22nd - 26th July
I arrived at the gate of Hostel Villa Vento Surf at 6:15pm, it was spitting with rain and starting to get dark and I was totally spent. My mood was lifted instantly when I saw the mud & sand track to the hostel... the sign said 1km, this really was 'off the beaten track'!
The track was wet and sketchy as hell and given the fact that I had only ridden off road once or twice before I took it slowly. Puddles, sand and rocks were all trying to drive me off the track but I made it all the way to the hostel before almost dropping the bike in a deep bit of sand... Smooth arrival!
Playa Morillo is about a mile long stretch of light brown, soft, sandy beach lined with coconut trees and jungle and surrounded by distant mountains on either side (the type that look blue on the horizon and give a humbling sense of perspective). At the Western end of the beach lies a rocky headland with several natural pools and a powerful blowhole all of which sit at the base of an untouched jungle outcrop complete with howler monkey's and other noise making wonders. Sitting in the pools watching the sun setting over the distant mountains is a truly spiritual and awe inspiring experience... it's beautiful!
The beach is set back about 500m from the road and without prior knowledge you wouldn't know it was there. The track leading to the hostel was, as far as I could tell, the only road leading to the beach and the very reason Playa Morillo truly feels like paradise. There are no car parks, no caravans, no shops and no people! If you are ever lucky enough to go be sure to take supplies, it's a half hour drive to the nearest shop so you need to stock up on food and water before you get there. Like an idiot I hadn't realised this and rocked up with a bag of rice, a garlic bulb and some porridge! Fortunately Leo very kindly sorted me out with some chicken and leftovers which kept me going for the week. Thanks man!
The Remorini brothers, Daniel and Leo, own the only development on the beach and what they have done is awesome... the hostel sits on a 2,000Sqm plot with two purpose built concrete & timber framed buildings no more than 30m from the beach. One is a communal kitchen and chillout area and the other is made up of two, 8 bed dorms and 4 private rooms. The whole site is totally offgrid, powered primarily by a 3kW Solar PV system with charge controller, battery bank and a backup generator. Water is pumped from a borehole via an automated solar pump to a large storage tank on top of a 15ft tower which feeds all the showers, bathrooms and kitchen. The whole setup is fantastic and the guys have thought of everything, on top of the incredible location the hostel is the cleanest, most comfortable and by far the best hostel I visited in all of Panama. Massive credit to the guys, they are legends!
I haven't even mentioned the surf! Morillo is like a warm, empty version of low tide Croyde (one of the best surfing beaches in England). The day I arrived there was a small 2ft swell rolling through the bay and I woke at 6am to find a super fun bank 500m down the beach throwing a quick right and left barrelling wave. It was only small but sooo much fun. The next morning was a little smaller but still fun. On both days the wind swung onshore in the afternoon and killed it. Thursday morning brought a new swell and turned out to be a triple session day with two fun mid tide sessions down the beach and a weird break in the wind allowing for a fast 4ft, high tide session right in front of the hostel.
Friday turned out to be the magic day! 3-5ft sets were hitting the mid tide bank and producing perfect barrelling lefts with an occasional super hollow right coming through. Daniel, me, a couple of his local buddies and 3 other guys who arrived at the hostel surfed 2 solid sessions in the morning and scored some epic waves! I watched Daniel and his buddy Feo snag a couple of awesome barrels.
My session ended with a beating!! A bomb set of rights rolled right to where I was sat so I turned and paddled hard, unfortunately I totally kooked it (popped with my feet together and fell off my board) dropping down the face and got swallowed by the wave. I popped up to see it's big brother about to launch a heavy 8ft wall of water on to my head! Adding to the exciting prospect was an Aussie dude called Jack who was scratching like crazy to get into what would have been the wave of the day... Unfortunately for both of us he got hung up in the lip and had to bail (throw himself from the top of the wave) to avoid certain death!?! Both Jack and the barreling wave came crashing down towards me... Fortunately Jack missed me and my board but the lip landed square on my back bending me backwards underwater and slamming me into the sand! It wasn't until the next morning that I felt the repurcussions and man was it painful.
That afternoon I decided I needed to go to the shop for supplies... 5mins up the hill and the rain started coming down. Not prepped for rain I turned and cained it back to the hostel... just as I pulled up the biggest storm I have ever seen hit. Thunder and lightening were right above the hostel, unbelievably heavy rain and hurricane like winds pounded the beach for a solid hour... god knows what I would have done had I been out on the bike. Sometimes my brain makes good decisions!
After the storm died down we all had a big communal dinner and watched an awesome documentary called 180° South about the guys behind Northface and Patagonia and their mission to protect the wild lands in Chile by buying land and creating a huge national park... echoes of a vision for Morillo???? Let's hope so!
An amazing end to a week in paradise. Thanks Leo and Daniel
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