The moist morning air riffles through your hair as you race out to the reef. The boat’s bow smacks the water in a deafening rhythm; dolphins escort you to sea. Suddenly the outer island and the waves come into view, but it’s tough to tell just how big and how hard they’re breaking. The driver cuts the engine. All goes quiet. You toss your surfboard into the warm water and dive after it.
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Panama is a relatively untapped resource within the global surf scene. While ultra-popular surf destinations like Costa Rica are beginning to be overrun with tourism, traveling surfers are just now starting to take note of other Central American countries like Panama. The Panamanian people are welcoming to travelers. The land is beautiful: Flat coastal lowlands, verdant rainforests and two sizable mountain chains dominate Panama’s geography. Twenty-nine percent of the country is protected in national parks making it home to an astonishing variety of flora and fauna. Warm, abundant and uncrowded waves draw traveling surfers. Panama boasts year-round swell with solid surf April through October, the best waves usually arriving May to June. Its wide variety of surf spots on both Caribbean and Pacific coasts offers reliable waves ranging from three feet to double-overhead, though the average surf is more like chest- to head-high.
Exploring the island of Morro Negrito, two miles off the Pacific coast and some 240 miles west of Panama City, is one of the best ways to sample Panama’s surf potential. The island itself is the shape of a dumbbell, two small islands brought together by a two-mile-long narrow stretch of sandy beach, with an endless maze of mangroves that connects the island to the mainland. Morro Negrito is home to only 80 Panamanians, who spend most of their time farming corn and rice, raising pigs and fishing in dugout canoes. There are no automobiles or roads. On Morro Negrito, life is simple.
Just beyond the island’s one-room schoolhouse, nestled among leaning palm trees and rocky beaches, is Morro Negrito Surf Camp. The camp is a simple collection of huts and concrete block buildings. Small pigs and chickens wander around aimlessly and hammocks wait for tired surfers. Accommodations consist of small bamboo and thatch huts with cots—two surfers per hut—making it just a notch above camping. Good bug netting is essential since the mosquitoes and no-see-ums can be annoying—though malaria isn’t a substantial risk in this area, as it’s west of the canal.
The buildings are powered by more than a dozen solar panels that provide enough energy to run minimal lights and a TV. Surfers gather in an open-air dining area for meals and to watch the day’s surf videos. Breakfasts of bananas, bread, watermelon and rich coffee usually start the day and plenty of tasty, though sometimes unimaginative food is served between surf sessions. But after surfing for three hours even a mediocre meal of fish and rice seems heavenly. Ice is a luxury on the island (it must be brought in from the mainland), so lukewarm sodas and beer are the norm. There’s plenty of good drinking water because it comes from a clear-running artesian spring on the island.
But the real beauty of Morro Negrito is its variety of surf spots. Whether you’re interested in a soft beach break or a barreling reef pass, you’ll find it here. And best of all, the camp limits the number of visiting surfers, no more than 20 at a time, so the dozen breaks within striking distance are never crowded.
The outer reefs can be heavy at times, but beginning surfers can always find smaller, more manageable waves on the island near the camp—the best beginner breaks are Emily’s and the Sandbar. Among the more notable spots: Nestles, a right- and left-hand cloudbreak that can handle 20-foot plus swells, and P-Land, a barreling left that breaks over a huge submerged tabletop reef. Depending on how wave-starved and on how fit you are (and how lazy the boat drivers feel), you can probably log two surf sessions per day with hammock time in between. The camp’s experienced surf guides provide surf lessons and are handy for pointing you in the direction of the best waves.
It may not be the most luxurious surf camp, but Morro Negrito percolates to the top as our Pick Trip for several reasons. These days highly financed, expensive surf camps seem to forget what surfing is all about. But this small camp is firmly grounded in the waves that attract its visitors. The camp is affordable and relaxing, and after a week of surfing and living on Morro Negrito you’ll be looking for ways to extend your stay.
MORRO NEGRITO SURF CAMP, PANAMA
Morro Negrito has a wide variety of surf spots from a beginner to a professional level. Morro Negrito surf camp opened in June 1998 and ever since has been recognized for some of the best waves in Central America. In that short time, the camp has already developed a good reputation, and a faithful following of surfers return each year. The surf camp is located on a small island off the Pacific coast of Panama. The surfing takes place on two islands. One being the big island and the other the small island. The larger island has the living accommodations as well as several great breaks. The smaller island is where some of the bigger surf is caught. More info visit: http://www.panamasurfcamp.com/