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About this spot
Punta Chame, about an hour from Panama City, is the country's main kitesurfing location. From December to April the northerly trades blow 15–25 knots and are boosted by daytime land breezes, according to the local kite house.
Panama Kite Center, an IKO school, teaches in a lagoon protected by a small sandbar where the water is waist-deep and flat, best around mid-tide; Machete Kites, another IKO school, sits at the end of the peninsula upwind of everything else.
Tide rules the day. The main beach is cross-on, flattest on a low, dropping tide and wavier as it floods; around spring low tides, sandbars off Isla Taborcillo turn into flat-water spots reached by kiting or boat shuttle. Check a tide table before each session.
3-day forecast
Speed / gusts in knots. Colour = rideability for this spot. Bottom row = recommended kite size for your weight — not recommended outside this spot's 15–25 kn range.
Conditions
- Water
- flat, choppy, waves
- Depth
- Waist-deep in the lesson lagoon per the school; varies strongly with tide
- Seabed
- sand
- Skill
- beginner, intermediate, expert
- Beginners
- Beginner friendly
- Wind range
- 15 kn – 25 kn
Access & parking
Punta Chame peninsula road off the Pan-American Highway, about an hour west of Panama City.
Parking: Parking at the kite centres and beach clubs; fees unverified.
Amenities
- Panama Kite Center and Machete Kites — IKO lessons, rental, shop
- Kite lodges, restaurants and boat shuttles to the sandbars
Needs local verification: Sources: https://www.panamakitecenter.com/ and https://www.panamakitecenter.com/kite-lessons/ (IKO school in front of a sandbar-protected lagoon, waist-deep flat water best around mid-tide, beginner lessons), https://www.panamakitehouse.com/kitesurfing (main beach cross-on, big tidal movement — flattest on a low dropping tide, more waves on the incoming; spring-tide sandbars off Isla Taborcillo; Dec–Apr northerly trades 15–25 kt; board shorts or thin shorty), https://www.machetekites.com/ (IKO school at the end of the peninsula, upwind of everything, Dec–Apr). Water temperatures are estimates for the Bay of Panama, which cools in the dry season. Coordinates approximate the peninsula beach, not a surveyed launch. Windy links are searches/maps, not verified local webcams.
Local hazards
- Large tidal range — conditions change through the day
- Sandbars cut off as the tide floods
- Waves on the incoming tide
- Strong sun and heat