Tamarindo · 1993

1993 · Paradise Found

I Started Traveling the World to Surf

When I was 30, I set out to find the best waves on the planet. I surfed my way around the world through Europe, Africa, Asia, and Indonesia before heading down to Central America. In 1993, I arrived in Costa Rica.

My journey began in Pavones in the south and ended, as it turned out, in Tamarindo. When I arrived here, I was amazed by the waves and the uncrowded beaches. What is now the center of Tamarindo was pure jungle. The town was tiny. There was just one phone, located in a small shop. We ate whatever was available that day.

Every morning I would check the surf from the hill above the Best Western. And then I discovered that the lot was for sale.

1993–2006 · The First Build

Everyone Thought It Was Crazy

The lot on the hill was for sale. Everyone thought it was crazy to buy at that time. I did it anyway. That's where I built Sunset House.

In those days, building here wasn’t easy. No workers were available and no reliable supply chain existed, but somehow we made it happen.

Around 1998, I bought the lot above Sunset House and began planning what would become Casa Alang Alang, completed in 2006. Then came land in Punta San Francisco, then Santa Teresa. From these pieces, Elite Beach Villas began to take shape.

Sunset House · The beginning of EBV

Tamarindo · Raising a family on the coast

The Years Between · Roots

I Decided to Raise My Kids Here

Life here wasn’t easy in the early days. Tamarindo had few modern conveniences, so at first I came for a couple of months each year during the European winter.

The town changed slowly over my first decade here, and eventually I decided to make it home and raise my children in the community.

I found myself putting down roots in a way I hadn't planned. I raised my children in this community. They grew up on these beaches, learned to surf in this bay, went to school here. And just like that, this place became home.

Today · Elite Beach Villas

Six Villas on Two Costa Rican Coasts, One Yacht

Each villa exists because I fell in love with a particular piece of this coast and wanted to share it. I wanted guests to experience these places as I do.

Elite Beach Villas collection now includes one yacht and six villas across Tamarindo and Santa Teresa. I chose each location myself and built or renovated them to a standard I would want for my own family.

A team of local people who share my love of this coast staffs all of them, and our concierge team has been with EBV for years.

Over 2,500 guests later, the goal has never changed: that you leave feeling the same thing I felt in 1993. The Pura Vida life.

Tamarindo · Today