Named the number one resort in Central America in the Condé Nast Traveler 2025 Readers' Choice Awards.
Travelers who voted in the 38th annual Readers' Choice Awards, one of the most trusted recognitions in travel.
The travel time from the U.S. to Panama, on average, compared with the Maldives. Proximity is the new luxury.
In short: Nayara Bocas del Toro has been named the number one resort in Central America in the Condé Nast Traveler 2025 Readers' Choice Awards. More than 757,000 travelers voted. The recognition reflects a shift in luxury travel: proximity over distance, biodiversity over uniformity, and regeneration over extraction.
The Overwater Dream, Closer to Home
For decades, the overwater bungalow belonged to the Maldives, Bora Bora, and Tahiti. Twenty-hour flights, jet lag, and heavy carbon footprints turned the fantasy into a contradiction.
Bocas is different. Coral gardens glow beneath your deck, mangroves stretch into the sea, and tropical rainforest meets reef. That biodiversity is why the archipelago is known as the Galapagos of the Caribbean. And it has just been recognized.
Nayara Bocas del Toro has been named the number one resort in Central America in the Condé Nast Traveler 2025 Readers' Choice Awards. The signal is clear: today's traveler no longer measures luxury in miles flown. From the U.S., the travel time to Panama averages one-third that of the Maldives. Less stress, fewer connections, and more sunsets that actually belong to you.
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A Place That Evolved Without Losing Itself
More than 757,000 travelers took part in the 38th annual Readers' Choice Awards, one of the most trusted recognitions in global travel. It is not just a ranking. It is a reflection of how travelers see the future of luxury: authentic, sustainable, and firmly rooted in place.
Not long ago, Bocas del Toro was known mainly to backpackers and surfers chasing empty breaks. Then something rare happened: it began to evolve without losing itself. Forbes called it "about to become the coolest place on Earth," a statement not about hype but transformation. Over the past five years, Panama has invested in infrastructure that supports low-impact tourism: upgraded air connections from Panama City, a modernized hospital on Isla Colón, fiber-optic connectivity, and a planned airport expansion designed for sustainable traffic rather than mass tourism. Unlike islands that surrendered to overdevelopment, Bocas merges exclusivity with ecology.
Overwater Villas Built for Privacy
Proximity turns honeymoons from logistical marathons into effortless escapes, and anniversaries into long weekends rather than week-long expeditions. It gives the gift of time, which may be the most valuable currency of romance.
Bocas is proudly adults-only, and that choice shapes everything. The villas are not just overwater. They are private sanctuaries designed for couples, each with a plunge pool, a wrap-around deck, and a ladder descending straight into the Caribbean. Romance here is not staged. It is built into the architecture, the landscape, and the rhythm of the resort.
A New Standard for All-Inclusive
The term all-inclusive often conjures buffets, wristbands, and overcrowded beaches. A new era is emerging, built on elevated experience rather than uniformity. The Zoe Report frames the shift: as a luxury experience, it is best described as all-encompassing rather than all-inclusive.
No lines. A private island where comfort, cuisine, and connection coexist without compromise, so couples can focus on each other, not logistics. Every meal is fine dining, every drink is hand-crafted, and the kayaks, paddleboards, and snorkel gear are not checked out. They are simply waiting at your villa.
Where Rainforest and Reef Connect
Unlike the Galápagos, Bocas connects marine and rainforest biomes in a single corridor. Isla Bastimentos National Marine Park meets the mainland's Palo Seco Forest Reserve, an unbroken passage from cloud forest to coral reef. Few places on Earth let you see monkeys, sloths, and parrotfish in the same hour.
Exploring it with your own private boat and captain is freedom made for two. A day might begin on the untouched sands of Zapatilla, where a private picnic waits on the beach, and end with dolphin pods leaping beside you at sunset. Along the way, cacao still harvested by hand, capuchins on Monkey Island, sloths in the treetops. Add the Ngäbe-Buglé Indigenous communities, Afro-Antillean heritage, and a new wave of regenerative tourism, and you get an archipelago where biodiversity and humanity coexist. When night falls, bioluminescent waters glow with every stroke.
Treehouses in the Rainforest Canopy
While the overwater villas bring you to the sea, the luxury treehouses, suspended 50 feet up, carry you into the forest. Conceived by the design studio IBUKU, each was crafted from hardwood salvaged from the bottom of the Panama Canal, a material that lends both strength and a tie to Panama's history. Read: IBUKU Treehouses →
Wellness rises with the new Calibri Treehouse Spa: couples' massages in the canopy, yoga where light filters through the leaves, and rituals built on native cacao, volcanic mud, and tropical botanicals. The Maldives, Bora Bora, and Tahiti will always inspire, but they are oceans away. Bocas offers the same dream, closer, richer, and designed entirely for romance.
Explore the Full Bocas Series
The private island Condé Nast Traveler readers named #1 in Central America, from the seabed up.
01 How We Built an Off-Grid Resort on a Private Island → 02 Building a City Beneath the Sea: Coral Reef Restoration → 03 IBUKU Treehouses at Nayara Bocas del Toro → 04 5 Interesting Facts About Bocas del Toro → 05 The Galapagos of the Caribbean: Nayara Bocas del Toro →Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Nayara Bocas del Toro named #1 in Central America?+
Why does the Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Award matter?+
How is Nayara Bocas del Toro different from the Maldives?+
Is Nayara Bocas del Toro sustainable?+
Is Nayara Bocas del Toro adults-only?+
What is the best time to visit Bocas del Toro?+
- Condé Nast Traveler: Readers' Choice Awards 2025, Nayara Bocas del Toro #1 in Central America
- Forbes: why Bocas del Toro is emerging as Latin America's next icon of eco-luxury
- IBUKU Design Studio: the architecture behind the treehouses
- Visit Panama: official travel guide for Bocas del Toro
The Number One Resort in Central America
Overwater villas, rainforest treehouses, and a private island in Panama, reserved for adults.
