Panama - On the Road to Waves
photos courtesy of Anne Julian
by Anne Julian
posted 2005-08-23

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THINKING ABOUT GOING

Morro Negrito Surf camp boasts uncrowded waves in a tropical setting. This is what caught our eye and it almost sounded too good to be true. We set out to see for ourselves if such a place really exists.

Started in 1998, Morro Negrito is gaining a reputation for adventurous surfers. It's located on two islands in the Gulf of Chiriqui, due north of the Isla de Coiba. It's just off the opposite northwest side of the same little peninsula where you will find Playa Santa Catalina.

The actual surf camp, Morro Negrito, is on an island the locals call Ensenada. The waves on the island of Ensenada are smaller than on the other island, Isla Silva de Afera, which is about 1/2 hour by boat. Silva is the main surfing island. There are both rights and lefts on both islands. Ten breaks have been discovered so far. The best time to find waves is from April - May.

I have never been to a surf camp before, only traveled on my own for surf trips. This whole experience will be new - I don't know quite what to expect. I know the camp has rustic cabanas, running water, a dinning/gathering room and only takes up to 20 people at a time. Electricity is solar powered and is generated in the evenings.

TRAVEL EVE MAYHEM

The pictures should say it all as my significant other, Kirk, and I furiously scurry to get everything together for our dawn departure for our Panama adventure. Trips fall under the category of "good stress" but stress nonetheless. Craziness. At 10:00pm Kirk is finishing up a ding repair on his board where he put his knee through it yesterday surfing in front of our house. I just finished going over my anal retentive instructions I typed out for our Brazilian buddy Rodrigo who will be pet and house sitting. After seeing the board bags and all the travel paraphernalia, our dog Daisy has developed stress related gastro intestinal problems that Rodrigo gets to treat with 3 Rx a day. Our house is being tented for termites for a couple of days while we are gone - aaaggghhhh. This means he also gets to pack up the animals and all ingestibles and bring them back after the tenting. Good times for Rodrigo - what a pal!

Is it possible to get all this done? Steve the owner of Morro Negrito surf camp gave us a helpful checklist of things we will need for the trip. O.K. - all checked off. The surf report says swell is on the way to Panama. We just want to get all this together and get there!

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

We have one of those coffin board bags with us to fit as many boards in it as possible. Our rational is we will only be charged per board bag as opposed to per board. This thing is a beast! Kirk, in true MacGyver style, attached skateboard wheels and trucks to the front of an old drawer from the garage. He used tie down straps to hold it to the coffin bag. Smooth - wheeling this beast of a board bag through the airport was a breeze. I was impressed with our rig and we did only get charged for only one board - 60 clams - there were 4 boards in there - stoked!

On the list from Steve he suggested we tell the airlines we are in a surf contest in Panama and our boards need to be priority. This worked too - they put priority stickers on the board bags. No shiny new gear from sponsors - funny they believed this one.

With all the planning and packing behind us, I feel like I can finally relax as we sit in the San Diego Airport waiting for our departure. Kirk, his brother Chris S. and I are headed to Atlanta Airport to meet 4 of our party of 5 travel mates - 7 including us. 2 cousins Michael and Chris McVay were on an earlier flight from San Diego. Bishop and Sherry, from Savanna, drove.

Kirk and I traveled on a great surf trip last year with Chris M. and Michael in Costa Rica. Chris M. was living there at the time. I guess we kept up with the 23 year old cousins, as they wanted to include us in this Panama trip. I took this as a compliment as I was the only woman on the Costa Rica trip and 40 years old. We were thrilled and jumped on the opportunity. Bishop, Sherry and Chris M. lived in Costa Rica at the same time and became good friends. They were also eager to jump on board the Panama trip.

On the plane to Atlanta we sat in those seats in the front of the plane with lots of legroom but no movie screen. We got kind of bored after a while with nothing to watch. Kirk's brother Chris S. strongly resembles Jim Carey. To amuse us I asked the flight attendants if Jim Carey was on the flight. They all wondered why he was flying coach but thought it might be him. Chris was all-weirded out after the flight wondering why the flight staff kept staring at him and stopped him on the way out to ask if they knew him from somewhere! We told him later - he was not as amused and warned us about payback.

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