I had always been unlucky during my trips to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica; flash floods and too much reggae for my Metal DNA! And just a few small crappy waves. I’d made the choice to forget about it and stay home in Guanacaste, close to Playa Negra. But I kept hearing things about successful surf trips there, in particular around cluster of islands right on the northern edge of Panama. When I realized this area was blessed with swells around the same time that the pacific side goes smaller, I figured I should give it another try. The mission was on to Bocas del Toro.
On the map, Costa Rica and Panama are small countries. You’d think it was easy to drive from one to the other. As soon as you hit the road of course you realize it’s a totally different story.
It is a simple enough journey; leave Playa Negra on the north pacific side, cross the country through the capital San Jose and reach Limon on the Atlantic side. Then on to Puerto Viejo, the small Caribbean town blessed with the famous wave Salsa Brava. Spend the night at friends Carlos’s lodge; thank Carlos for booking the minibus to take me to the border the following day. Finally, after lengthy administrative hassles, walk over the bridge with all my stuff and reach the Panamanian side of the border to catch another bus to catch the boat that goes to Bocas del Toro’s main island. Altogether an entire solar day of travel for such a small distance on the map.
