Known for being a transit country because of the Panama Canal, this Latin American country also offers beautiful natural landscapes that attract visitors from all over the world. With so many options including paradisiac beaches and stunning nature, Panama has a new reason to visit the country. Bocas Bali, an island resort in Panama, has recently launched the world’s first aerial beach.
Located on Panama’s Frangipani Island, in Bocas del Toro, the completion of the over-water, named Kupu-Kupu, allows guests to soak up the sun while sitting above the waves before entering the water via its stairs. Guests can also go snorkeling and kayaking, among other non-motorized water sports on offer.
The 90 feet long and 20 feet wide aerial was designed by Andres Brenes, an architect from Costa Rica. It was created to avoid disturbing the island’s natural mangroves and coral. It took nine months to build using little modern machinery, according to the owner and founder of Bocas Bali, Dan Behm.
In an interview with CNN, he said the only thing that the island retreat was missing was a beach.
“When we were first introduced to the private island I needed a little convincing to see past the absence of a white sand beach, but the island had everything else and some things I didn’t even know I wanted, so we started to think about how we could construct a beach that looked to be part of the island without any negative impact to the mangroves, coral or surrounding sea life,” Behm told CNN.
Claiming that Kupu-Kupu is the world’s first aerial beach may sound inaccurate as artificial beaches can be found in destinations all over the world. However, Behm explained that this beach built on pilings over the water is the first of its kind in the world.
“After we researched the more traditional manmade options, we realized we were going to have to get creative and we did. We know of several floating beaches in the world (where the beach is built directly on top of the water) which would have been a lot easier, but was not possible in our case as they would have damaged the mangroves and coral,” he said.
Boca Bali offers 16 stilted overwater villas that were crafted in Bali and then shipped to this country in Central America. Some come with private pools, and others have a glass floor inlay, allowing guests to view the sea life below.
This luxury resort in Panama has rates starting at $1100 per night during the peak season. It has a limited carbon footprint and is 100 percent off the grid thanks to the use of solar energy and an eco-friendly wastewater treatment system.
