Category: Activities

I thoroughly enjoyed recording this episode with Romeo Stone. It’s amazing to see his mindset at his age and how aggressively he is pursuing his goals. It’s been a pleasure to watch him grow up and exciting to see him aim high goal wise… He wants to surf in the Olympics in 2028, is extremely grateful to his mom and everyone who helps him with his journey, and opens up on his thoughts about crowds, environment, seeing Nosara become popular, plus he supports other surfers in this country making the same journey. he’s launching a new business and pursuing sponsors as he serves tournaments to work his way to the top. Lots of insight and heartfelt conversation in this episode… We hope you enjoy it!

I’ve watched this kid grow up for a long time, and it is incredible to sit down and see the man and athlete Romeo Beach is becoming. As an elite under-18 competitive surfer representing the Costa Rican federation, Romeo is eyeing Olympic qualification for 2028 while navigating the modern realities of the surf industry, sponsorships, and the rapid evolution of our town. We get into his recent performance taking 20th in the world at the ISA World Juniors in Brazil, his upcoming qualification trip to the Caribbean, the launch of his personal brands to self-fund his travel, and a raw, necessary reality check on what it means to actually respect Nosara’s lineup, environment, and roads as the town continues to grow.

What We Dive Into:

• ISA World Juniors: Romeo’s breakthrough ranking of 20th in the world in the U18 division in Brazil and his push for the upcoming games in El Salvador.
• The Surf Sponsorship Pivot: How corporate buyouts of major brands have shifted funding toward social media metrics, forcing athletes to become self-reliant entrepreneurs.
• Lineup Etiquette and Safety: Direct advice on managing a crowded peak at Playa Guiones, right-of-way rules, and why “soft tops are cool” for safety.
• Environmental Conscious Building: Firsthand observations on the decline of local wildlife and the urgent need for developers to build around existing nature.
• The “No Shit No Nosara” Campaign: The critical importance of upgrading septic and gray water systems to protect the ocean from rising bacteria levels.
• Modern Content Creation: Navigating the shift from classic surf magazines to daily blogging, vlogging, and Romeo’s upcoming film project, Mango Season.
• Road Safety Crisis: A passionate plea to expats and tourists to slow down, wear helmets, and stop driving aggressively on Nosara’s blind curves.

Episode Transcript
00:00 – Growing Up in Raw Nosara and Entering Competitive Surfing
Rich Burnam (Rich): Romeo, welcome to the podcast.
Romeo Beach (Romeo): Thanks for having me. Yeah, I’m pretty stoked. This is cool.
Rich: Yeah, this is interesting. I’ve watched you grow up, man. I’ve known you a long time and now we’re getting to sit here and talk about what you’re doing, your future, what you’re aiming for, and just what the heck’s going on. I’m stoked about this one. This is a fun episode.
Romeo: Awesome. No, I’m excited to share a bit about myself and some of my goals and surfing and stuff because it’s really changed over the years. I think growing up here has given me this amazing platform and amazing waves to just succeed, and great people and vibes. So it’s sick.
Rich: So it sounds like you’re happy that this was where you spent your childhood.
Romeo: Definitely. I wouldn’t wish it any other way. Nosara is just—and especially when I was growing up here, it was a bit more chilled out to what it is now. I’m happy that I got that a bit more raw Nosara experience than maybe kids growing up now would get here.
Rich: Well, let’s dive into that later, but let’s start right now. What are you doing these days? What are your immediate goals or just what are you aiming for over the next couple of years? Get us up to speed with you today and then we’ll go back to your past.
Romeo: Yeah. So right now I’m pretty into competitive surfing and it started around two years ago. Before, I was just free surfing and surfing with my mom having fun. I went to a contest in Playa Hermosa and it went really well. The waves were super big and I was just trying my best throwing big airs, but I kind of made a good impression. From there, I started talking with the Costa Rican federation, and it ended up to me training super hard over those next few months. I got selected to represent Costa Rica in the ISA World Juniors.
Rich: How was that feeling for you?
Romeo: It was amazing. I was so underprepared too. I still didn’t have the best boards and I even got robbed like two weeks before the event—all my boards stolen. But I was just grateful to be there and I did the best that I could on what I had. That kind of just ignited something in me. I found a new love for surfing. From then, I’ve just been training every day, nonstop surfing, and I got selected again last year to compete in Brazil. That went really good. I got 20th in the world in U18, the division that was surfing up for me.
Rich: That’s a strong statement, man.
