Luxury Resorts Are Booming Along Panama’s Coast. Go Here First

“Islas Secas—I’ve heard of that place,” says Richard Cahill, my guide.

We’re roaming through the historic center of Panama City, Casco Viejo, a jumble of pastel colonial-era buildings bordered by a seaside promenade. He’s just asked me what’s brought me to Panama, and I’ve told him I’m on my way to a new hotel on an archipelago miles away in the Pacific—one so hidden, not even my travel-expert colleagues have ever heard of it. The excursion is part of my mission to explore how the country’s surging economy is creating exciting luxury businesses.