Santa Catalina / Mariato- Veraguas

The province of Veraguas has some of the best surf in Central America. This is the area around the back (west) side of the Peninsula. The main breaks are all close to the town of Santa Catalina.

Panama Private Tours takes you to Santa Catalina. This is one of the most famous spots in all of Central America and is rated as one of the worlds top 20 right handers in the Stormwatchers Guide. Surfers from around the world come here to surf incredible waves. Santa Catalina initially began as a small fishing town, and thanks to the good surf it generates, it has gradually become a thriving surfing community. The town has a restaurant, pool bar, cantina, pizzeria, food store and Internet cafe. The main point break is located around the point from the town, and is a sharp rock bottom right and left break, but the main wave is the right. It gets incredible tubes, and long rides with lots of power and is surfed from medium to high tide. On bigger swells you can also surf at low tide although it gets really shallow and hollow and sucks out hard over the reef.

Estero Beach Break is a long beach break located to the left of the main point break in Santa Catalina, about a 15 minute walk from the town or a 5 min drive in our vehicle. It has lefts and rights over sand bottom. It's a great spot for groups that have experienced and beginning surfers giving the option of the experienced surfing at the point or beginner surfing at the Estero since it's a sand bottom break.

Punta Brava is a point break located to the left of the Estero Beach Break. It breaks at low tide over sharp rock bottom, and has lefts and rights, but the lefts are best. It is very powerful and has a great tube section. We recommend using surf booties for this spot as it is quite dangerous to get in and out of the water and is not recommended to beginners. If you drive down the beach at low tide with a 4x4, be sure to not stay out too long as the tide can come up fast and you won't get through the river section leading back to Santa Catalina.

Punta Roca is a point break on the opposite side of the town of Santa Catalina, accessible by boat or by foot, about a 30 minute walk over the rock reef (bring shoes or booties!). It is a left point break surfed at low tide over a rock bottom ledge, with short rides, but big hollow tubes. It is known to break boards so be careful.

Mariato

Playa Mariato

Panama Private Tours takes you to Mariato Beach at a 4hr drive from Panama City. This surf region has 3 different breaks.

Mariato's front

Panama Private Tours takes you to a clay bottom point break with lefts and rights. This is a fun break due to its pealing not so powerful waves, loved by long boarders and beginners to intermediate surfers. This spot can get up to 6ft to 8ft faces.

Mariato's River mouth

This is a left peak that breaks bordering a river mouth. You can get long rides that are perfect for those who like the fast "cutbacks".

Isla Cebaco is a large island located directly in front of Mariato. You can get to the surf breaks by boat, about a 45 min boat ride from Mariato. There are 3 breaks on the island. One is a beach break with rights and lefts. The other is a right point over rock bottom. The other is a left point over rock bottom. This area is also great for spear fishing, and is known for seeing whale sharks, large red snapper, and grouper. Bring or rent masks, snorkel and fins plus a Hawaiian sling or spear gun so you can stop at the reefs to do some fishing after surfing.