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La Playita
Is basically an anchorage where one waits to leave. It is susceptible to the wash from all the tugs, pilot boats, workboats, large fishing boats and shipping that constantly passes.
It is also an anchorage that is reliant on using the marina dock as that is the only dock. We were there for a few days waiting for my mouth to recover.
Yep I had to see a dentist that day after we left the canal as I had a terribly sore jaw. It was decided that I needed to have a crown and a tooth removed, so that was why we needed to “hang around” in the uncomfortable La Playita anchorage.
On the plus side for the anchorage we were near tons of wonderful shops, shopping plazas, malls and similar.
We were lucky for find a wonderful taxi driver Doixe, who was very happy to serve as our driver for a day. We managed to get our laundry done, the propane tank filled, all our grocery shopping completed and our Soda Stream tank refilled. He really was a great source of information too.
On the day we checked out we had another wonderful taxi driver Oscar. I was still feeling lousy and he made my day so much easier.
While we were in the La Playita anchorage our friends Cecile and Sylivan were there too. We had first met them in 2012 when we crossed from Florida to the Bahamas with them, and last seen the in 2016 Rio Dulce.
They invited us aboard their catamaran for a celebratory drink and dinner. It was a wonderful evening catching up with old friends.
Isla Tobaga:
Was our 1st stop upon getting away from La Playita. The main reason for stopping there was to make water, plus to say goodbye to Syl and Cecile who had moved there some days before.
This anchorage is off of a tourist town. The town itself looked quite Spanish/European, attractive and quaint. Each morning the ferries arrived with their cargo of humanity.
The music was pumped out, normally salsa type, the beach chairs were filled and aromas of food cooking drifted out to the anchorage. We never went ashore, it did look interesting but we were busy.
We sailed off to:
Isla Bona:
What a surprise this island was, at 700ft it had steep slopes that were browned by soil and rocks. Trees grew, but were mainly leafless, bare branches.
There were rusty, colored, rocks and cliffs which at first glance looked lifeless, until one looked closely and then you could see hundreds, yes hundreds of birds.
In fact more like thousands of birds were roosting or nesting all the way up the slopes.
We anchored in a small bay where we were surrounded by birds. After lunch we went in the dinghy to explore the shoreline. There were Pelicans, cormorants, boobies, Frigate birds, flying, roosting, swimming and fishing all around.
Schools of fish were being chased by dolphins, the seabirds were chasing each other for a fish meal, there was action everywhere. We both found the isle to be quite incredible!
We both would have loved to spend more time at the Isla Bona anchorage, but we were to do an over night passage to our next anchorage.
Playa Benao:
After an overnight that John mainly covered we arrived at Playa Benao. Described as one of Panama’s premier surf spots the bay did offer shelter at one end.
This was a very, very, large bay where one end was protected from the huge Pacific waves by an island and a rocky sand bar.
The sound of the surf crashing ashore was the dominant sound, the spray was in the air everywhere giving the huge bay a hazy unfocused glare. There were surfers in the shallow surf and others way out in the huge rollers. I guessed they represented different levels of skill.
Later during the afternoon there were folks riding horses along the beach. Chico was quite amazed by the one horse galloping down the beach.
We spent a quiet day, John recouping from the overnight which he covered while I did odds and ends.
Out we motor-sailed at 6:30am the next morning heading to our next destination. The scenery was spectacular even with the cloudy hazy conditions.
At one stage we passed kayakers sports fishing and video recording themselves. Neither of us had ever seen or heard of such as game fishing from a kayak. Doing a Google search, thanks to starlink, sure enough this is an option off the wild Pacific Panama coast.
The shoreline being compared to Jurassic park is a fair comparison, just wild jungle on mountain slopes with steep, cliffs of a red clay and huge seas crashing ashore.
After 9 hours of a mix from motoring to motor- sailing to even a few hours of sailing we arrived at:
Ensenada Naranjo, (Naranjo Bay):
This bay lies at the southwestern corner of the Azuero peninsular. It is a beautiful bay! One can see where some of the land has been cleared for cattle farming but the rest is jungle. Along the steep farmed slopes cattle grazed while from the jungle we heard howler monkeys, a very odd mix.
There was a fishing boat setting nets in the bay. On the shore we could see the small farm buildings. The evening was lovely, the swell not too bad, and we had a good night’s sleep.
The next morning we lowered the dinghy to explore the bay. After a cruise around the very scenic bay we attempted to go ashore at one of the smaller bay towards the end of the larger bay.
