Video: Islas Secas
Gulf of Chiriquí · Private island
Islas Secas is a private Pacific archipelago in Panama’s Gulf of Chiriquí: casitas in the trees, Casa Cavada as the signature residence, and a buyout culture built…
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Gulf of Chiriquí · Private island
Islas Secas is a private Pacific archipelago in Panama’s Gulf of Chiriquí: casitas in the trees, Casa Cavada as the signature residence, and a buyout culture built for households who want an island that still behaves like one. Exclusive Villa Collection holds the stay by inquiry: we confirm availability with the house and hold the right casita or full-island conversation before the calendar hardens.
Mornings move from beach and reef to spa shade; evenings return to open-air dining with the Gulf as the room. Pair it with Amanpulo or Mandarin Oriental Canouan when a second private-island stay belongs in the same year.
The Gulf of Chiriquí lies on Panama’s Pacific coast, in the west of the country toward Costa Rica. Islas Secas reads as an archipelago rather than a single island, so the week has variety without leaving the house: beaches to choose between, reef and open water close at hand, and forest behind the casitas.
Couples and small parties take individual casitas, set among the trees and open to Pacific light. Families and celebrations that need a house rather than rooms take Casa Cavada, the residence-scale option with an infinity edge above the Gulf. Larger groups, or anyone who wants the islands entirely to themselves, can take the whole archipelago, and quieter shoulder weeks lend themselves to a buyout. See our Islas Secas stay page, and the Private Islands collection for its companions in Fiji, Belize and the Philippines.
For Panama as a whole, with its seasons and the charter from Panama City, see our Panama country guide.
Why visit
In motion
Below the surface of the Gulf of Chiriquí: reef fish, rays and clear Pacific water around the archipelago.
Featured properties
Houses we know by name, the ones we would open for this landscape.
When and how
Each season keeps its own calendar. We plan the transfer around it.
Best time to visit
Panama’s Pacific dry season runs roughly from mid-December to April, with brighter skies and calmer water, the classic window for beach and marine days. It is also when holiday weeks fill first. May to November is the green season, with warm afternoon rain and the islands at their lushest, and from about July to October humpback whales migrate through Panama’s Pacific waters. Shoulder weeks are quieter, ideal for taking the whole island.
Airport / logistics
International flights arrive at Tocumen International in Panama City. From Panama City, a private charter flies to the Islas Secas airstrip, so the last leg is part of the stay rather than a transfer. We arrange the charter with the casita or Casa Cavada, and dietary and celebration notes are shared ahead of arrival.
Month by month
Seasons follow the notes above. Average daily high and monthly rainfall for 2015 to 2024 from ERA5 reanalysis, via Open-Meteo.
Luxury experiences
Ways of traveling
Begin with the collection that holds these houses and shores.
Collection
Islands held by a single house: a Pacific archipelago off Panama, a 3,015-acre Fijian island, two islands off Belize and Aman’s Pamalican, each reached by private airstrip or boat.
Open the collectionCollection
Weddings, vow renewals, milestones, reunions and retreats at the houses we know best: a forest wedding in Phuket, a Tuscan hamlet, a lodge beneath the aurora, or an island with no other guests.
Open the collectionFrom the Journal
Where we write about this place: the seasons, the houses and how the days are best arranged.
Journal · 7 min read
Islas Secas, Panama’s fourteen-island private archipelago, and seven kindred escapes in Belize, Dominica, Turks and Caicos, the Grenadines and Costa Rica for a second chapter or a longer journey.
Read the storyJournal · 6 min read
LAUCALA, Cayo Espanto, Islas Secas, Amanpulo, Bawah Reserve, and Cheval Blanc Randheli: six islands that still behave like islands, and how to reach them.
Read the storyRelated destinations
Landscapes that sit well beside this one.
Destination
The great North of the Americas: the Alaska Range and its glaciers, salmon rivers without roads, and Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, a short flight west of Anchorage.
Indonesia
The Anambas Islands: six islands, three marine reserve lagoons, and thirteen beaches in Indonesia’s Riau Islands, home to Bawah Reserve and curated by Exclusive Villa Collection.
Destination
Antarctica with Exclusive Villa Collection: the continent’s interior, reached by air from Cape Town, with White Desert’s three camps in Queen Maud Land, the South Pole and the emperor penguins.
Costa Rica
The rainforest foothills of Arenal Volcano above La Fortuna, where Amor Arenal keeps thirty-one casitas on the edge of a forest canyon.
Destination
Argentina’s wine country at the foot of the Andes, where The Vines Resort & Spa keeps thirty-three villas within 1,500 acres of private vineyards in the Uco Valley.
Destination
Austria with Exclusive Villa Collection: Lake Grundlsee and Villa Anna, an alpine-lake house arranged by inquiry.
New Zealand
New Zealand’s subtropical far north: 144 islands, sheltered coves and historic Russell, home to Paroa Bay and Sage Restaurant.
Destination
Belize’s Ambergris Caye corridor and a true private island: Cayo Espanto, a handful of villas off San Pedro.
Destination
Bhutan’s multi-lodge journey: Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey, Bumthang when the kingdom should feel like dzongs, valleys, and Aman lodges linked as one circuit.
Destination
Bodrum’s Aegean stone cottages: Turkish coast when the week wants whitewashed privacy, olive shade, and villa-scale Aman by the sea.
Destination
Okavango Delta floodplains, private concessions bordering Moremi, and Exclusive Villa Collection’s Botswana stay through andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge.
Destination
A Grenadines island that still feels like a private map: reef water, a quiet airstrip, and houses that keep their own shore, including Mandarin Oriental, Canouan on Godahl Beach.
Plan My Trip
Tell us the season, the company, and the feeling you want to keep. We will write back with a considered path, not a link to a search.
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