Marco Pacheco is a Costa Rican surfer and shaper based out of Tamarindo. He’s made a couple different boards for me and I know he shapes for some of the other guys around here in Nosara like Seekret Spot Gelato Steffano, Secret Spot Fishing & Surf tours Vibert & Prove Nothing Zacc. The first board he made me is the green SUP in the lead in photo which I’ve ridden lots of different places in Costa Rica. I wanted something I could paddle to the outer reefs in our area with but still turn and noseride some. Marco didn’t want to put in a ‘sissy handle’ as he calls it and, to my initial surprise, wanted to utilize a quad setup. I quickly learned Marco has a very interesting take on fins, boards, and life in general.
The great thing about having a local shaper who knows the specific wave(s) you surf is they can build it specifically for you and what you need. Furthermore, if you’re like me and you fluctuate in weight a bunch it makes things very different for board performance. I’m pretty heavy at the moment so I asked Marco to make me my ‘Fat guy Guiones’ board and the only thing I asked was that it fit the wave style at Guiones… That’s just what Marco did for me on this one. This one ended up being a 10’9 with Marco’s hatchet fin system.
Here’s a couple of Rich giving Big Red a go at Playa Guiones:
I’ve actually taken this one into some barrels too and ridden a bit. I don’t have pictures of many but I remember riding in this one for a little while. I was very surprised how it handled in the tube. It can handle speed and hold a rail pretty good.
One of my favorite things about Marco is he’s always trying to help people out when he can. The lastest example of this is his project “Building Cundino’s Wall” which you can contribute to at Go Fund Me. Cundino is one of the original Costa Rican surfers who lives right at the point at Boca Barranca. If you’ve been there you probably have already met him. He is a classic guy and his location is worthy of being honored especially after all it has given to Costa Rica and those of us who surf here. Costa Rican surfing was born right in front of his house and Marco is trying to help keep this spot alive for Cundino and future generations.
Although our backgrounds and life experiences are extremely different, both Marco and I share a love for surfing and experimentation in riding waves. For this I am extremely grateful. Hopefully you get a chance to connect with him at some point and enjoy his wealth of knowledge not only in surfboards but participating in the ocean and giving back to others.
