Surfing in Panama in November

November hands the country back to the wind. The wet season ends through the first half of the month, the trades reassert themselves over the isthmus, and the offshore mornings that define Panama's dry season begin arriving again.

The swell has not caught up with the change. What is left of the southern season is fading and the size drops through the month, so November is clean before it is big, which is the shape the next five months will keep. For anybody who wants both, this is the mirror of April and slightly the better of the two, because it is getting drier rather than wetter.

The water is level across the two gulfs at around 28°C, and it stays that way until February pulls them apart again.

Learning in November

For learning : Very good

A good month to arrive. Venao is grooming up, the rain has gone, and the swell has not yet reached its dry-season floor.

Where a beginner goes in November

These spots are reachable all year. What the month changes is the size of the waves, not the access.

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Very good

Cleaning up daily. The point starts stringing its good mornings together again from the middle of the month.

How November compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.