I had lived in Nicaragua for a year. The people are very nice but very poor. The country is a dictatorship and has lots of investment from China, Russia and maybe Iran soon. But I am not confident that will actually improve the situation for the locals. It was a interesting experience, but the country doesn't have a potable water system, everything is bottled or heavily filtered, you may not have water in the day, or for days. The power is the other issue, it was about 92 Volts when I was there in San Juan del Sur, and basic UPS and electronics have a hard time with that. The internet was mostly ok, I recommend ASDL over Cable or Wireless as when the power goes out ADSL stays up when the others do not. Cell coverage is ok but you need a dual sim phone and a prepago for both companies. If you call a friend on the other service it was 60 cents a minute. So a dual sim phone. I left because the government had started to screw with killing vpn access via their central router. The last time I was there it seemed that had given that up. The food is great, I could just walk or bike down to the pier and pick up a complete cleaned fish for about $5 and eat fish for 3 or 4 days. Many places to live, just don't be flashy if you have perceived wealth, people are poor and with that there are those that will want what you have. But if you are cautious, it is a nice place to live.

I am currently living in Panama for 2 1/2 years and it is a nice country, the people are a bit cold at first, but once you get to know them they break out of their shell and are most fairly nice people. They are a busy people and have little time for a life outside of work it seems, but when they go out they party hard and let loose. Food here is expensive and getting more expensive all the time. Milk is about $6 a USGal. Rent in the city is crazy and the costs of housing equal. But infrastructure is currently solid, but deteriorating. I believe the housing market is in a growing bubble and may soon collapse, so there will be some good investment opportunities in the next few years. The country's government seems to be stable, police are not overly corrupt, but bribes are requested at traffic stops from time to time. Same as in Nicaragua. The water and road infrastructure is falling apart here in Panama. Many potholes and water breaks. There is a constant flowing of water on several streets in the city, one I know of the most is near Pricesmart, the road there is constantly wet. Traffic is crazy, to many people and poor road design. They are building out the metro rail system and that will help and have a decent bus system. I use a motorcycle, but you have to be very aware here or become roadkill.

But all in all, Nicaragua is the better lifestyle for living on the beach if you don't mind the higher costs of electronics and know how to live life off the grid a bit. It is much cheaper place to live. Panama if you are want a more 1st world experience with healthcare, and infrastructure. But the prices here are similar to US prices and getting more expensive all the time.

Hope this helps some.