Romeo: And now I’m going in a week to the Caribbean to try to requalify to represent Costa Rica again in the surfing games, U18, in El Salvador. It’s coming up in May.
03:15 – The Olympic Pathway, Funding Challenges, and Brand Initiatives
Rich: What does it mean if you connect on that?
Romeo: Before they had surfing in the Olympics, they had the ISA World Games. They’ve had them forever and it’s just a great platform where all these kids from different countries have the opportunity to represent their flag and try to go for a gold medal. It would mean the world to me to get that. It’s something that I really strive for and it’s kind of just the beginning into getting into Olympic qualification, getting these amazing connections. A lot of guys on tour right now have been an ISA medalist and stuff like that. So it’s just the building blocks and kind of a start into something that could be greater later on.
Rich: What would help you achieve your goals?
Romeo: Well, sponsors have been a bit difficult for me just because of the social media aspect. Now a lot of people are kind of looking at who has the most followers, not who’s the best surfer or who needs it the most.
Rich: Do you like that or dislike that? Where you at on it? Cause you’re popular online and you’re growing. So to me, it kind of feels like you have the best of both worlds going.
Romeo: It’s starting off good. The social media part is tricky because before, I just wanted to surf. I didn’t really care about what I looked like to other people on social media. But now it’s kind of a part of my life and it’s cool that I get the platform to put myself out there, but it’s tricky at the same time. It’s kind of like a love-hate relationship. Right now, my main sponsor is my mom. I have a t-shirt company, Nosara Underground, and I’ve been trying to get that back up and running so I can just support myself. I’m starting a jewelry brand doing chains and stuff called Romeo Stone Design. I wasn’t just gonna wait around for someone to pick me up. I wanted to do this, and if I’m going to do this, I need to take action towards it. But yeah, that’s the main thing is kind of the money. The money part is tricky just because going to all these competitions and traveling and getting boards and leashes and fins is expensive.
Rich: Much respect for you taking the initiative to get that. I mean, I get chills when you talk about that. I love initiative, especially around here. I had pro surfer Tony on yesterday, the longboarder number five in the world. He was sharing that he does so many lessons and has his own business back home to fund his tour, and that lets him pull it off. But the people who are just going to make it off of sponsorships in today’s world, that’s so challenging.
Romeo: Surfing’s changed so much and it’s not like there used to be those core brands—Billabong, Quicksilver, Volcom. Now a lot of those are bought up by bigger corporations and they’re dropping a lot of people and they’re not paying how they used to. One person that’s really inspiring me is John John Florence, how he’s got Pyzel Surfboards and Florence Marine X, and he’s kind of turning his big reach and his big platform into something positive and making a brand out of that, doing quality materials. That’s inspiring to me that he’s made a bunch of money off sponsors and tour before, but he’s kind of supporting and sponsoring events and kids with his brands. That’s a good model that I could hopefully do in the future.
06:45 – The New Wave of Surf Content and the Team Dynamic in Brazil
Rich: The blogs that are working, it’s weird. Look at Ben Gravy, look at Koa Smith, look at all of them. You have people who aren’t pro, who never won a tour contest, but they are getting a following. The surf footage though, that surf footage is short, quick, fast. As soon as someone caught an amazing wave, it’s online like that. In the days when I was coming up, it was surf magazines and the surf movie. You had to wait for it, build it up. Now the content’s out. The new form of content is the blogging stuff—it’s the journey to the surf, setting up the day. I never knew that would catch. The whole surf world’s kind of backwards from 20, 30 years ago. But on that note, let’s go back to your social media. I have really enjoyed it over the past year because you’re kind of on a rocket ship. You’ve been posting your results and more details, and I really enjoy seeing the journey. Are people starting to catch on? Are people seeing what you’re up to and paying attention to the details?
Romeo: Definitely. Whenever I lose or win, I always put a story and a post and write paragraphs about how I was feeling and how I went through it. If you read it or you don’t, it’s just a way for me to express myself and kind of just tell everyone what’s going on, because I know a lot of people don’t understand surfing too. In Brazil, it was a crazy competition and the waves weren’t that good. It was just every single day heats, heats, heats. You’ve got all this commotion in Brazil and the team dynamic—you’re all staying in the same house together, and sometimes people don’t get along. It’s crazy just to focus up on that. So it’s cool to sit down after the day and write a bit about it and post it to inform everybody.
Rich: Well, I want to encourage you to keep going with that. I think it might work because your life here is incredibly interesting to so many people. I would encourage you to get the camera to follow you around more. I saw Sam did a YouTube channel, which I think is great. I think you should do that.
