Surfing in Santa Catalina

Santa Catalina sits directly in the path of south Pacific swell, which is why it has become Panama's best-known surf town. 

There's one wave here that put it on the map, and a second one just down the road that's the reason so many people learn to surf here at all. Which one you should be paddling out at depends entirely on your level, and so does where you stay, when you come, and how you spend a flat day.

This is the wave Santa Catalina is famous for: a right-hand point break peeling over a rock and reef bottom, holding size well past head-high and turning into long, hollow walls when a solid south swell arrives. There's a shorter left too, usually less crowded, for anyone who'd rather skip the lineup at the main peak.

The tide makes or breaks a session here. On smaller days it wants a mid-to-high, incoming tide — at low tide the water gets thin over the reef and the drops turn steep and fast. Once the swell is big enough, it can hold right through low tide too.

Either way, check the tide chart before you paddle out, and if you're not used to surfing over reef, watch a session from the point before joining the lineup.

Check out a more detail guide about La punta. 

A long, sandy beach break a walk from the village, with both lefts and rights over a soft bottom instead of reef. This is where the surf schools set up and where almost every beginner in town takes their first lesson. It works best from mid to high tide, gets more playful with a bit of size, but stays approachable even when La Punta is firing too hard for a first-timer.

Depending on where you're staying, it's roughly a 15-25 minute walk from the village center — several places rent bikes if you'd rather not do that twice a day.

Santa Catalina has surf year-round, but two different seasons answer two different questions: when is the weather easiest, and when are the waves at their biggest. They don't line up, and which one matters more to you depends on what you came here to do.

Santa Catalina is small, but it still stretches across two areas that matter a lot if surfing is why you're here. Where you sleep decides how far you're walking with a board under your arm every morning.

You don't need to bring your own board. Rental and lesson operators are based right at Playa El Estero, which makes sense given that's where nearly all the teaching happens.

A flat day here isn't a lost day. Santa Catalina is also the launch point for Coiba National Park — swap the board for a mask and spend the day snorkeling instead.