The Buenaventura sits inside a gated beach community in Río Hato, on Panama’s Pacific coast, about 74 miles from Panama City’s Tocumen airport. It’s where people from the capital go to slow down, which tells you a lot about the pace: quiet, green, and built around lagoons, gardens, and a long stretch of beach.

The golf is the main reason to come. Buenaventura Golf Club is a par-72 Nicklaus Design course that opened in 2012 as the first Nicklaus layout in Panama. It stretches to 7,383 yards from the back tees with a slope of 139, so there’s plenty of challenge if you want it, though most players will be happier on the gold (6,883 yards) or silver (6,277 yards) tees. Expect rolling paspalum fairways, bright white bunkers, water in play, and big old Corotú trees framing many of the holes. It isn’t an oceanfront course (you only catch the Pacific from one par 3), but the conditioning is what people remember. It was named Panama’s best course in 2021, and weekday rounds tend to move quickly.

The resort has 114 rooms and four villas, all with balconies and decorated with local touches like hand-woven baskets from Panama’s central provinces. Dining covers more ground than you’d expect:

• Criollo for all-day international food
• Tai Kai for sushi and teppanyaki
• El Faro Beach Club for seafood by the water
• Taguar for poolside bites

There’s also a spa, a 24-hour gym, an adults-only pool with a swim-up bar, and a marina for fishing and boat trips.

For a day off, El Valle de Antón, a town set inside an old volcanic crater with hiking trails and waterfalls, is about an hour away. Playa Blanca and Santa Clara beaches are both a short drive.