Rafa's morning Surf Trips

Little shorebreak rentry to finish of a fun morning

Rafa was spending some holiday time with his beautiful family near the beaches area and contacted us because he wanted to find a way to have short morning surf sessions were he could surf different breaks in the morning and be back to spend quality time with his family by noon.

Rafa’s smooth long slalom like cutbacks to white water bounce… perfect small point break maneuver

Morning surf trips are never easy as they might imply long drives and short surf sessions, but even with a small swell we got that week, we did manage to find and surf of really shorebreak, a beachbreaks and even got some long rights at a local pointbreak. And luckily all within an hour and a half drive radius

Quick shorebreak bottom turn

Rafa doesn’t get to surf much at home and it we were thrilled to see how excited he got every time we arrived to surf a new break. Rafa was really smooth considering how tall he is, and he seemed to always find the nice long waves everywhere we went. He would then quietly paddle back with a big smile, and patiently waited until another long fun waves came looking for him.

Beachbreak bottom turns

Our last surf session was at beachbreak, not so far from were Rafa was staying. As always Rafa owned the place and again seemed to always get the best waves. He surfed for hours and when he finally came in he was so surf stoke that he kept smiling the whole way home.

Rafa and his family are some of the nicest happiest people we have ever met

Renzo´s Second Surf Trip

Renzo finding some rhythm striaght from the plane… haven’t surfed in how long?

Renzo was one of our first clients back in 2018 and we were so stoke when he told us he had finally found some free time from work to come back to visit us. Renzo hadn´t surfed in long time as he is land lock and his work agenda barely gives him enough time for some skating and snowboarding, so we where so happy when we found some fun waves just a few hours after he arrived. We were also impressed on how good he surfs considering the few days he can spend in the water per year.

Renzo testing his niew surfboard on some small lefts

Renzo had just bought a new surfborad he was dying to try out so we tailored his surftrip with different types of waves from shorebreaks to beachbreaks to pointbreaks. Not sure if it was the board or Renzo’s raw talent, but the board look fun in all breaks and in all conditions.

Flow, speed and style… seems like skating and snowboardinig kept renzo sharp

Waves never got too big during the trip but we did surf fun waves everyday. We even went searching and found some super fun shorebreak all for ourselves just at the end of a lonely dirt road.

Some backside snapts on a sideshore little left we found down the beach

Offshore, onshore or sideshore, Renzo just surfed through it all and always fun ones. Always happy, always making friends, always smiling

LAst wave before leaving

And all of a sudden it was our last surf session, which we did not wanted to end as we eventually had to rush to the airport happily tired, sunburned, with our muscles aching, wet cloth in our luggage and a big smile.

Hannes Surf Trip

bottom turn to so many possibilities

We have been having so much fun with so many surf trips and meeting incredible people that we have not been able to post for awhile. This our friend Hannes back in September of 2022. Hannes was looking to stay about a month in Panama touring the different breaks and enjoying the local culture; but before he went off on his own, he wanted to go on a surf trip with us so to get to know some surf breaks, learn about swells and weather in September and get to know the local environment so that he could better plan the rest of his month

Floating to the next section

Just an hour off the airport and we stumble upon some small but fun waves at a break close to the city, Did not take Hannes much time to start getting into the Panama rhythm

setting up for a quick peaky right

September is right in the middle of the rainy season and it is mostly cloudy and rainy… but if you know where to go, you can find some really fun waves with few people around and Hannes took the opportunity to just get as many waves as he could

Sunny afternoon

Long beautiful cutbacks on a sunny afternoon

We found a beachbreak that offered some really fun long lefts. The waves started somewhat soft which made is great for long cutbacks and Hannes was relentless just practicing longer and rounder cutbacks

bumpy pointbreak with long rights

Hannes is just such a great person and so fun to go surfing with. Really did not need much for him to smile: just some hours of surf in the morning and a couple more in the afternoon and he was happy.

