BocasParadise.com
Title
Bocas del Toro Realty, Inc.
Description
What started as a vacation for three close College buddies back in the fall of 2002 has turned into the opportunity of a lifetime. Don, an ex-computer engineer with Motorola tells it like this, "we have changed our lives and we are in the process of changing the lives of the people around us by providing opportunity and education where there was none before." Tom, a wild eyed Irishman who used to manage a K-Mart puts it a little more simply, "I wake up every morning in paradise and I look forward to my day regardless of what comes at me." Chester who is the only partner not living in Panama full time speaks a bit more philosophically, "Panama is what my wife calls my 'new passion' and it's true. I may make my living here in the States but my heart is in Bocas del Toro."
In two short years these three men from widely different backgrounds have forged an alliance that is starting to pay off. "We saw an opportunity and we caught the wave" relates Tom with a huge grin on his rugged face. The other two laugh and smile with a knowledge that their partner is right on the money. They have struggled for almost two years to carve a place for themselves in a foreign land without language skills or contacts and today own a sizeable amount of property. They specialize in beachfront property because as Chester states "when people think about living in paradise, tropical beachfront is what they want." The partners are in the process of developing several small eco-friendly subdivisions on the out islands in the Bocas region. Their Villas at Playa del Paradisio project, a quaint Coastal Caribbean themed development is sold out and the sales on Driftwood Beach, and Vista Tranquilo, located on Cayo Agua are heating up. The guys also have several choice pieces of commercial property in downtown Bocas. Plans are to build two condominium projects on these parcels along with a hotel and several commercial buildings to serve the burgeoning tourist trade. "I never intended for it to get to this level" exclaims Chester "but I am very excited about the future." Vacations don't always end up like this but for these independent thinkers
Chester Kroeger has had an interest in the island lifestyle since he was a young boy growing up in the Florida Keys. While he continues to make yearly visits to his birthplace he has traveled extensively across the Caribbean and Central America. His search for "Paradise" came to fruition when he and some close friends from College vacationed in Bocas del Toro back in 2002. Today, he spends approximately four months per year in Panama while maintaining operations of the highly successful Fudpucker's restaurants in Fort Walton Beach and Destin, Florida. He is also a principal in several development businesses that have holdings in Florida and a partner in a advertising and marketing company. He holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Coastal Zone Management.
