Every year, people who live in the path of hurricanes lose hours of sleep and oftentimes everything they own.

A hurricane scuttled my boat — and nearly ruined my dream of living in Costa Rica — but the hurricane didn’t happen here. This near-misadventure is a tale that must be told.

Hurricane Fausto hit our boat in Mexico, en route to Costa Rica. Such an event probably won’t happen in Costa Rica. Costa Rica to this day has never received a direct hit from a hurricane and is considered a safe haven for all boaters.

I am a North American who married a Costa Rican. We have three beautiful girls, all born in Costa Rica. I am now living the dream as a successful businessman, developer, and owner of a real estate company.

Born and raised in Monroe, Wisconsin, I was 18 years old, fresh out of high school, when I decided it was time to head west in search of the promised land.

I ended up in a logging and commercial fishing town, Crescent City, California – the last port before the Oregon border, in the heart of the almighty Redwood Forest.

I spent five years braving the high seas of the North Pacific along the coast of Northern California and Southern Oregon, commercial fishing for bottom fish, Dungeness crab, and pink shrimp. I took up surfing on my days off.

I was fishing aboard F/V “Spirit of 76” during the crab season of 1993-1994 — one of the best seasons ever. I recruited my best friends from the same hometown in Wisconsin, Sean McGraw and Brett Fahning. We worked hard and decided we deserved a tropical holiday in search of the perfect wave in warm tropical Pacific waters. Here we come, Costa Rica!

We rented a beat-up Isuzu Trooper and spent ten days in the spring of 1994 trying to see the entire country of Costa Rica. We fell in love with the Southern Pacific sector near Dominicalito, a tranquil natural harbor.

We surfed a world-class point break on the south side of the bay and consistent beach break on the north side. With 22 feet of depth on low tide and a lush tropical mountainside rimming the bay, we knew we were on to something.

Even though getting there was a nearly impossible mission on dirt roads, river crossings, and major obstacles of all kinds along the way, we wanted to call this place home.

We decided to go back and liquidate all our assets, buy a boat and sail it to Dominicalito, where we would set up charter operation for surfing, diving, sport-fishing, and whale-watching.

We also had planned to buy land overlooking the bay with the intention to grow as much food as possible and live off the land and sea.

Shortly after returning from Costa Rica, all fired about the new venture, we began our search for the boat. The San Francisco Chronicle carried an ad: “Have sailboat, 30-foot Erickson, will trade for motorcycles or cash.”

It so happened that Sean and Brett both had motorcycles. Deal was made, and the boat was renamed the “Irie Sea.” Sean and Brett set sail after six months of outfitting and gearing up the vessel for the journey south.

They spent two months getting comfortable with the boat while taking advantage of world-class waves in Baja, California, in Mexico. I volunteered to go via land with Solomon, Sean’s chocolate lab.

We decided to wait out the hurricane season. But bad luck hit when Hurricane Fausto made its way up into the Sea of Cortez. It tore a larger sailing vessel loose from her ground tackle and sent her adrift across the bay. The boat t-boned the “Irie Sea,” leaving a shattered 15-foot hole in the hull and laying it up on the beach.

Determined to fulfill our Costa Rica dream, Sean and I settled into a property with two farmhouses on the mountainside just above Dominicalito Bay. Our buddy Brett went on to complete his studies, obtain his 200-ton captain’s license, run research vessels return to commercial fishing in Port of Crescent City Harbor.

In the Southern Pacific Zone, Sean and I really got in on the ground floor ahead of infrastructure. We were there to watch what is now the Costa Ballena start developing and continue to improve.

We watched five-acre ocean view parcels sell for $50,000 and resell three-to-four times over in the last ten years, with the last sale prices in some cases exceeding $500,000.

Sean is no longer with us, having transitioned to a higher place in 2009. But he set the standard for adventure and success in Costa Rica — buying property, marrying, fathering two children, building a house, working in real estate, surfing waves, living the life that most people dream of.

As my partner in real estate, he helped countless people experience the beauty and magic of tropical Costa Rica.

Never once did we worry about another hurricane blasting our plans out of the water. Costa Rica gets plenty of rain, but it is a safe harbor from full-fledged hurricanes.

The dry season is coming to an end. Weathermen predict at least one solid hurricane for each month of rainy season. Luckily, Costa Rica is considered in boating terms the “doldrums,” which is a light-to-no-wind zone for sailors from the equator up to about 10 degrees in latitude. The storms are born in this zone and gain force and power as they move north. Costa Rica often gets major rain, but rarely damaging high winds.

The surfing and boating scene is what really attracted us, and years later, it doesn’t disappoint. The Southern Pacific Coast has several excellent, protected natural harbors and bays.

The port town of Quepos, originally developed by the American Fruit Company in the early 1900s, is now connected to Dominical by a new highway. Port of Quepos has announced the opening of a new marina project, “Pez Vela”, that will offer boaters a place to keep their boats safely with a full-service operation.

Just a few hours south of Dominicalito is Golfito, another former fruit company port town, nestled below the Piedras Blancas Reserve. With its lush vertical mountain rimming the bay, Golfito will be the home of the Bahia Escondido Marina Project.

This area also boasts several world-class waves that the locals would prefer to keep on the down low to avoid a crowded lineup in the surf.

The Costa Rican government has announced plans to build a new airport servicing this entire region. The new airport will be located between these two marina projects in Palmar Sur, allowing easy access for luxury yacht owners to fly in and spend time on their safely kept vessels outside of the hurricane zone.

Never in recorded history has a hurricane made a direct hit along either coast of Costa Rica, which is in an area that sailors call the doldrums. Below is a graph showing hurricane tracking since the 1980s.

It does not get much better than this! Lose no more sleep, and keep your vessel in a safe place along the Southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Enjoy what the country has to offer. It is hard to ask for much more!

Every waterman’s dream can come true in this pristine playground, both on land and out to sea. Costa Rica has a stable government and beautiful, warm, open-hearted, gentle, passionate and peaceful locals.

Costa Rica is a dream that keeps getting better! Come and experience it for yourself.

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Your Costa Rica Realtors for Dominical and the South Pacific region.

Dominical Homes, Farms and Land For Sale.

If you have ever dreamed of living in a place that’s as close to a tropical paradise as you can find … Please contact our Recommended Costa Rica Realtors Daveed Hollander, John Wieland and James Drews in Dominical in the Southern Pacific area, by using the simple form below:

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