Santa Catalina exists at the edge—where Panama's Pacific coast turns rugged and the surf becomes legendary. The village retains a rawness that development has not yet eroded: unpaved roads, dense jungle pressing against the shore, a community shaped by fishing and waves. The nearby island of Coiba—a UNESCO World Heritage site—defines the diving culture of the region. Here, nature operates on its own terms, and any intervention demands both humility and vision.

Las Costas emerges from the ambition to establish a new paradigm for coastal development in Santa Catalina—one that balances hospitality, community, and environmental stewardship. The project encompasses hotel accommodations, short-term apartments, residential units, a restaurant, and a pool complex designed not merely for recreation but as a dedicated dive training facility capable of supporting PADI certification. Rather than impose a singular monolithic structure, the design disperses programmatic elements across the site, allowing natural circulation, preserving sightlines, and maintaining the character of the coastal terrain.

The pool complex represents both a technical achievement and a conceptual statement. Designed with sufficient depth and clarity to accommodate diving instruction and certification courses, it transforms a conventional resort amenity into an educational and experiential asset—contributing meaningfully to Santa Catalina's identity as a world-class diving destination while honoring the ecological systems that make it extraordinary. The restaurant and bar functions as a social anchor, designed to serve both guests and the community, a deliberate gesture toward integration rather than enclosure.

Las Costas is, ultimately, an exercise in calibrated ambition. It acknowledges the tension inherent in development: the desire to create something meaningful without compromising what already exists. A place where scale need not preclude sensitivity, where architecture's highest purpose is not to dominate a landscape but to reveal its potential. A destination designed to welcome, to gather, and to endure.