Surf Forecast  Isla Uvita

Isla Uvita surfspot characteristics

More about Isla Uvita surfspot

Isla Uvita, where Columbus landed in 1502, is a long lefthander that picks up everything and shunts along a shallow ledge, offering challenging, bowly lefts for assured tube-hunters only. Air drops to get in and lines-up best on NE swells at mid tide.

General: A half-hour boat ride from Limon, Isla Uvita is an undeveloped, uninhabited, reef-flanked island where Christopher Columbus landed in 1502 on his fourth New World voyage. In peak form the wave is an ultra-gnarly, jacking, bowling, warping lefthand reefbreak with a shallow outside ledge and two dangerously slabby sections thereafter, becoming a tuberiding haven for advanced surfers and bodyboarders experienced in thick-lipped slabs. Uvita picks up any trace of short-interval windswell generated by all the powerful Atlantic storms that crank up in the winter (and to a lesser-degree, summer), and morning windows are optimal; although with all the frequent thunderstorms that coincide with the surf seasons, it’s never onshore for too long on the Caribbean side. Occasionally world-class, sometimes sketchy, but perpetually rideable, Uvita generally has three takeoff sections and can hold up to double-overhead surf and beyond; at which point it becomes one of the freakishly challenging waves in the whole country. Tides: All Size: Head-high to double-overhead Wind: S-SW Swell: NE Bottom: Grotesquely sharp, hard, dead coral reef conjured to the surface by the 1991 earthquake. Get cut here and you’re scarred for life. Fortunately, it’s not obscenely shallow in the lineup, and a keyhole around the southern bend of the island allows for relatively safe entry and exit to the wave. Paddling: Reasonable, unless you’re paddling all the way from Limon. Spot Rating: Isla Uvita is a jacking, warping, bowling, hollow lefthand reefbreak that picks up any trace of swell, can hold double-overhead surf, and can be impossible or rippable depending on where you take off. Or it might just be good, clean fun.

Intermediate to expert

Hire a boat in Limon or paddle over to the island (not advised).

December through March, when grunty winter storms churning off Colombia send consistent ENE swells this way along with torrential squalls, which the Salamanca coastal range tempers just enough to allow for some offshore flow. July can be a sneaky-good month, too, when tropical systems start activating in the Caribbean.

Crowd Factor: On big swells, that ledge takes care of itself, and the gnarliest surfers and bodyboarders go unchallenged; while further down the line, shifting sections keep everyone honest. On pedestrian swells, weekends are usually busiest. Local Vibe: Not too bad. This being the Caribbean, a breezy, irie sizzle permeates the atmosphere. Some of the gringo expats are jerks, though.

If there aren’t any boats for hire in Limon harbour, the paddle from the mainland at Parque Vargas is about 1.5km, takes about 20mins; jellyfish rather than sharks are the major cause for concern and maritime traffic.

It’s an island, so the nastier stuff tends to flow closer to the mainland. Regardless, all that rainfall makes for some brown water, with the occasional murky green.

Frequent torrential downpours and all the flying, biting insects that come with torrential downpours. Jellyfish in hordes. Petty street crime. And some of the nastiest, sharpest, ugliest coral you’ve ever seen.