Hanging out with our rescued owl

Chirs' Third Surf Trip

Chris fourth or fifth bottom turn at the secret spot… waves where so long no one was counting

A couple of weeks ago our good friend Chris from Nappy Dog Surf called us to plan a quick surf trip. Apparently the waves in Florida had been pretty small for awhile and Chris was edging for some surf. The ocean seemed to listen to Chris wishes as he got treated to some long rights at a secret sport right off the plane. Coming from small beach-break Florida, Chris was caught off-guard by a couple of waves but quickly got in rhythm and build his wave count.

Just an afternoon smooth en of day cut-back

Swell did drop after a few days and although we were all tired, surfed-out and some of us with aching leg muscles from the long rights, we did manage to wind-down and settled into some fun size beach breaks.

Cruising through some morning glass

The routine was simple and lazy, early morning surf, eat, some siesta and wake-up for a late evening surf, a big dinner and maybe a movie.

Chris getting tight in the pocket

Overall we had a really good time with Chris just enjoying live and surfing

Chris about to do some art on his open canvas

Gergo's Third Surf Trip

Gergo right back at it, managing some challenging rights

After having spent New Years on a Kite and Surf Trip with us, we where very happy when Gergo contacted us asking if we could tailor a quick surf focus training trip with some surf touring around some different surf spots so that he could practice on different waves.

Gergo styling through some morning lefts

And just like that we immediately settled into an intense surf and training routine. Surf all morning until the wind picked up, then rest or drive to a new surf sport, do some video analysis, train all afternoon and get a good nights rest to be back in the water at dawn

Working on bottom turns

“Mobility training is the key” was Gergo's constant reminder to all as we warmed up and got ready for the 3 to 4 hour surf session ahead. It did not matter if it was small or big, Gergo was the first one out and the last one in

Gergo with some local friends (who are now his training followers) after a fun surf session

Waves were really fun throughout the week, and even challenging at some of the spots; so we were all impressed to see how Gergo was able to adapt to the different waves and different conditions. Sometimes it took him an hour, sometimes just a few waves but he always seemed to adapt and to push his surfing no matter where we went.

Gergo man handling a very hard drop and section

Just like with his last trip this past New Years, we had a really good time training with Gergo, and the staff and friends will always be so grateful for his advice as he always found an exercise or series or exercises that would fix some posture issue and even a persistent muscle or tendon pain.

Bruno's Sixth Surf Tour

Bruno pushing the limits on an incoming section We

Bruno contacted us excited that he had found some cheap tickets to Panama and was able free up a few days for a quick surf escape. Being that this was Bruno.s sixth surf tour with us he already had an idea of the swell and even hinted on some surf spots he thought would be fun. So we followed Brunos advice and set off to his favorite spots and although we had to organice some last minute changes and different destinations due to some swell changes, we did manage to surf fun waves everyday and at least 2 sessions each day.

This was Bruno’s third turn on this wave. One of many long lefts that day

Bruno was a little bit anxious a the beginning of the tour as work had kept him from surfing for almost a month but the anxiety quickly evaporated by the second turn on his first wave. From that moment the only anxiety he felt was how quick heis body would recharge for the next surf session

Practicing some long carves

Although it was a short surf tour, it was fun and intense. Bruno was so happy he was already organizing his seventh Surf Tour.

Mark and Marco Surf Tour

Marco setting up for a beautiful left

Not to be outdone by Marco, Mark sets up for a beautiful left of his own

Panama was the first stop for Mark and Marco’s “return to surf” tour. After being landlock for almost 3 years with restrictions, lockdowns and work, Mark and Marco decided that it was time to get back to surfing and what better way to do it than with a Central America all out surf trip which would start with a short surf tour in Panama. Their plan was set to start with small easy surf to slowly get back to the basics, back to surfing stamina and back to finding rhythm with the ocean; however reality ended up being much more fun than that

Mark and Marco happily sharing a wave

Mark happily sharing another wave … Marco not so happy

Interestingly enough, just about two surf sessions after the “return to surfing” both Mark and Marco had not only gotten their ocean rhythm back, but where managing crowds, taking the bigger sets and even asking for more challenging waves

Marco managing some of the bigger sets with power and determination

Mark managing the quick waves with grace and style

From early dawn half awake sessions, to mid day burning sun sessions and late dusk “can’t feel my arms” sessions, both Mark and Marco just wouldn’t stop surfing. It seemed that they both wanted to really challenge the definition of surfing stamina.

