Thoughts or recommendations for South & Central America

Thanks 4 reading...

One of my oldest closest friends has her birthday coming up in April. She is not the type to go out very often or treat herself very often, & shes had a tough few years and is now in nursing school. Neither of us makes a big deal or really cares about birthdays but I figured this years would be a good opportunity to get her a gift. Id like to surprise her with plane tickets for a future travel. My issues are that 1) the further out the better for obvious reasons and 2) because of nursing school she has barely any free time. I think she gets 1 week of break inbetween spring and summer sessions.

That being said, Ive always wanted to travel together or a different country. We're both guineas from the east coast & Italy was going to be the obvious choice but I dont think thats gonna be feasible or affordable for a few years. So i turned my attention to this hemisphere. Ive been poking around google flights here & there to see whats up & there are much more affordable accessible options for us.

From Guatemala south to Peru & all the countries in between, there are pretty reasonable flights. As for what I'm looking for...I would like it to be somewhat leisurely & relaxing but we're both fairly restless. We both love the beach, especially her, & I do love the city...I like to go out to the clubs, & Im a gay dude so any sorta scene like that will do. Ive considered everything from a long weekend style trip to 2 weeks. I did some research into Panama City, Cartagena, now Guatemala. We're from Boston so we know a lot of people from Medellin and Bogota so ive heard so much about those cities. Was wondering what the sub might think or recommend? Places I havent thought of yet? Other considerations i havent taken? Bear in mind this will definitely be post summer 2021...plus i have to figure out when she'll have time. Hopefully i gave you just enough details of what we enjoy, even if its pretty broad.

Much appreciate guys thank u so much!