Water Sports
Buy and sell water sports gear in Panama.
On Panama’s Pacific side the tide rises and falls several metres in a few hours, while across the isthmus at Portobelo and Bocas del Toro the sea barely moves. Kayaks and paddle boards on the Pacific get dragged across beaches the tide has left dry, and masks, fins and dive kit spend most of their working life over Caribbean reefs. Boards and kayaks come up here new and pre-owned, along with the wetsuits and accessories that go with them, often from owners trading up or leaving the coast. Check the hull, the seams and the valve before you look at the logo.
Boards, kayaks and masks on two coasts that behave differently:
on the Pacific, off Panama City and the Pearl Islands, the tide rises and falls several metres twice a day, and on the Caribbean it hardly shifts. A beach that was under water at breakfast can be a long carry over mud and rock by lunch. That is why most kayaks here are tough polyethylene sit-on-tops, and why so many stand up paddle boards are inflatables that shrug off being dragged. The calm, clear Caribbean around Portobelo and Bocas del Toro is where masks, fins and regulators get their use, all of it under diving and snorkeling. Surfboards and wakeboards, ridden behind a boat on flat water, are separate trades again: a surfer shops by volume, a wakeboarder by rocker and binding size.
Inflatable or rigid boards, and how much neoprene:
an inflatable SUP rolls into a bag that fits the boot of a car or the deck of a small boat out to the islands. A rigid board glides further on each stroke and is the one to want for catching waves. A pedal-drive kayak leaves your hands free for a rod but weighs far more than a paddle sit-on-top. Neoprene depends on which coast you swim off. A rash guard or a thin shorty does for the Caribbean and the Gulf of Chiriquí, but in most dry seasons the trade winds push warm surface water offshore and cold water wells up in the Gulf of Panama, and anyone diving off Taboga or the Pearl Islands then is glad of a full 3/2 wetsuit. A wetsuit should sit snug at the neck and lower back with no loose folds, so try it on dry before you pay.
Sit-on-top kayaks and the pedal drive:
a single sit-on-top with its paddle costs around $400 to $550 new in Panama, and pedal-drive fishing kayaks start at about $1,300. A sound used paddle kayak goes for roughly $200 to $300. Polyethylene hulls last for years, so most of that drop comes from what a kayak costs its owner to keep: floor space, a roof rack and the sun bleaching the deck. Pedal kayaks hold their value only while the drive turns smoothly, because salt in its gears and bearings is the expensive repair.
Gouged hulls, soft seams and tired neoprene:
are what to look for before paying. Turn a kayak over: deep scratches from Pacific rocks are normal on a hull, but a crack around the scupper holes, or a dent that stayed pressed in where straps held it in the sun, is not. Pump an inflatable board to its working pressure and leave it a few hours. If it goes soft, air is escaping through the valve or a seam, and the rail seams are where they usually let go. On a rigid board or a surfboard, press along the deck with your thumb for soft spots and look for dings that have let water in, which shows as brown staining under the glass. A mask with a yellowed, sticky skirt will not seal for long. A regulator should come with its service record, and green crust on the first stage means salt was left to sit. Neoprene gone stiff or open at the seams has had its best years.
A kayak or paddle board listing that saves the buyer a trip:
give length and width, and say what is included and what is not: paddle, pump, leash, fin, seat. Photograph the underside of a hull, the valve and rail seams of an inflatable, and the deck pad of a rigid board. Kayak buyers turn up with a pickup or a roof rack and straps, so put the hull length where nobody can miss it and be ready to help lift it on. Whoever collects an inflatable will want to watch it pumped hard and then rolled back into its bag before any money changes hands.