Marco feeling at home with the offshore lefts

And again not to be outdone, Mark making sure he felt at home with the offshore lefts too

Overall we had quite a fun few days of the “return to surf” mission, even as it seemed that they had already “returned to surf” after pretty much their first day! We hope we did help them get ready to face the waves of their next stop…. Costa Rica.

Marco driving down the line on the last day

Mark letting loose

Gergo's Second Surf Trip

Grego finding his line on a long right

After two years of delays and last minute cancelations because of COVID Restrictions, Gergo was finally able to come back down to Panama for a couple of weeks of surf and kite-surf. Not sure if it was the lockdowns and the many months away from the ocean but Gergo was determined not only to get back to his surfing level from a couple of years back, but to progress above it. He would be the first person to paddle out and the last to come back in, didn’t matter the conditions. He was always reviewing the video analysis and working on posture and timing

Gergo’s bottom turn to make the section of a difficult mid day blown out wave

Soon Gergo settled into a routine, surf all morning kite surf all afternoon, sleep then repeat… with the ocasional hiking or river tour when the tide wouldn’t allow surfing or kitesurfing

Gergo’s afternoon obsession… kite surfing into the sunset

Although we stayed near the kitesurf area, waves where pretty fun and we were able to surf almost everyday.

Gergo making some fast sections on the lefts

Gergo focuses on mobility, strength and functionality training and he was always happy to share his knowledge with us. By the second week he had eliminating all of our muscle aches and movement afflictions and had us all taking time out of our days to work on nurturing our bodies. We then understood how he could surf, kite surf and hike all in one day

Best way to cool down after a hike…. and yes, Gergo again showing as all how to have perfect posture no matter what you do :)

It was really impresive to see how much Gergo progressed after two weeks. From getting back into surfing an having a hard time making sections, to actually managing the crowd and styling his way into some of the bigger and longer waves and riding them to the shore.

Smooth and stylish

Martine's quick Surf Trip

Martine getting her first right of the morning Doe

Doesn’t matter if you are having a great time travelling and exploring Panama with your family during the holidays; if you are a surfer and you know there might be waves near, you are going to find a way to take a few hours of your family trip to get some waves. And that is exactly what Martine did, she was able to sneak some time off her family trip and drive with us to the closest break with waves.

And why not get also a morning left

At the end of the trip neither the holiday crowds, the long holiday traffic jams or the detours and alternative roads to get back on time could take away Martine’s smile

Last wave of the day

Josh and Dave Surf Trip

Dave working on some smooth re-entries

Josh nailing a nice backside snap

This was one of the most unique and fun surftrips we have ever organized. Both Dave and Josh wanted more of a coached surftrip with in-water coaching and video analysis for each to work on specific aspects to improve their surfing. This meant we had to find one or two spots with the right type of waves and setting for Dave and Josh to work on their surfing goals … and not only did we find it but the break gave us 4 to 5 hours a day of similar waves for Josh and Dave to practice what we reviewed during each the video analysis

Dave power gouge on a smaller wave

And Josh power gouge

The ocean seemed to be aligned with Dave and Josh intent and although we had two mid size swells during the week and both swells had a similar angle so waves where mostly the same shape all week and all that varied was the size. Perfect to work on improvements

Dave‘s power turn on a mid size swell right

Josh styling through a hack

Dave and Josh where focused and somedays surfed 4 to 5 hours straight fueled by clif bars and fruits…. batteries ran out, daylight turned to dusk and arms turned to jelly; but everyone was smiling and happy

Josh tight in the pocket

Dave under the lip speed turn

It was really inspirational to see how Josh and Dave progressed from one day to the next. From simple adjustments as speed turns to more complicated maneuvers like off the lips which required understanding of the approach and execution as well as posture and flow. This guys were focused and determined and yet were always smiling and having fun. Overall it was a great fun week and I am happy Josh and Dave achieved their surfing goals for the trip.

