Do you dream of living the easy stress-free resort life, but are held back by the high cost of living in most resort communities? Look no further than Coronado, Panama. Coronado is Panama’s oldest and most well-established resort development. The Coronado Es Vida (“Coronado is Life”) development is a planned community, within its very large gated area you’ll find grocery stores, a medical clinic, all the amenities of life, as well as a large golf course, and of course a beautiful beachfront as well! And speaking of the beach, you’ve heard of white sand beaches, and the rarer more exotic black sand beaches — Coronado has an extremely rare white-and-black sand beach! The beach is mostly brilliantly white but also contains beautiful sparkling swirls of black sand.
There is a sizable expat community living in Coronado so you’ll have no shortage of social interaction with like-minded digital nomads or retirees. In fact, you will get by speaking very little Spanish. Additionally, Coronado is only an hour away from Panama City, so you’ll have easy access to the airport or any city diversions you might desire.
Cost of Living
Rent for a two-bedroom apartment or small house is $1,100 to $1,800 per month. Expect to spend $350-$450 per month on groceries. Internet will be about $20-$35. Altogether your expenses will run around $1,757-$2,975.
Things to Do
Being on the Pacific coast of Panama, there’s no shortage of all the usual water-sports: surfing, boating, windsurfing, kite surfing, diving, fishing, or just hanging out on the beach
A little bit of everything
Within the resort community, there are three malls, five different shopping plazas, three 24 hour supermarkets, hardware stores, banks, a veterinary clinic, a hospital, medical clinic, and pharmacies, churches/synagogues (Catholic, non-denominational Christian, Jewish, and Jehovah’s Witness) — if you’re a bit of a homebody who doesn’t want to ever have to venture out of the community, you really don’t have to! Additionally, the community features a large world-class golf course designed by world-renowned golf course designer Tom Fazio. So, if golf is your hobby and your idea of paradise is to have everything you need close at hand including an excellent golf course and all for very affordable cost of living, this right here is definitely your paradise!
Hang out with others
Being a digital nomad or retiree is often a solitary pursuit in one’s day to day occupation, so you’ll be glad to hear that because there’s such a large expat community within Coronado, there are many social clubs one can get involved with or volunteer organizations where one can get involved doing something charitable in the local community during their leisure hours.
Skydiving or Horseback Riding
Because Panamanians have been coming to Coronado for a vacation escape from Panama City for decades, there’s no shortage of things to do outside the resort as well. You can get involved in many more specialty hobbies not available everywhere else — there’s a nearby skydiving center and an equestrian center.
Spend Time with Nature
Coronado is located near the center of Panama so there’s no shortage of day trips to other nice areas within Panama. The Altos de Campana is a nearby national park just inland of Coronado with beautiful hiking trails and fantastic bird life. Also, not far off is Punta Chame, a long spit of land extending out into the Pacific Ocean with beautiful beaches, lots of native wildlife, and good kite surfing. See dozens of different types of butterflies at the butterfly haven in nearby Valle de Anton. The number of beautiful national parks and natural places where you can go hiking or see gorgeous natural places within an hour or two drive of Coronado would take pages to list. Suffice to say, if you want to spend every weekend doing day trips to other beautiful places in the surrounding region you will have absolutely no shortage of things to do.
In Conclusion
If you want all the comforts of living in a resort community, but with nearly limitless options for activities in the surrounding area and all for a cost of living much lower than you’ll find even in boring suburbs in the US, Coronado is the place for you!