wing housed Central America\u2019s first university in the mid-1700s, while the Spanish wing was a convent in the 1600s. Even the gnarled avocado tree in the hotel\u2019s expansive central courtyard dates back 150 years. A tour of the hotel\u2019s gorgeous inner spaces reveals even more thoughtful historical touches, including framed Panama Canal documents, a vintage photo exhibition and massive marble reliefs showcasing buccaneer Sir Henry Morgan and explorer Vasco Nu\u00f1ez de Balboa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28964,"featured_media":78075,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[16,6511],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.5 (Yoast SEO v20.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Inside Nayara Bocas del Toro&#039;s Off-the-Grid Experience in Panama<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nayara Bocas del Toro is an island paradise in Panama dotted with several elaborate towering treehouse accommodations\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/nayara-bocas-del-toro-panama-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GRAZIA Travel Guide: Bocas del Toro \u2014 Guests at Nayara Bocas del Toro Go Off the Grid &amp; 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