Santa Catalina – Day 1: Pacific Horizons
SANTA CATALINA
Day 1: Pacific Horizons
February 13, 2023
With the previous night’s conversation still echoing in my head, I savoured all the spectacular views the journey from Boquete to my next destination had to offer, the mountains and valleys leaving me in a trance. Mountains and valleys I could have explored but chose not to – and I was more than fine with that.
Santa Catalina, a small town on Panama’s Pacific coast, was never part of the original plan. By this point, my Panama itinerary looked nothing like the one I’d sketched out some eight months earlier. I’d skipped Valle de Antón cause of Utila, cut my stay in Boquete short, and rerouted everything just to come here and indulge myself in more diving. And by then, diving had become more enticing than anything else, so the sacrifice felt well justified. And just like that, I found myself in yet another town, once again with the Pacific right at my doorstep.
Black Sand and Quiet Thoughts
The second I arrived, I pulled on my swimming trunks and headed straight for Playa El Estero. After passing the resort area, the long stretch of black-sand beach – with the angry Pacific crashing onto its shore – felt completely uninhabited.
Accompanied by some much-appreciated solitude and a few like-minded hermit crabs, I found myself mesmerised by the shifting patterns in the sand as the sea foam rearranged itself with every incoming wave. I walked beneath the scorching sun, continuing to ponder my future – something I seemed to be doing every time I’d find myself on a beach. From feeling freer than ever the first time I ran out into the waves back in Mexico, to understanding the power of freedom back in Costa Rica, to realising what the cost of freedom is in Bocas del Toro a few days before, I was still at an impasse.
Soon enough, I’d be saying goodbye to the Pacific for the foreseeable future, along with all the activities I’d grown so accustomed to. I wondered when I’d next find myself with this much freedom. Whether I’d ever be able to do something like this again. Whether I’d be able to keep chasing the same things I had over here. I’d already made my peace with sacrificing my freedom for my passion, at least for a while. Now I just had to overcome the quiet sense of resignation that came with it and, instead, fight for more. To try to have it all. To work hard and play hard. Some people manage to do exactly that. Why couldn’t I be one of them?
And so I walked on, soaking in every single second of what life had to offer. I ran into the sea, letting the waves engulf me in an attempt to forget about the ravages of time, to reinvigorate myself, and to find the will to fight. It felt like I had finally reached a compromise – one that would give me everything I wanted and valued out of life. I now knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to fight for my happiness. To be extraordinary and happy.
All reignited, I made my way to Playa Santa Catalina which, admittedly, felt rather unimpressive in comparison, the sunset making up for what it lacked. Knowing I had a long day ahead of me, I headed back to my hostel and called it an early night.