Mariato

Mariato is one of my favorite spots in the Republic of Panama. Why? Because people are clean, friendly, hardworking and humble. Once you are at mariato, there is always a good vibe. As a matter of fact, some villages like Malena are so into religion and being good people that there is no beer, cigarettes or human "auto clickiti" destructive products.

Last dry season I spent months out there working on my farm. I had a great experience exploring around other farms, view, beaches and actually found some really good surf breaks! According to my family's history, Mariato was a shrimp farm owned by a single family. Most people there are ex workers of this shrimp farms. Even before them, there were Spanish conquerors who had taken over on this place and thats why my great grandmother lived there. She had green eyes, white skin and a very refined face. People keep telling me that I am a "Gringo" or "European" but the truth is my roots are from Spain and the Mariato region.

It is cool to see picture of this place 70 years ago. I will make an effort to scan them and post them here. My grandmother's stories about this place are pretty good. She said she used to take a boat from Puerto Mutis in Santiago, passing by all those little Islands (Governadora, Cebaco, Isla Verde, etc) bordering by Cerro La Hoya, then passing by Cambutal, Venado and going back into Agua Dulce. Then she would jump on a horse and took 4 days to get to Panama City! its freaking crazy! She said she had the first car in town and her father used to charge 10 cents a ride!

Mariato will always be my favorite option to live outside Panama City, not just for its people, enviroment, ocean views but also for my roots! The most famous spot is playa mariato which is where Mrs. Martina, Luz Delia and YiYo live and where the surf is (This is for sale). If anyone interested I will let them know. Them three of them operate a fishing operation and distribution like most people around there. Among every single beach I have ever seen in the Republic of Panama, this region is the most hard core for fishing. These guys are true fishermen. When it comes down to fishing, these guys take off at 7 pm with single engine pangas, no radio, no GPS, no radar, no fish finder, no nothing, they just go! when they come back, they have all the fish in the world with or without waves!

I truly dont like taking shots of the playa Mariato surf break, the wave is too mellow for me. This is the type of wave you want to ride on a longboard if you suffer from arthritis. Its very soft and lack of power.

Hope you enjoyed the surf photos from mariato.

Santa Catalina Surf

Santa Catalina Surf in Panama could be one of the best waves in Central America and the world. The wave has power, it builds up quickly and has enough wall to fool even the best surfers. The wall is very long, it makes you think that it will close out but the truth is, is so perfect you will only experience a fast train down the line!

Among every single wave in Panama, the Santa Catalina surf experience is the most professional. At the same time, is the one the scares me the most when it comes down to take water shots. To start with, the surf break is a 20 min paddle with a surfboard to get to the peak. Without a surf board could be a 30 min swim. Once you are out there without anything to float on, it a bit sketchy.

As a retired surfer, I could say that the perspective of water movement is different than a water shot photographer's. When you take watershots you are mostly looking at the movement in rewind. Besides from this you worry about both "under currents and upper currents". Another interesting thing is, since you have to be in the impact zone to take the best shots you might find waves like Santa Catlina where the lip literally hits the rock directly underwater. There is no space to duck and not get pounded at certain tides. In some occasions, I have taken shots at low tide and have found my self at knee high dephts waiting to get hit by an 8 ft set on rocks. Its sketchy out there.

I always have good memories of this wave and not too good ones on the main land. Its a love and hate relationship about this place. Ever since I stepped in Catalina for the first time 9 years ago I found other people's problems. Seems like every single beachfront property owner in this place has problems among each other with the classic property ownership. Who owns this? and every single one goes, ME! Its enough material to write a good book.

My advise is to stay at "El Oasis Surf Camp" owned by great people and old friends David and Silvia. The service is great, the food is good, you are across a river from soap opera and in the middle of other surf spots. If you need to reserve the Oasis you can count on me and send me an email.

Leaving behind the drama, I will now post some NOT SO GOOD shots of this epic wave! I am still practicing to get "The Shots".





Hope you enjoyed the Santa Catalina Surfing Shots.

Pavones Surf Cr

Pavones Surf is one of the most epic in America. As a matter of fact is one of the longest lefts in Latin America and truly a surfer's dream. I had been there 10 years ago and one more time last year. It was a regular week for me, some work to be finished with Panama's tourism and then received a call from my friends letting me know that the swell of the year was going to hit. Stoked about it, I took a 4 hour bus ride to meet with some friends at Santiago and jump into the "smurf ride" to drive out to playa pavones in Costa Rica.

Before I keep writing more about my trip, it is important to note that playa pavones was once part of my native country "Panama". In 1921 there was a small battle "Coto War" in between Costa Rica and Panama. Hector Zuniga Mora was the leader of this war claiming the "real" limits in between Panama and Costa Rica. Apparently Panama had won the war but since Panama has been managed by the U.S. since the early 1900's, Mr. White "Banana Company owner" decided to mediate and stop the war giving the land to Costa Rica. He could do it because of personal corporate interests with the U.S government. Thank you Mr. White for giving away one of the most epic surf breaks in the Planet! Later on the famous Dan Fowlie purchased the area and started developing it! Here is a cool video of this epic spot.



Ok, keeping up with the trip. We got there on a Friday night and looked for some hotels in Pavones. Since it was the swell of the year, everything was full. We found some pavones lodging at $10 per head a night. It was not bad but when you are done with a 5 hour surf session under the sunny days and long rides you wanna have the bathroom to your self / shower for hours to cool off. Unfortunately we were sharing 1 bathroom / 1 toilet among 5 rooms!

On Saturday, waves were picking up, 6ft to 8ft sets. The Pavones point was grinding at low tide, long long long lefts and plenty of happy people. It was time for me to measure where and how to get into this break and take some pictures of Pavones. The wave is so long that it was hard to decide where to start. I tried the inside area at first but the current was strong and in not time I was all the way in the bay. Walked out again and went as far as I could and just fought the current for hours and hours waiting for people to start creating magic. Most people were truly just racing the sections, little tricks and turns but in the end everything worked out, did therapy for my broken back and took some fun pavones pictures this day. Eventually I met cool people from different regions of the world (Italy, Israel, Hawaii and US). It is important to mention that 90% of the people I met there flew into Panama and then headed out to Pavones. They mentioned that its cheaper to fly into Panama than Costa Rica and that it takes less time in better roads to drive from Panama than Costa Rica. I will post a surf package (Chiriqui Panama / Pavones) soon on my new website www.panamatravelagent.blogspot.com.

First bus out to Santiago

Little girl impressed by Rhino giving birth!

Guy making sure the Nitro is in correctly.

Felipe "Elixir" Arias, rocks star from (Los Flasheros)

Robert and I

Street to the Break from Lodging

The Line Up

This dude was going so fast he almost fly off

American who has been living here for 16 years I hear.

My new ripper friend Ingrid "Dean's Wife" from Hawaii


The coolest and most functional tent setup ever seen!

This is Mateo's car, pure style! he is also a photographer, dude if you see this, please send me your contact, I lost the paper where I wrote this, e mail me (fidelp11@gmail.com).

My new friend Dean "Ingrid's Husband" ripping

Breakfast of Champions!

The soccer field / Helipad

Lodging in Pavones

The Pizzeria at Pavones


A hotel I will be using on my 2010 packages to Pavones

If any thing you wanna write send to fidelp11@gmail.com