Romeo: Yeah, I started one with my friend Quinn.
Rich: Tell us about it.
Romeo: He had this thing when he was little where he would just do GoPro videos and called it A-Frame Vlogs. We started getting back into that. I’ve been wanting to make a surf movie—still trying to find the message—but calling it Mango Season and kind of just highlighting what is happiness. Growing up here, there’s a lot of people that don’t have anything, but they’re still very happy, and a lot of people are coming down here trying to find that. It’s just an interesting thing, showing how all I really need is my surfboard, a car, and some tasty waves and I’m happy and set. Just staying off of phones and staying out of alcohol and drugs. I’m just trying to send a positive message through surfing because a lot of surf movies are just guys ripping and there’s not really a message. It’s just fun, cool surfing. So I’m gonna try to make something different.
09:50 – The Changing Landscape of Nosara and Environmental Preservation
Rich: I’m thrilled to hear you say all of this, man. I’ll be eagerly awaiting and be a fan. Let’s jump into living in Nosara because the town has completely changed in some ways, but it’s completely the same in others. Actually, when you were growing up, we didn’t have these trees here. So shout out to Costas Verdes and Gerardo and everyone who’s ever donated to help make it happen. That’s a nice change, but also right behind these trees are houses that are very expensive and not accessible to a lot of people. I’m interested in your opinion, having grown up seeing it all.
Romeo: Yeah, it’s interesting. It definitely has changed over the years because as a town, we’ve developed so much. Speaking about the trees, I remember doing day trips with the school where we’d all plant trees all day and see who could plant the most. It’s so amazing to see what such hard work that our whole town has done has created, this amazing greenery by the beach. Everything with change has positive and negative outcomes. It is sad to see a lot of people coming down here and kind of taking advantage of the freedom that this town gives you. I know some people spend a lot of money on their property and want to do the most, but those trees and the animals have been there way before they came. It’s kind of sad to see people clear-cutting. I hope that people can see that and maybe try to build around it or involve more nature into their builds. It’s sad to see a town that was so green and beautiful just be clear-cut. I barely see monkeys or iguanas anymore unless you’re deep in the jungle. They’ve made a new home for a lot of people, but they’ve taken away the home for a lot of the nature. It’s kind of depressing to see that.
Rich: So where did you get this insight and this knowledge? Because most kids your age aren’t thinking in these terms.
Romeo: I think I’ve got it from just growing up here and seeing it firsthand. Remembering going down and always catching iguanas and playing with my friends, and there’d be monkeys everywhere in the trees. Then over the years just seeing less and less and less, and now it’s almost rare. I don’t want it to keep going down that path.
Rich: How do we solve it?
Romeo: I think building more consciously, doing stuff like this where we’re planning, spreading awareness to people, and having everyone do their own part. I think it would make a significant difference. You’re not going to be able to bring it back to what it used to be, but you can slow it down and stop it before it gets to somewhere like Tamarindo where it’s just all clear-cut.
13:10 – Expat Wealth, Local Integration, and Lineup Etiquette at Guiones
Rich: Those are really good points. I’m inside the machine with my day job, and I know that it’s a tough subject, but I do think there is a solution. I think the solution is if you’re going to come to Nosara, get involved.
Romeo: That’s such a good point. I see so many people that have so much wealth, and some people are so helpful to the local community, but maybe some people don’t know how to involve themselves. If you’re going to come down and make a multi-million dollar house, I know you can give some to the local community, whether it be clothes, food, or getting them more involved in working. Just a little bit could go such a long way. If all these people that have such big wealth and such a big platform pitched in, I think we’d have a good, balanced community where everyone’s helping and we don’t have this rivalry. A lot of local people are kind of getting annoyed and it’s just back and forth. We all need to unite and do something positive about that.
