asa Cavada! It sounds like a spell from the world of Harry Potter. But there is a magic to this 8,300-square-foot, four-bedroom villa, and it has nothing to do with wands. It has everything, as I found during a stay this past winter, to do with discreet hospitality in a jungle-luxe setting where daily discoveries range from a new anejo rums to new lizard species. Opened last year, Casa Cavada ($20,000 to $50,000 a night, depending on the season) is the new centerpiece of Islas Secas, the 32-guest-max private-island resort in Panama's Gulf of Chiriqui.
Isla Secas Archipelago, Panama
Conjured from local volcanic stone and eucalyptus trunks and outfitted with indoor-outdoor showers and linen-canopied four-poster beds, the villa conspired to keep me in situ as I rummaged through its vintage National Geographics and surveyed the resort's many Indigenous artifacts. I repeatedly summoned the on-call bartender and explored every inch of the 83-foot infinity pool that reflected the cotton-candy sunsets like a mirror.
But I couldn't isolate forever. Islas Secas' aquarians and naturalists came prepared with a summer camp's worth of archipelago activities. I Seabob-ed across a coral reef, hiked through petrified termite nests and strangling figs, snorkeled with parrotfish and jellies the size of Skittles, spotted magnificent frigatebirds and blue-footed boobies and marooned myself on a literal desert island, where the resort's staff had set up a posh little beach club, grilled lobsters and served ceviche in hollowed coconuts. I wished, unsuccessfully, for no one to rescue me.
SELECT
SELECT & REPLAC
DETAILS:
The only way to get to Islas Secas is to book the resort's own propeller plane, which departs from the private terminal at Panama's Tocumen International Airport; you'll fly across the country (and over the canal) before landing at the resort's airstrip an hour away. Your travel advisor can secure SELECT perks, including a $100 resort credit. $$$$
E WITH ANOTHER TEMPLATE
& REPLACE WITH ANOTHER TEMPLATE
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