Well, that did not go well! The next thing I knew I had been knocked into the bottom of the dinghy and John was yelling, “get up!!” The surf was splashing over me, the dinghy as being dragged sideways. I was sure we were going to be flipped. Apparently the engine had cut out as John was about to surf the dinghy ashore, the surge tail-ended us and washed over us. After, managing to get out of the dinghy, grabbing hold of it, fighting the surge, and pulling like hell we managed to get it ashore. No easy feat as it had water in it and the surge rose up the beach by a good 15ft. Anyway we managed to get the dinghy somewhat up the beach, but with the surf we didn’t have long to walk around before we needed to get back in and out of there, as we learnt, the Pacific surf is mega strong….even when it looks not so.
I was fascinated by the crabs with their balls of sand. They were all over the beach, scurrying about making sand balls.
Another surprise for me has been the Frangipani trees covered in lovely blossoms that were growing everywhere along the shoreline.
After cleaning up back at Aeeshah we lifted the anchor and headed off. After a wonderful sail we arrived at:
Isla Cebaco west – Ensenada Naranja:
Again a huge, bay with steep jungle slopes. There was one large beach, several smaller beaches, cliffs, and rocky shoreline a real mix which made for stunning scenery. Anchored on one side was a supply vessel for the sports fishermen, of which we saw none.
After a restful night with little rolling, we decided to stay the day and enjoy the bay. Surprisingly a small cruise ship arrived and anchored at the mouth of the bay. The guests were taken to the supply vessel, to a few of the bay’s and then they departed.
We went in the dinghy around the bay for a look see. As said the bay was huge so this took over an hour.
We had a comfortable passage to our next stop:
Isla Brincanco:
Anchoring in yet another large bay where we were well sheltered from the surge. The forested slopes around us were dense, I would think impenetrable. The water was turquoise and very clear. However it became quite hot and uncomfortable during the evening and night due to lack of breeze. Plus we had swarms of a small flying bugs. It looked like a mosquito, but was smaller, a real nuisance bug. Out of the bay we headed, and after 20 odd miles of travel under an overcast sky with choppy seas we arrived at:
Isla Cabada, in the Islas Secas:
These Islas are stunning! We anchored off an area that is an exclusive resort, with its own airstrip, plane, (which landed right after we arrived), a supply barge, pleasure boats, etc. However we hardly saw a soul, it was so exclusive not a person in sight. The bay we were in had wonderfully clear water and very pretty isles which would have been fun to explore.
We had our first big rain shower, thunder, lightning event. The temperature dropped noticeably which was wonderful and made for a good night’s rest.
Up and off to our next destination which was 6 and 1/2 hours away. Unfortunately most of the day was spent motoring with a choppy swell, not my favorite type of travel, we arrived off of:
Isla Parida in Bahia Mogote Sepaicro:
It was not our 1st choice for the night, but it proved to be a wonderful bay. The area is not far from the Panamanian mainland and so there were someday trippers about, plus fishermen in their rough mother-boats.
The bay was wonderfully calm, with clear water, palm tree lined beaches and a gentle breeze. We went for a look about in the dinghy.
The shoreline again had frangipani trees in flower, which were simply beautiful. The rocks again were the ruddy, red, iron boulders, the sands were this time a mix of whitish sand and what they call black sand, which to me looks like grey gravel.
We were again treated to heavy rain, thunder and lightening during the evening, which soon passed and left lovely fresh air behind.
Next morning we were off to our last Panamanian anchorage:
Punta Balsa:
This was what they call an open highway anchorage. In other words it’s wide open to the ocean. We anchored off of what we guessed correctly was a small guest house.
There was the sound of howler monkeys in the trees ashore plus a few fishermen laying nets, otherwise this was a very quiet anchorage. Due to a massive sand bar off the point/Punta we were quite sheltered from most of the ocean swell.
It wasn’t forecast to rain, but sure enough the rain clouds building in the distance came along and visited us with a lovely shower rinsing off the day’s salt spray.
It was a peaceful night in this very open anchorage.
Gofito, Costa Rica
Our passage to Gofito, Costa Rica was long and slow. Unfortunately there was little wind that day, but fortunately the seas were calm. It took hours to get around the peninsular, Punta Balsa, that holds the border of Panama and Costa Rica.
Next we faced crossing Golfito Dulce a sound of 30 miles long and 8 miles wide. Several Bermudas would fit inside. Our destination being Golfito another bay where the town of that name was to be found.
The best way to describe Golfito/Gulf is a smaller bay inside an enormous bay, surrounded by mountains. The mountain sides are covered in dense jungle, the sounds of birds and howler monkeys can be hear, it’s wild.
The little town lines the shoreline below the towering mountainsides. We were treated to a lovely evening sun setting out across the bay.
