Oasis Surf Camp — Hotel in Hicaco

We spent 3 nights at the "Star Suite" around Christmas time. We were fully self-accomodated so I can't tell about the restaurant and bar.||Oasis Surf Camp is a surf camp, not a luxury hotel so don't expect too much. However we enjoyed the place a lot and I do recommend it (if you know what to expect).||||The good:||- The location is perfect: right by the beach.||- It's a great surf spot for beginners but the mellow waves are also quite fine if you're looking for relaxed and unpretentious surfing (which was my case). The waves do roll and are not at all poor mushy close-out. They were (very) small when I was there but quite OK with a 8'.||- The beach is a bit far from the village centre, so it's quiet and not crowded at all (although because of Covid context I can't say if this was usual),||- Yes, you have to cross a river at low tide to reach the hotel but the water is very low (ankle high) and it's easy with any kind of car (but better with a SUV), the sand is hard and staff would show you in any case.||- Staff members were very relaxed and very informal in their manners but helpful each time we needed something or had a question.||- My children had a surf lesson with an instructor who spoke French. Booking through the hotel was very smooth and most of all he was fantastic: he did his best to entertain and train them, constantly moving around them and helping them. Not the usual guy sitting on the sand or his board ! They loved the lesson! Unfortunately I can't remember his name, but if he reads this: muchas gracias!||||- The Star Suite is not luxurious but it's quite pleasant for a familly of 4. The balcony is excellent, AC is good, bathroom is quite OK.||||The less good:||- The really bad point: cutlery, dishes and kitchen stuff are very minimal and basic in the Star Suite. You can cook but it's very stingy. It wouldn't cost a lot to add stuff and change what's so old! ||- The fridge was poor: very small, not cold enough. ||- Mattresses are too soft but this seems to be very common in Panama (from a European point of view at least).||- The surroundings are a bit messy (notably below the Star Suite, full of old and abandoned stuff), it would be good to clean a bit around.||- I read that the beach was dirty: I disagree, at least during the season we were there. It was mostly wood and natural stuff. However a bit of cleaning on the upper part of the beach and in the front of the hotel could be done, it's not bad but not perfect.||- Surfboards to rent: the choice is very limited, at least for the mid-lenghts and bigger boards. 7'2" were plastic and 8' were only softops (no 9'). As the waves were very small and I'm usued to a 9', I rented a 8' Softech: it catches every wave but eish! this thing is way too soft and hard to move, I felt like surfing a yoga mat. (but renting was easy and cheap as clients of the hotel).||||- Beware: the road to Santa Catalina is full of POTHOLES, particularly towards the end. Expect the drive to be quite long. Beware also of... speed as you tend to go faster when there are not potholes but there's... police with speed cameras, it's 60 km/h on the small road! I got caught (but policeman was nice, got only a small fine)||||So, all in all, not perfect but a very good experience. Oasis Surf Camp would not need a bit of improvements to be excellent but the location is great, the beach is great and we enjoyed...

We spent 3 nights at the "Star Suite" around Christmas time. We were fully self-accomodated so I can't tell about the restaurant and bar.||Oasis Surf Camp is a surf camp, not a luxury hotel so don't expect too much. However we enjoyed the place a lot and I do recommend it (if you know what to expect).||||The good:||- The location is perfect: right by the beach.||- It's a great surf spot for beginners but the mellow waves are also quite fine if you're looking for relaxed and unpretentious surfing (which was my case). The waves do roll and are not at all poor mushy close-out. They were (very) small when I was there but quite OK with a 8'.||- The beach is a bit far from the village centre, so it's quiet and not crowded at all (although because of Covid context I can't say if this was usual),||- Yes, you have to cross a river at low tide to reach the hotel but the water is very low (ankle high) and it's easy with any kind of car (but better with a SUV), the sand is hard and staff would show you in any case.||- Staff members were very relaxed and very informal in their manners but helpful each time we needed something or had a question.||- My children had a surf lesson with an instructor who spoke French. Booking through the hotel was very smooth and most of all he was fantastic: he did his best to entertain and train them, constantly moving around them and helping them. Not the usual guy sitting on the sand or his board ! They loved the lesson! Unfortunately I can't remember his name, but if he reads this: muchas gracias!||||- The Star Suite is not luxurious but it's quite pleasant for a familly of 4. The balcony is excellent, AC is good, bathroom is quite OK.||||The less good:||- The really bad point: cutlery, dishes and kitchen stuff are very minimal and basic in the Star Suite. You can cook but it's very stingy. It wouldn't cost a lot to add stuff and change what's so old! ||- The fridge was poor: very small, not cold enough. ||- Mattresses are too soft but this seems to be very common in Panama (from a European point of view at least).||- The surroundings are a bit messy (notably below the Star Suite, full of old and abandoned stuff), it would be good to clean a bit around.||- I read that the beach was dirty: I disagree, at least during the season we were there. It was mostly wood and natural stuff. However a bit of cleaning on the upper part of the beach and in the front of the hotel could be done, it's not bad but not perfect.||- Surfboards to rent: the choice is very limited, at least for the mid-lenghts and bigger boards. 7'2" were plastic and 8' were only softops (no 9'). As the waves were very small and I'm usued to a 9', I rented a 8' Softech: it catches every wave but eish! this thing is way too soft and hard to move, I felt like surfing a yoga mat. (but renting was easy and cheap as clients of the hotel).||||- Beware: the road to Santa Catalina is full of POTHOLES, particularly towards the end. Expect the drive to be quite long. Beware also of... speed as you tend to go faster when there are not potholes but there's... police with speed cameras, it's 60 km/h on the small road! I got caught (but policeman was nice, got only a small fine)||||So, all in all, not perfect but a very good experience. Oasis Surf Camp would not need a bit of improvements to be excellent but the location is great, the beach is great and we enjoyed...

We arrived at Oasis Surf Camp at 1 PM just for check-in. We tried to contact them to have someone come and help with the suitcases but couldn’t reach them. That’s fine. There is a small river to cross to get to the resort which is a bit unusual but nice, however makes it tricky to carry luggages across.

The place looks amazing, with the beach and the waves and the little colourful houses so our first impression was really nice.

The check-in guy was very sweet and helped us secure surf lessons.

However, we had not eaten and were starving and decided at 2 PM to go to the resort restaurant. I asked the lady (apparently the restaurant owner) if we could order and she said they have too many orders and even though the restaurant closed at 2.30 pm, she refused to serve us.

We decided to give them a second chance for dinner and headed to the restaurant around 6:45 pm. We sat down and ordered two drinks and two dishes ( a bruschetta and a fish and chips with fries). The drinks came pretty fast, however, our waitress (who was very nice to be honest) came to us as 7:45 pm to let us know that there is no bread and therefore no bruschetta.

At 8 pm, still no food, so I decided to go and talk to the restaurant owner (an Italian lady). She said I needed to calm down, and be patient, that this is a small place, and I need to just sit and wait. I overheard her turn down a couple at 8:15 pm saying “I can’t make miracles, there are business hours and you need to follow them”.

I’ve traveled over 35 countries in the past 10 years (all types, some richer than others) and this is probably the worst case of bad customer relationships management I have ever seen. Not only did not apologise for the wait (and for serving a couple who got there before us…), she yelled at me and told me it was basically my fault.

This is unacceptable behaviour and it needs to change asap. Very sad as the place has a lot...