Playa Venao • Surf Spot Statistics

Best Surf Season (December - April)

The dry season is the golden window at Playa Venao. As the Intertropical Convergence Zone settles south of Panama and the North Atlantic high pressure builds, the trade-wind flow turns offshore from the north through the north-northeast. December records the highest ideal wind percentage of the year at 76 percent, and by March and April the average swell period climbs into the 12-14 second range while SSW and SW swells take over the wave rose. This combination sets up clean, long-period surf on the south-facing beach, with the best months running from December through April.

Fair Surf Season (May - August)

Southern-hemisphere winter brings the most consistent SSW groundswell of the year, with the average period peaking around 14 seconds in May. The problem is the wind. The ITCZ migrates north over Panama and the prevailing flow becomes increasingly light and onshore from the south-west, reducing the ideal-surface percentage to between 37 and 60 percent. The surf is still very much alive, but you need to be selective and hunt for early-morning windows between tropical downpours.

Low Surf Season (September - November)

The core of the rainy season is the hardest stretch for consistent quality. September and October have the lowest ideal wind percentages of the year, 37 and 33 percent respectively, and south-west through west-south-west winds dominate the wind rose, adding chop and lump to otherwise powerful SSW groundswell. November starts the transition back to dry-season offshore flow, and while the surf quality is still inconsistent, the trend is clearly upward towards December.