Surfing in Santa Catalina with an 11 year old boy, Panama
Santa Catalina – Panamá
Our journey was coming to an end. This time we were visiting our penultimate destination. It was going to be our last time at sea and our last time surfing, so I tried to make the most of it.
In Santa Catalina, more exactly in Playa Estero, I had the opportunity to meet Isauro. A boy of only 11 years old with a lot of surfing skills. I asked him a couple of questions which I captured in this video. Impressive.
I would only recommend visiting this destination for 3 reasons.
- First if you plan to go to Coiba Island,
- If you want to surf.
- If you want to dive.
The small and quiet village located on the Pacific coast of Panama with approximately 300 inhabitants. It lacks activities to do but is a highly recommended place for surfing or diving. There are no ATMs and the internet does not work properly.
We stayed in Santa Catalina but the closest beach to this town was not very good for surfing so we were forced to walk for almost 40 minutes to the recommended beach called Playa Estero. This is a huge beach where the tide moves quite a lot. The sand is not very clean but you are only going to go surfing. The waves are usually very good and the water temperature is perfect. There are places where the waves get higher than normal and are perfect for advanced surfers. But there are also places for beginners.
Playa Estero has a couple of restaurants and also has a few hostels. I would recommend staying at Playa Estero rather than Santa Catalina although the beach at Santa Catalina is nicer. Right in front of the beach at Playa Estero is a surf camp which makes for a great surfing experience in this region. They have accommodation, restaurant and much more.
We heard that diving in this region was really good for the amount of marine species that live in its waters but unfortunately we did not have the financial resources to take advantage of this activity. However, I was already very happy with my experience in Útila, Honduras.
There are several options for lodging in Santa Catalina and prices per night start at USD $10. Here is a page where you can find more information about lodging:
http://www.santacatalinabeach.com/stay