Dave on the last floater before their flight home

Josh getting ready for the flight home

Javier's Surf Tour

Right, right of the plane

Javier came to Panama on a business trip and somehow managed to set up all of his meetings either after mid morning or just the afternoon which allowed him enough time for daily morning surftrips pretty much every day of his 10 day business trip . There was therefore a lot of driving involved and very early morning coffees to wake Javier up; but we did manage to surf at least 2 hours everyday and a few days we even got to surf until we could no longer move… and yes a lot of mid morning coffee to wake Javier up for work

Javier spreading his wings on a set wave

A couple of days we had a tropical storm roll over which made it difficult to find a break close enough to the city to drive to, surf and drive back in a morning, and sheltered enough to work with the crosswind. We did however find one and Javier just seemed to find his grove

Highline to a very long long right

On the last day (morning) surf trip Javier did mentioned that he had a lot of fun using a shortboard and except for what he described as paddling issues due to the lack of volume at the nose, he will probably get one for his next surfboard… as it turns out Javier is actually a windsurfer who has taken surfing and his boards were all foam funbooards …. so happy to welcome Javier to the shortboard revolution

Last wave of the trip… making it count

Sebas and Santiago Surf Trip

Sebas finding some rhythm at Chame’s rights

Santiago about to get barreled

Sebas and Santiago contacted us as they where stock in Panama City on a layover from Costa Rica back to Europe. They had spent a month surfing Costa Rica and although they where ready to go back home, they where not to thrilled spending their last day and a half in the city smacked between skyscrapers.

Santiago squeezing every inch of each wave

A little bit off the top… Sebas the wave barber

The plan was simple, pick-up at the city, rush through traffic to make it to the late afternoon surf, quick unpack, surf as long as we can no matter wind, sun or rain, relax, eat dinner, sleep early wake up, dawn patrol, maybe eat something, surf again, re-pack everything and rush through traffic back to the city

Sebas gouging it

Santiago hitting that

Conditions were not ideal, shifting winds, rain and even thunder at some point, and to top it off, the swell was also as shifty as the wind. Still Sebas and Santiago were on a mission to surf as much as possible and only to rest in the plane back home…. if they mae it to the plane that is.

Santiago tail whip on a small day

Sebas small wave flair

We had small waves, rainy waves, windy waves and fun waves… not bad for a day an a half surf trip… and yes, Sebas and Santiago made it to the plane

Frank's Surf Tour

Frank feeling right at home in one of Cambutal’s pointbreaks

Frank’s surftrip was an interesting mix between surfing as many right pointbreak as your arms and legs would allow, and exploring the many real-state investment opportunities Panama has to offer…. specially around the right pointbreaks. This lead to long days full with morning surfing, afternoon exploration with some hill side semi-off-roading and really interesting dinner time investment analysis with various side conversations about the surf forecast for the next day.

Not easy on this day, but Frank kept finding the line to make it through different sections and tap into another long right

Although the trip was pointbreak centric trip, right pointbreaks to be exact, nature did pushed us into trying out some beachbreaks and it was so fun that we even had to postpone the investment exploration to accommodate 3 surf sessions in one day.

Stormy fun

Last few days were crazy with a looming tropical storm but we still managed to find good surf and even find some great middle of nowhere bakery / pizzeria for a delicious homemade pizza and pumpkin pie.

Frank closing the afternoon session

Bruno's Fifth Surf Trip

Bruno’s speed run to another Panama Surftrip

This was Bruno’s fifth surftour with us and it was pretty much an all day surf fest from day one… which is hard to imagine considering it was also a family trip…. still, we managed to find a very consistent surf location for the time of year and with a great mix of family activities like hikes, whale watching and tours

Bruno working on style and posture…. a curious pelican having a drone view of Bruno-s snap

Most days we had consistent shoulder to headhigh for most of the trip some sessions lasted so long that we would joke about not being able to surf the next day… joked

Bruno racking some floater time

Bruno had the placed so dialed that towards the end of the trip it was he who read the surfcharts and forecast and gave the advice of where an when to surf

Turning heads

Last evening surf, last spray

Overall we had a great time with Bruno and his family and we can wait for the next family surftrip .

