So we spent an unplanned extra day in Panama City shopping in it’s malls and wandering the streets, but let’s get to the actual heart of the trip, shall we? (Click here to read Panama -part 1 if you have not yet read it.)
Can we just skip past the fact that we were bag-less for 1 ½ days, and remember the beautiful 5-hour drive that we had to Santa Catalina. It was glorious. Yes, it was along the drive that we had the realization that we are in Central America. We’re newlyweds and we’re doing this…our first trip together!!!!
We left Panama City early in the morning after breakfast at our hotel, and enjoyed a fun drive through small locales and rural areas of Panama on our way to the surf and beach resort town on the West Coast. The Pan-American Highway runs the length of Central America and into South America and is the one road that one should scout if making a long-distance journey.
Keishia in front of the Hotel Santa Catalina
When we arrived at the Hotel Santa Catalina, it was everything that we hoped. Beautiful and lush grounds, an amazing guide, Sherida to show us around, and a relaxing room with hammocks outside. But, as our continued luck would have it, the power was out from a few passing thunderstorms. No worries for us. We are prepared for the off-the-gird experience.
Keishia kicking back in front of our room at Hotel Santa Catalina.
The recently paved roads were devoid of traffic, and very few people were in our pathway as we navigated from the beach and back. We decided to immediately try our hand
at the surf scene.
Arthur renting boards from a local surfer.
We rented cool boards and headed 10-minutes down the beach path to Estero Beach.
The rolling waves of Playa Estero.
We were immediately taken by the warm waters and gentle rolling waves. After a day’s journey, it was quite the compliment to have a lovely evening session in the water. We couldn’t believe that this was real. The water too warm, the waves too good, the location, unbeatable. If we could write a definition for paradise, Estero Beach in Santa Catalina would come close to heaven on Earth.
Our first night at Santa Catalina continued to nail home the idea of “adventure travel.” The power remained out for most of the night, and there was little that we could do in terms of food and sustenance. And we were starving after 5-hours of travel and wave hunting. So, we forged at a local convenience store and found some Vienna sausages, Doritos, white bread, coke, and whiskey…it was a meal for kings and queens while so very embarrassing at the same time!
The power eventually returned in the middle of the night, and we laughed the next morning and into the week, as we continued to enjoy our time in Santa Catalina. We surfed twice a day (sometimes 3x times) at world-renowned beach breaks. The conditions were paradisiacal and great for all levels of surfing depending on if you surf Estero (a beach break) or La Punta (a point break).
The view of the the break ‘La Punta’ from the Hotel Santa Catalina
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<strong>Travel Essentials for Panama City and Santa Catalina:</strong>
Flight time from the West Coast is about 4 – 5 hour if you connect through the mid west (say Dallas or Houston).
<strong>Time of Year:</strong>
We went in August, which was perfect for warm water, but watch our for thunderstorms, flooding, and power outages.
