BIJAO PANAMA

Santa Clara is just 1 hour and 15 minutes from Panama City. The great majority of the drive is on the fairly well maintained Pan-American Highway.  After about 62 miles (100kms), look for the signs and turn left at arrows for Playa Santa Clara. Follow the local road a short way to the beach. This is the closest pretty Pacific beach to the city as further east are the black volcanic sands of Coronado. This region has excellent weather year-round, picturesque beaches and scenic views of Farallon Island.

Santa Clara is well known for its beautiful white sandy beach, and it is still an unspoilt corner of paradise. A little west down the coast from Farallon is the Decameron Resort, and several builders are in the midst of creating upscale private communities even farther west than that.  Nikki Beach and Playa Blanca are two of those properties.

At present in Santa Clara there are several small hotels and local restaurants close to or on the beach, and cabanas for rent, but from Monday to Friday the beach can be yours alone, apart from the local fishermen who unload their day’s catch. The freshly caught corvina is served in the local restaurants and is cheap and delicious.

The lovely tan sand beach is excellent for walking along, and runs in both directions for miles, uninterrupted. At the water’s edge the sand is firm, and there is usually a breeze to keep temperatures bearable.

But take a sunshade if you do not wish to rent a cabana with hammocks, because it will get very, very hot during the middle of the day. There is parking for a nominal fee right on the beach, and unlike most Panamanian public beaches, toilets and showers are also provided. Swimming is good and comparatively safe in the clear waters of Santa Clara Beach.

Grupo Provivienda is Building Again, and this Time on a Pacific Tropical Beach!

One of Panama’s top real estate developers for over 10 years, producing highly acclaimed projects such as Clayton Park, Acqua II and McGregor Heights is now offering homes and condos on Panama’s renowned Pacific coast. Situated close to Santa Clara, and just over an hour’s drive from Panama City, Bijao Resort makes an ideal second home, snowbird retreat, or retirement residence.

The architect, Gustavo Arango, has put together a choice of floor plans, all with Panama Canal style architecture to complement this breezy tropical landscape which is sure to lure visitors from all four corners of the world. If lying back on a white sand sunny beach, with guaranteed temperatures of 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit (23-29 degrees Celsius) is not your idea of paradise, then jump in your golf buggy with friends and neighbors and work out on Ron Garl’s 9-hole par 36 golf course. Membership of this exclusive course is of course included in the purchase of any home or condo at Bijao.

The architect, Gustavo Arango, has put together a choice of floor plans, all with Panama Canal style architecture to complement this breezy tropical landscape which is sure to lure visitors from all four corners of the world. If lying back on a white sand sunny beach, with guaranteed temperatures of 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit (23-29 degrees Celsius) is not your idea of paradise, then jump in your golf buggy with friends and neighbors and work out on Ron Garl’s 9-hole par 36 golf course. Membership of this exclusive course is of course included in the purchase of any home or condo at Bijao.
Other benefits of buying here include:

• Infinity pool with sundeck
• Golf and tennis club
• Natural preserve areas
• Walking and jogging trails
• Squash court
• Beach volleyball court

Town Center with restaurants, shops and entertainment
Add all that to your selection of wide choice of a luxury home styles at  very affordable prices and the whole family is happy! 2 bedroom, 2 bath condos start at just $185,000, while the premier homes on beachfront lots go for over a million, but can include your own ocean front swimming pool.

Where is the fountain of creative imagination that is flowing so strongly in Latin American architects and developers in Panama City, Panama? Somewhere there has to be irridescent waters dancing in a fountain of whitest marble…that initiate creativity with a single sip. Where is it? On Central America’s Pacific Ocean coastline there are world class building designs being imagineered, planned and built. What is the source of all these wonderfully innovative notions being created here and now… has everyone been secretly sipping?

In a sincere spirit of admiration one has to notice when there are designs like Revolution Tower, Panorama Bay, the Regent, the Consortium, and the Yacht Club Tower; sharing the same city limits, some new design innovations and all competing for the same market share. The greatest variation may well be in construction quality control management, but it will take time before those evaluations will be reported, and the comparisons made. And that information won’t be nearly as well publicized or as well recognized as the appearance of the new building exterior construction.

Do you wonder in the same kind of way about the names of all the buildings? Who comes up with them? The source of the name of the Bijao Resort caught my interest. First of course, I mispronounced the word at least twice. Thank heavens someone was patient enough to correct me and coach me through the momentary challenge of getting it right. It sounds like the word almost has an oriental tone to it, when it’s pronounced correctly, be as in bed, and jao is pronounced like chou (but with a jhau sound behind it). Good luck on your trial launch, may you pronounce well.

But back to the point of interest, what is a bijao? It is part of what makes the Panamanian tamale different from others. Not only is it the filling and the rich “sofrito” that adds color and a unique taste to it. Panamanians wrap their tamales in banana leaves and bijao leaves for the flavor.  ‘Bijao’ or ‘platanillo’ is one of the many varieties of Heliconia bihai L, and grows wild in Latin America. You’ve seen its flowers everywhere, they are called ‘false bird of paradise’ and add wonderful exotic flairs of color to local flower arrangements. So the next time you see a leaf wrapped tamale, you’ll know what you might be seeing – bijao wrapped sofrito. It’s a national favorite. The Provivienda Development Group hope their Bijao Resort is your Panamanian favorite.

Bijao Resort, Community & Golf is a new community about an hour west of Panama City, on the Pacific Coastline. Is it your new home? It’s a community, a retreat…a tropical home in paradise… It’s Bijao.

Our New York firm concentrates its practice to the areas of real estate, banking, corporate law. A real estate attorney from New York. We represent numerous lenders, first time buyers and sellers, developers, corporations, bankers, brokers, builders in residential and commercial real estate and corporate transactions.