Debora's Third Surf Trip

Debora sizing up her weekend waves

This was Debora’s third surf trip with us, her first surf trip after all the many lock downs and travel restrictions in Europe and our first surf tour after the Panama lockdowns. Like with her previous surf tours, this was also a short weekend surf to take advantage of the weekend layover from her Panama business trip.

Debora practicing some front side turns

and practicing some impressive backside turns

Like with all weekend surftips, her goal was to maximize her time in the water and although time and weather where not in our favor, we did manage to find some really fun surf and even surf a super fun pointbreak that rarely breaks.

Just fun waves all weekend

Last floater on the last wave… not bad for a weekend business trip layover

Back with Surf Tales

Our Personal Surf Guide, Federico, taking advantage of our business trip to review lockdown limitations and COVID safety protocols with our hotel/hostal and restaurants partners.

After more than a year managing lockdowns, safety protocols and permits; we are finally back with our Surf Trips and Surf Tales. We have taken all necessary precautions and have worked along side our different hotel/hostal and restaurant partners to make sure our clients have access to most surf spots with comfort, quality and all COVID safety protocols; so that you can relax and just focus on surfing.

Xavier's Surf Trip

With just a few hours to spare from Xavier’s very busy schedule and with a promise to have him back in the city before his afternoon meeting, we started Xavier’s “day/morning” surftrip with a dawn patrol sun in your face session.

Looking down the line at another fun dawn patrol right

Xavier owning the mid-morning shore break lefts

Done for the day….. or should I say morning…. a very productive morning indeed with two 2 hours surf sessions

Bruno's Fourth Surf Trip

Although this was Bruno’s fourth Surf Tour with us (he could almost be a surfguide by now), it was his first surf escape from the cold winter of this year or like he put it quoting Bob Marley: “coming in from the cold”

Bruno enjoying the long lefts we found at the far end of one of the beachbreaks we visited

Nothing better than an all natural home made healthy breakfast after a couple of hours of surfing long lefts. Even the cat gave it a thumps ups.

Bruno killing the rights at a peaky beachbreak

As always, really impressed to see Bruno fit his 6’5” frame into barrels.

Julie's Surf Trip and Site Tour

Julie was in Panama on a business trip when she contacted us. She told us that she WAS not a surfer, that she had never surfed before in her life, but that she loves the ocean, the beach and that she had never been to the Pacific Ocean, so she figured that best way to see and swim in as many different Panama Pacific Ocean beaches in just 5 days was with a “surfless” Surf Trip ….. did we mentioned Julie WAS not a surfer.?

Julie site seeing on the mountain trail at Playa Guanico. Up in the mountain Julie asked about the big dogs running on the other hill to which we replied “you mean the big coyote “dogs”"“

Hitching a ride at Playa Coyote

Turtle crossing at Playa San Carlos

Julie becoming a surfer at Playa Guanico

Rinsing off Playa Chame sea salt a Los Cajones de Chame

The beauty of Pedasi

Morning shore at La India Dormida

A surfer smile!!!

Gergo's Surf Trip

Gergo contacted us with a mission: he is a landlock surfer and kitesurfer who would like a trip where he could mix both disciplines. He already had an area mapped out in Panama where both surfing and kitesurfing beaches where close by to each other and already had a kitesurfing location and coach at The Rider Experience Kite House and needed a surfing coach and tour operator to not only have him surfing as much as possible and have him fulfill his surfing progress goals, but depending on the wind conditions race him from surf session to kite session.

Gergo working on his backside bottom turn…. Gergo was like a sponge, just with a quick video analysis or a dissection of posture or concepts; and he would be immediately go out to the water and implement it. It was really amazing watch his progress throughout the trip

So what better way to “rest” after a few hours of good surfing than a few more hours of good kite surfing…. plus full range motion routines, cool downs and mindfulness sessions… no wonder he is such a successful personal trainer and coach back home.

Gergo’s last wave of the trip, simple down the line …. the simple path to happiness

As it turns out Gergo is also an amateur photographer