Bocas del Toro Surf Video

Bocas del Toro  has always been one of my favorites. Its such a unique Geographical Location as the winds and currents hit sooo diferent. It has some high mountain ranges in the main land of the province, it rains differently than other regions and well the surf is always cleaner.

Island View from Thomas Brothers Productions on Vimeo.

Cebaco Island Panama desrves to be LIKED!

Ciudad de Panama 2013

    Its been about 6 years since I started to shoot photos. Originally I believed photography was easy and was ment for people who liked to look cool, pick girls, etc. Once I started shooting was for other reasons; back therapy, swiming, mental therapy and its why I choose to do it in the water shooting surfers mostly. Eventually I realized there are tons of technical stuff that I am sure still have not learned. Last night I decided to go above, drink a few beers, relax, play with my cameras and see what came out. Sure, today I know there are better lenses, better cameras but wtf its just having fun.

¨Panama City¨.

     Panama City is a incredible place full of resources; tons of money coming in from all sources for a few pockets and same do the waves only a few know how or where to find them when it gets croweded. For a lot of people its hard to believe, this is not Nicaragua nor Costa Ricas main city San Jose. Here you can  smell concrete, you can party all night, do busiess and in less than a few hours be in a total different atmosphere than where you orginated. Best of all, you can feel free. Enjoy....

Canon 10-22 mm

    Its been years, you were my first and might be my last. We have gone through love when we score, hate when you dont focus or I dont kick hard enough to be in the spot. We have held hands in the risky moments and have never abandoned each other. Even tho you are old, dirty and hanging from strings. I love you and know you love me back wide wide love! 

Punta Barco Panama - Las del Recuerdo

This time it was no airshow, no profesional surf guru; it was simply Saturday; humm bit or rain; bit of back pain; bit of motivation to swim and kill the pain; who to call? the neighbor! ti tut tit tut (phone) ¨hello? Gabriel? Whats up! what are you up to? ohh ok; lets go to tits, what tits, yes tits... ok ok¨.  So I drove for 2 min parked my car and switch with famous singer Mr. Gabriel de La Iglesias  

So, This is what happened on 1 ft surf  @ tits (las del recuerdo)

Mr. Silver

Wtf? templao

Diva tour with Juan Ashton

It was a random night; my wife said ¨lets have some wine¨; sure we did drink beer and also ate some stake. As I get ready to go back home from the restaurant, Mr. Ramon ¨Raymond¨ Vallarino and Juan ¨DPC¨ Ashton pulls in, so I offered a seat for a quick chat. Somehow after that, a nice meal and a shot of Jagger, I ended up on a what´s called a diva surf tour with these two guys. Diva? don´t ask me, not sure what this is all about, but we sure were pampered by Mr Raymond the whole way; he is the best host you could ever wish on a surf trip. Mr Raymond would pull out goodies; had sunblock for everyone; drove his car like a champ and no complain, but a french fish. It might have been our lack of culture for culinary arts.

No plans were arranged; No GPS; No expectations; No mission, but going with the flow and having a good time. As we exit Panama´s patriotic holidays and nearby beaches we entered into a new dimension of random possibilities. Why do I say such a hypster line? because we were heading to a place only a true hypster can survive. There are minimal options for accommodations, 1 quarter inch pipe with mangrove water and over 100% possibilities to get 100 bsi (bites per square inch).

Yes, there were a few hypsters living there; girls, boys, kids, umbrellas, 100 other people and 1 pvc pipe with very little water. This looked like it would happen fo a few days ¨all for the true love of the sport and lifestyle¨. We lucked out on the first day and found shelter. For our good mental health, positivism and good flow we hit good food, good weather and a decent ocean view shack with more than one water sources and slight oceanviews.

Here are some shots. As usual; im not sure if I make sense, but I just write off top of my mind. Hope you guys enjoy;

    Kid was celebrating national hollidays with Mr. Juan.

   Shot with Samsung Galaxy by Raymond

 

French fish: Raymond Photos (Samsung Galaxy) 

 

      

 

                          Mr. Raymond overlooking while sleeping (Holga lense + Cellphone)

Here is a great video about surfing Panama´s outer Islands. I own land right in front of this break and willing to sell to serious buyers only. Check this paradise out; dont believe in the script, there are no spirits or such thing, people just trying to keep the place a secret which I will not reveal unless you are serious enough to come take a trip to it. 

Paraíso Zero from igor bellido on Vimeo.

Bodyboarding Panama with Fidel Ponce Surf Photographer

Its been 8 months since I moved into the bodyboarding town of the republic of Panama. You will not find a higher density bodyboarding population in Panama than Azuero. However, there are only a few units of bodyboarders that will actually pull some interesting moves. Mr. Rey Taranta and Vincent are a few of them, a full on dropknee and regular bodyboarder paradise with a a unique character.

Here is a quick video made on a recent trip

Punta Marfil - Panama Surf Spots

Days go by, time ticks, trees grow and get dry. Non surf related thoughts passes from left lobe to right lobe all day long and a blurry vision of waves ¨rights and lefts¨ peel in front of my nose as I sip from my cup of tea. A little town called Ciruelo is where Punta Marfil lies. If you believe in lepricons and UFO´s this is the place to be or if you are a star reader. Pointing down south, next to the continental shelf you can find world class fishing spot Los Frailes and next to it this lonely peeling wave.

Playa Venao Panama

In december 2010 I decided to move out to Playa Venao Panama with my wife. A foreign group of investors reached me and offered me to join their team.

The Peninsula de Azuero is located at 5 hours from Panama City, Curves, Hills, wet dry weather, regardless of its distance you can only feel that you are getting closer to something good. Green pasture fields, hills, rivers, great scenes surround the region and much more... The most interesting for a surfer will be its coastline. The Azuero peninsula has docens of surfbreaks for all levels and in this post I will show its most famous wave, Playa Venao or Bambi Beach.

Playa Venao held the World Cup of Surfing not too long ago but unfortunately I had to migrate into the city for business. While I was at the city doing business, uncle Bruce Boal from www.SurfersVillage.com was peninsula cattle dreaming in my house making company to my cats. Cheers uncle!