Dumpees is Bocas del Toro's sucky tube machine—a wave originally discovered by bodysurfers but now ridden by stand-up surfers who can handle the thick, pitching barrels. The wave jacks up fast over shallow reef and spits hard. Technical but rewarding.
Model forecast for swell, wind and tide.
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Water temp
28°C
Wetsuit
Boardshorts / Rashguard
Difficulty
6/10
Crowd level
3/10
Access: Isla Colón. Near Paunch and Bluff.
Dumpees is a reef break in Isla Colón, Panama, with peaks that run both left and right.
Dumpees picks up swell from the NNE round to the E, and it's best when it's coming straight out of the NE. It starts working at around 1.2m and handles up to about 2.5m, with the sweet spot around 1.8 to 2.2m. Period matters too: aim for 14s or longer, as anything under 10s tends to be weak. These are the numbers our scoring uses, so treat them as a guide rather than a promise.
A SW wind is dead offshore at Dumpees, and anything from the S round to the W keeps it clean. The morning is typically the best window, roughly 6am to 10am. Light winds from other directions can still be fine; strong offshores can make it hard to get into waves.
Dumpees is at its best around the low to mid tide, roughly 0.3m to 1.2m on the local chart.
The most reliable run of swell at Dumpees comes Nov to Mar. There's a second window in Sep to Oct too. Winter swells. Bocas paradise but surfers score too.
The water at Dumpees averages around 28°C, so boardshorts or a rashguard will do. It shifts a few degrees through the year, so check the season before you pack.
It's more of an intermediate wave, rated 6/10 for difficulty, so newer surfers are best off sticking to the smaller days. The lineup is usually quiet (crowd 3/10). BodySurfer's paradise but surfers score too. Sucky tubes.
The nearest airport on our list is BOC, then it's roughly a 15-minute drive. Isla Colón. Near Paunch and Bluff.
The closest breaks we track are Paunch (0.5 km), Tiger Tails (1.1 km) and Bluff Beach (2.1 km), handy when Dumpees isn't working. We track 4 spots around Isla Colón in total.
Peak: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar
Secondary: Sep, Oct
Winter swells. Bocas paradise but surfers score too.
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