Our architect Joe Dolan is spending the better part of this month on Isla Palenque, helping with the surveying and site preparation going on right now. Joe just published a blog post about our incredible beach, Playa Palenque. It got me thinking about my first time there with Amble President Ben Loomis, and how it has influenced the planning of the development of our Panama vacation homes in a profound way.
Playa Palenque takes up most of the island’s southwest side. On my first visit to the island we landed our boat there – it was amazing. I’d never in my life been on a huge, beautiful beach without another soul on it. I’d also never seen or felt such exotic, fine-grained, black, volcanic sand. The movement of the tide emphasizes the difference between the heavier beige sand and the lighter black in the sand mix, making zebra stripes all along the 3/4 mile tide line. When you dig into it when its wet, though, it seems a primordial black. We spent most of the day just swimming and sunning in a truly secluded part of the world. That kind of isolated feel is thrilling at first, and then it becomes deeply, deeply relaxing. It’s hard to believe the rest of the world is still moving and doing things, because time seems to stand still.
We want residents and guests of the island to be able to enjoy it the way we did way at the beginning, so Playa Palenque will remain nearly this pristine even after all phases of development are complete. Our master plan shows a few homes planned along this beach in later phases, but they will be set back further than homes on other parts of the coast, making sure this perfect beach retains that secluded, remote feel. The planned beach amenities (towel service, snack bar, beach dining, etc.) will be light structures that barely disturb the earth and can even be broken down without too much trouble. When you arrive on Playa Palenque from your island home or the boutique hotel, you’ll be able to feel the essence of what we felt on that first day: that you’re an intrepid explorer, and you’ve found your Shangri-La.
Playa Palenque: zebra-stripped
Playa Palenque's beige and black sand
- Stripes…trees…more stripes. Repeat.
