A DETOUR NORTH TO COSTA RICA ON HIS CLASSIC SWAN 37 REWARDS MAX CAMPBELL WITH SOME OF HIS MOST ADVENTUROUS CRUISING YET
The sea curls with distant groundswells as the fragmented skyline of Panama City dips into the horizon. A neat queue of cargo vessels waits at anchor for their turn to transit the Canal. Gone are the steady trades I’ve become accustomed to, and we face the serene blue void of the Pacific. Two years after that first chilly Biscay crossing, Elixir’s hull parts a new ocean.
The excitement of waking up in the Pacific lasts for several weeks. I feel overwhelmed by the infinite number of paths leading to exciting destinations. The Pacific season is beginning and everyone on board craves another ocean passage, yet we feel as if we’ve barely scratched the surface of Latin America. We’ve tasted the flavour of life in Colombia and Panama, and it’s left us wanting more.
In the lingering aftermath of Covid, many Pacific islands still have their borders shut. We decide it’s as good an excuse as any to stick around in Central America. Instead of casting off for French Polynesia immediately, we settle on a 2,000-mile detour to the Sea of Cortez. After checking out of Panama, our next stop is Costa Rica.
Punta Burica marks the border between Panama and Costa Rica. It extends like a bead of water about to drop off into the Pacific. Our first Costa Rican sunset is a vibrant orange dream. We pull in bonito on the line. The red Pacific sun melts into the seascape, leaving a burning soup of molten sky and clouds.
LONGEST WAVE
We shift between leisurely drawn-out tacks, until the tip of the Osa Peninsula emerges at sunrise. Golfito, nested in the Golfo Dulce (Sweet Gulf ), is the first port of call for sailors arriving from the south.
We make a quick stop at Playa Pavones. A curving cobblestone beach creates one of the longest surfing waves in the world. Shortly after dropping the hook, I dive over the guardrail to begin the day with one of the longest waves of my life. Landfall in Costa Rica has immediately surpassed that of any other country, so far. As I sit on my board surrounded by the early morning tribe of surfers, I can’t stop smiling, looking back at Elixir and thinking about how far we’d come.
The previous sleepless night of coastal sailing catches up, and tiredness strikes me down. As the afternoon breeze kicks in, I paddle back to Elixir. We sail off into the deep bay, before anchoring in the port of Golfito to begin the check-in process. Generally, checking into Latin American countries is complicated and expensive. We found Costa Rica to be one of the most tedious. The entire check-in process costs around $350 (with an agent) and takes around half a day of admin.
