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Destinations in Belize, Nicaragua and Panama made AARP magazine’s latest list of top retirement spots.

The magazine’s criteria focused on “mostly warm and sunny, attractively affordable locales with good-to-excellent health care that are hospitable to Americans of retirement age.”

That makes many of the choices something of a no-brainer. And maybe the magazine’s criteria were not as “exacting” as it claims. Most represent the safe, easy choices beloved by retirees for years.

In a big step forward for Nicaragua development, Grupo Mariana today announced a deal with Wyndham Worldwide to build an anchor hotel for the company’s large-scale coastal project.

The long-discussed Seaside Mariana Spa & Golf Resort is a 923-acre development on the Pacific Coast, including a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course and a mile of beachfront. With hundreds of condos, villas and home sites for sale, the project is easily one of Nicaragua’s most ambitious projects, geared toward an international audience.

Nicaragua tourism officials say they will invest in new infrastructure projects to attract more cruise ships, including a pier in San Juan del Sur.

The San Juan del Sur project will also include restaurants, souvenir stores and other “attractions.”

“The decision has been made to initiate the design of this development plan as soon as possible, which will probably transform the port into one of Central America’s most attractive sites,” said Nicaraguan Tourism Board president Mario Salinas, in a statement.

On the list barometers to gauge a country’s worthiness as a second home destination, IPJ contributor Claudia Gonella has found a new one—paved roads from the airport.

This may sound slightly frivolous, but there is logic to the Sore Butt Index. While some may look at long term rental yields or the number of golf courses within a 50-mile radius, for many buyers that first bumpy drive from the airport defines the experience, especially in Central America.