< Magazine Index > < Index For This Edition > < Subscribe >

In 1994, my wife Holly and I decided we wanted to raise our children in a culture outside the United States. We focused mainly on Central America, because we saw there a respect for traditional family values and we longed for a slower lifestyle. Through International Living, we discovered the island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras.  Our move there proved to be the adventure of a lifetime for the entire family. The children (Tony then 6 and Carmen 4) adapted to the island lifestyle easily and learned to speak Spanish. We purchased property on Roatan and started a development called Sundancer Cabanas.  Over the next four years, we built and sold some 20 houses on Roatan and helped many other newcomers to purchase and develop their little pieces of paradise. In early1999, as the completion of Sundancer drew near, we started to look for the next family adventure. Once again through International Living, we found yet another Caribbean frontier on the threshold of discovery: Bocas del Toro (Mouth of the Bull), Panama.  An Old World feel

Bocas Del Toro  You can find Bocas Beach Front Property in the Caribbean Property List C L I C K   H E R E This article is part of The Best of International Living Series - we have many great articles from International Living posted on our website.  We also have information on how to subscribe to International Living - It is an excellent magazine for those thinking of moving abroad.  To see more articles from International Living and to find subscription information - Click Here

Each time we fly into Bocas, we strain in our seats to see out the windows on both sides of the plane. Below, hundreds of little islands jet out of the sea. I long for a houseboat on which to cruise the calm waters, pull up to a spot and explore the unknown. That’s when it’s easy to find sloths hanging upside down from Hammond trees, red frogs hopping along the floor of the rain forest, and parrots and other exotic birds making strange sounds from high in the treetops. In the waters, dolphins and manatees swim freely in their natural habitat. And this is one of the last spots on earth where you can observe traditional Indian life undisturbed by modern civilization. 

Bocas has proved a wonderland for our family. Since it’s smaller than Roatan, there is little need for an automobile here. We travel by bicycle and on foot. There are a few taxis, and a driver will take you just about anywhere for 50 cents. Bocas’ main street is lined with small hotels, restaurants, and shops situated along the water’s edge. The buildings and houses are all painted in the traditional Caribbean colors. Pedestrians really own the paved streets.

At night, Bocas resembles a carnival, with sidewalk cafes, lit streets full of visitors, and locals strolling in and out of shops—making it difficult for the occasional car to pass. The park along the main street is full of children playing, adults sitting on park benches deep in conversation, and venders displaying their wares. These evenings in Bocas call to mind those of my youth, when I safely peddled my bike through the streets on summer nights with neighborhood friends. It’s an experience I didn’t think possible for my children anywhere in the world today. 

Why Bocas makes sense

The Smithsonian Institute has a station here and has also purchased property to construct a field university. Our son Tony, now eleven, is a volunteer with the Institute’s sea-turtle project. Each night from May to September, with fellow volunteers and staff, he takes tourists to watch the turtles come up on the beach, lay their eggs in the sand, and return to the sea. 

This archipelago has a different feel than the Bay Islands. It’s perfect for someone who has children, doesn’t require any nightlife, and doesn’t mind getting around by boat.  The weather is wonderful on both Bocas and Roatan, but I find Bocas a little milder, usually in the mid-80s (Fahrenheit). A testament to its slightly more temperate climate: Bocas has no history of tropical storms in the 140 years official records have been kept. 

Roatan is a world-class scuba-diving destination, and the development there has very much focused around that industry. In Bocas, however, more attention is being paid to a wider variety of offerings: You can dive, to be sure, but also surf, fish, water ski, and sail. Bocas, like Roatan, has a new airport, with daily flights from Panama City and San Jose, Costa Rica. We have a hospital, parks, schools, and banks. An organized local municipality means we benefit from a central sewage system and a water-treatment plant. Food is less expensive on Bocas. A seafood dinner costs less than $5; on Roatan, where there are many more expatriates and visitors, the same meal would cost twice that. Fresh fruits and vegetables seem a little more abundant on Bocas.

Panama vs. Honduras

Bocas is years behind Roatan in terms of development. From an investor’s point of view, it makes a lot of sense to buy here right now, while it’s still very early. Panama has a lot to recommend it: 

1. Though Roatan is a much more established destination for expatriate living and tourism, business structures are, in fact, more advanced in Panama than in Honduras—particularly in the banking and tourism industries. 
2. Panama is home to the world’s second-largest port, and that means that more goods are available here than on Roatan, at prices closer to what you’ll pay in the States. 
3. Roatan has little infrastructure, making it more difficult and expensive for a developer. At Sundancer in Roatan, we spent thousands of dollars installing electricity, wells, and sewage- and water-treatment facilities. At Sundancer in Bocas, however, we were able to hook up to most of these services. It saved us, and ultimately the consumer, a lot of money. Once word gets out about this place, development will come quickly—and easily.

The coming boom

Prices in Bocas right now are below what we found in Roatan when we arrived there in 1994. It’s a smart time to buy. We were lucky enough to have been in Roatan for the boom there and see the same dynamic is at work here in Bocas. 

I think that if you invest now, you will likely double or triple your investment before prices hit the wall and stop going up. It seems that when the third generation of buyers comes in, prices usually level and in some cases drop 5 percent to 10 percent before they start to rise once again. But Bocas is still at the very earliest stage of development. Now is the time to get in early. 

As for my family, we have started another Sundancer project, but this one with only six waterfront cabanas, a swimming pool, and a dock. We will also offer Sundancer owners the opportunity to trade time between the properties on Bocas and Roatan. For the most part, however, we are busy purchasing properties for ourselves and assisting other investors in acquiring properties for future development or speculation while the prices are still low. 

We have purchased a 30-acre island where we are planning 20 home sites. Each home site will also be deeded a 30-foot boat slip in the marina and a golf cart for island transportation. We are currently offering the complete package for $39,000. (A comparable package on a private island elsewhere in the Caribbean would cost well over $150,000.) 

We would be happy to assist you if you’d like to come down. In fact, we’ll be here in March to talk with the IL Discovery Tour group and would be happy to meet with you then. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with us directly by E-mail at: fcanale@aol.com.

Barbara Perriello in our tour office is just now finalizing the itinerary for that March expedition, planning to travel not only to Bocas but also to Panama City and to the interior highlands around Boquete—two other areas where we’ve identified opportunities we think will interest you. For more information, please contact Barbara at tel. (800)926-6575 or (561)243-6276, E-mail: tours@gate.net, Web site: ildiscoverytours.com. 

Making money in marinas

I think there is a great opportunity in the development of marinas here. Right now, there is only one that is finished. It is expanding, however, and there is a second on which construction has just begun. Still, I would argue that there is room for several more. The need for marinas is due in part to insurance  requirements that yacht owners move their boats out of the hurricane belt during hurricane season. Bocas is outside the belt…and provides the first safe marinas before those farther south in Venezuela. There is also a need for a haul-out for boats and even a dry-storage facility. If you’re interested in this, get in touch with me directly by E-mail at: fcanale@aol.com.
--Frank Canale

Bocas is still at the very earliest stage of development…if you invest now, you will likely double or triple your investment.