The beach at Nombre de Dios is the village's living room. A wide crescent of dark volcanic sand — typical of Panama's Caribbean coast — with calm water and an almost complete absence of other tourists. Fishing boats are pulled up on the shore in the morning, and the rhythm of Afro-Caribbean village life plays out around you.
Swimming is generally safe and the water warm year-round. The beach stretches for a kilometre or so and remains undeveloped; there are no resorts, no beach bars with menus in English, and no jet-ski rentals. That is precisely the point. If you want a Caribbean beach without any of the Caribbean tourism industry, this is it.