Tikal at sunrise or sunset
From La Lancha, guided visits to Tikal at sunrise or sunset, less than an hour away, booked a day ahead.
Central America by Private Jet
Four countries in 10 nights, from the Belize reef to the islands of Panama.
- 10 nights
- Five stays
- Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama
- Private jet, reef, Maya, rainforest
A small private jet and light aircraft link four countries, so each day goes on the place rather than the journey. The Belize barrier reef, Tikal at sunrise or sunset and La Danta at El Mirador by helicopter, the Osa rainforest by night, the canal, and a gulf of Pacific islands where humpback whales come to breed.
- Length
- 10 nights
- Pace
- Five stays
- Style
- Private jet, reef, Maya, rainforest
- Route
- Placencia to Petén to Osa Peninsula to Panama City to Gulf of Chiriquí
- PlacenciaTwo nights
- PeténTwo nights
- Osa PeninsulaTwo nights
- Panama CityOne night
- Gulf of ChiriquíThree nights
01
Days 1 to 3 · two nights
Placencia
A private jet from Miami to the southern coast of Belize. A boat out to Laughing Bird Caye and Moho Caye to snorkel the reef, with a barbecue lunch on a private caye. Inland, a guided day at the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Jaguar Preserve, or at the Maya site of Lubaantun and the Rio Blanco waterfalls.
Where you stay
Turtle Inn
Turtle Inn sits on the sand at Placencia, a stretch of beach Francis and Eleanor Coppola found in 2001, with 28 thatched dwellings furnished in hand-carved Balinese wood. Dinner is at Mare or the Gauguin Grill, there is the Sunset Spa and a dive shop, and Placencia village is a short walk along the shore.
02
Days 3 to 5 · two nights
Petén
A light aircraft over the Great Blue Hole to northern Guatemala. Tikal, where more than 3,000 structures stand among the trees, at sunrise or after the crowds have gone at sunset, with a private talk on the Maya. A helicopter over the canopy to El Mirador to hike to its great pyramid, La Danta, and an evening on Lake Petén Itzá, or tortillas made by hand in the lodge kitchen.
Where you stay
La Lancha
La Lancha is a 10-room lodge set in the rainforest above the shores of Lake Petén Itzá, furnished with Guatemalan textiles, carvings and furniture chosen by Francis and Eleanor Coppola. Tikal, where more than 3,000 structures stand among the trees, is a short drive into the forest.
03
Days 5 to 7 · two nights
Osa Peninsula
A longer flight south to Costa Rica. A sunset ride to the beach, a night walk through the Lapa Rios reserve for red-eyed tree frogs and kinkajous, a boat and snorkel in the Golfo Dulce, and a hike to a waterfall. The lodge's sustainability tour goes behind the scenes, to some 240 solar panels, the water turbines, the organic gardens and the pig pens.
Where you stay
Lapa Rios Lodge
Lapa Rios Lodge stands in a private reserve of 1,000 acres on the Osa Peninsula, near Corcovado National Park, as part of an effort to protect the last tropical lowland rainforests of Central America. Scarlet macaws, sloths, monkeys and more than 300 species of birds live in the forest around the suites.
04
Days 7 to 8 · one night
Panama City
By way of San José to Panama City. A walk through Casco Viejo from the 1917 building of the old Union Club, where Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth II were guests, a private coffee tasting, and the canal at Miraflores Locks. Dinner at Caleta, under a MICHELIN-starred chef.
Where you stay
Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo
Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo occupies the old Union Club, built in 1917 to a design by James C. Wright and restored to reopen as a hotel in 2022. It stands at the water's edge in the old town, with the largest pool in Casco Viejo and Ammi, a rooftop bar and grill.
05
Days 8 to 11 · three nights
Gulf of Chiriquí
A short flight to the Pacific islands of the Gulf of Chiriquí. A sunset on the water, snorkelling between the islands, a day of catch-and-release sportfishing offshore and time in the spa. Humpback whales breed here from December to April and again from July to October; researchers from Panacetacea give talks on more than 20 years of monitoring, and photographs from the boat help identify the whales by their flukes. Then a light aircraft to Panama City and the jet home.
Where you stay
Islas Secas Private Island & Reserve
Islas Secas is an archipelago of 14 remote islands in the Gulf of Chiriquí, where casitas stand in tropical gardens with plunge pools and sea views, some with steps to a private beach. Days go on diving, snorkelling, kayaking and surfing, sportfishing, birding among more than 100 species and, in season, watching humpback whales.
Arranged on request
La Danta by helicopter
A helicopter over the canopy to El Mirador and its great pyramid, La Danta.
Humpbacks with the researchers
At Islas Secas, whale watching in two seasons, December to April and July to October, with talks by Panacetacea researchers and your fluke photographs sent to whale databases.
Behind the scenes at Lapa Rios
An hour and a half among the solar panels, water turbines, organic gardens and pig pens with which the lodge cuts its carbon footprint.
The Jaguar Preserve
From Turtle Inn, a guided excursion to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Jaguar Preserve.
Subject to availability.
Ways to make it yours
- A day by boat to Coiba National Park, to hike, snorkel or dive.
- A partial transit of the Panama Canal by private yacht.
- A day on an island of your own in the Islas Secas archipelago.
This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.
Made around you
Most travel is bought. This is designed.
Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.
The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.
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