Meanwhile, blinding beaches you have to see to believe await in Panam. Costa Rica beckons with national parks packed with three-toed sloths and other awesome creatures. Meanwhile, summer sees huge southerly groundswells come into play and that pumps up the bigger breaks across the Pacific coast, going all the way up to Mexico and beyond! Top things to do in Central America when you aren’t surfingĬentral America is a bucket-list destination, and not just for its surf. Beginners eager to find smaller, chest-high swells rolling into Panama, Nica and Costa Rica will prefer the tamer but clean months from December to early May. It’s just that increased precipitation can churn up the waters, give annoying cross shores, and leave the water filled with palm fronds and whatnot. Still, that break isn’t to do with swells. The surf season on the Pacific half of the region runs for virtually the whole year, save for a short dip with the rainy season in September, October and August. So, thanks for that! Central America surf at a glance They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. We might use affiliate links in this post. We’d just recommend keeping an eye on the political situation – this isn’t the most stable corner of the planet! You’ll find remote island breaks, but you’ll also discover pumping surf towns filled with bars and nightlife. Long, sandy bays unfold down the Costa Rican peninsulas, but there are also rocky reefs that throw up big waves for the gun toters. Central America surf isn’t just about lefts or rights, point breaks or beach breaks. The real draw in this part of the world is consistency. Finally, Panama offers top breaks on its Pacific isles and untouched south-west coast. Then comes Nicaragua, which has an ever-lengthening surf coast running north from San Juan del Sur. Costa Rica probably tops the bill, flaunting uber-accomplished surf towns like Tamarindo and Santa Teresa. They are each blessed with long Pacific seaboards and renowned for their reliable swells. These days, the Central America surf really revolves around a trio of countries. There’s not a single place in the region that’s more than 125 miles from a wave. Each of those counts over 1,100 miles of shore. Why? Well: Central America has a coastline on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean.

Anyone with a radar for waves should see the potential the moment they look at the map. It’s roughly defined as running from the Mexican borderlands and Guatemala all the way to the Darien Gap (one of the most inhospitable areas of the globe) and the ends of Panama. An introduction to Central America surfĬentral America is the squiggle of countries that connects South America to North America. From Costa Rica to Nicaragua, this is a land kissed by the Pacific and the Caribbean.

Central America surf means hitting some of the world’s most treasured breaks.

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