Rich: I think the language barrier is an issue. I think the location barrier is an issue because where most of the tourists and expats come, it’s not even Nosara town—they’re coming over to the project. I think there’s some mean people out there who are just in their own interest, I’m not denying that, but really, I think most of the people coming to Nosara mean well and have good intentions. They’re coming here to be happier. What’s new is the people here today have money; that wasn’t the case so much back then. Everyone was just kind of chilling. But a lot of those same people from back in the day are the ones that donated the time and the money the most. Now as Nosara is growing, a lot of people come to town and start a new cause, not realizing that we have 50-something causes and most of the donations come from the same people. We don’t have more money—the solution is the new people. So now when I’m doing a surf report, I actually do not feel guilty for doing it. They’re already here. Google’s out, the internet’s there, there is no secret. It’s not like somebody doesn’t know about the waves. Social media is wild. So I’m done with getting mad about it. We got to worry about tomorrow. My big thought on the lineup is it’s already crowded and it’s going to stay crowded. Surfing is not getting less popular. How do we keep the vibe what it is? Because that’s what’s so special about this place. You don’t generally go out there and experience that localism attitude that ruins places like Playa Negra, Marbella on a grumpy day, or Hermosa. You paddle out here and people are so kind. I’m really concerned about that. Can you share your insight?
Romeo: Before, there wasn’t as many people surfing here and I think we generated that vibe from that, but there were so many waves and everyone was sharing. Now, I try not to even surf Guiones because I’m scared of getting hit in the head with a surfboard. I think it’s not super aggressive because a lot of people out there don’t really know what they’re doing and don’t understand fighting—everyone’s kind of just dropping in on everyone. I know a lot of people that have been here for a while are starting to get that edgy feeling. Even myself, I’ll go out there and be back-paddled by some person on a foamie and I’ll be like, “Dude, I’ve lived here my whole life, you don’t do that to me.” Maybe you don’t have to put this whole sense of authority out there, but I just want people to understand the rules about surfing. You wait your turn. If someone’s coming on the wave and the white water’s here, don’t get in their way.
Rich: Clarify that point, that’s a really good one. Talk it through so someone can learn this.
Romeo: If you’ve got a wave and it’s peeling and the white water’s over here and someone’s riding down the line, if you come in to try to get over it and not get hit by the white water, you’ll get in their way and that could be dangerous. It’s better to just get smoked by the white water, paddle around, and not risk getting run over, dinging your board, or dinging yourself.
Rich: Just give the right of way, take the hit, and swim under it if you have to.
Romeo: Yeah, that’s important. Then another thing is dropping in. Unless you’re all friends and having a party wave, try not to drop in on people because it’s disrespectful and dangerous. There are so many people getting sent to the doctors with cuts every single day. I’ve been close to it too, and that would suck for someone to get seriously hurt. So just be mindful. If you don’t know what you’re doing, maybe get a soft top. I think they should have a rule that everyone should be on a soft top—it’s fun too. Don’t get a hardboard, get a soft top. Soft tops are cool.
18:45 – Beach Segmentation Debates and Dropping In on Locals
Rich: And Romeo said it: soft tops are cool. It’s set. That should be one of your shirts or jewelry pieces.
Romeo: That’s not a bad idea. No, it’s not. Look, that lady over there is on a soft top. She knows the rules. I feel safer with her around. If everyone was on a soft top, it would just be way safer. These big, thick, heavy hardboards are what’s dangerous.
Rich: I recorded with Christoph recently, and what he said was we need to segment the beach like they do in Europe where he’s from. He said they have a learning section, a swimming section, and then the expert section where the main peaks have the good people. He thinks that’s the solution for here. What are your thoughts on that?
Romeo: I don’t think that’s going to happen because there are just too many people coming down that wouldn’t know they’d be paddling out at the expert section or the swimming section and then getting in trouble for it. I don’t think that’s the solution. I just think maybe people teaching surf lessons should really teach the rules of the beach, or put up signs that explain how priority works. Put a big sign up: “Don’t drop in on people, respect locals, if it’s too big don’t go out, watch out for rip currents.” Just things that let people know what not to do so they’re safer and everyone’s having more fun in the lineup.
Rich: You put “Soft Tops Are Cool” at the top.
Romeo: Soft tops rock. Use a soft top.
Rich: Well, I got an idea. We can give waves. If somebody’s on a soft top, there’s a one-wave credit. If you’re on a soft top, you can have the set; I’m not even going to go for it. Hey, we’re solving some big issues here. Talk about the other side of dropping in.
Romeo: Yeah, so surfing obviously is a big thing about patience. If I’m sitting out there, you’re sitting out there—my mom the other day was sitting out there waiting for the set, and someone coming from far away paddles around her when she’s been waiting all this time, goes deep, and then starts yelling at her. That happened the other day, and I went off on some guy because that’s not cool. You don’t do that to my mom. But just in general, it hurts, it sucks. I’ve been waiting there that whole time and there are so many waves in the ocean, why are you coming around me trying to take something that I’ve been waiting for and then getting mad at me about it? It’s not the best feeling.
Rich: I think it’s one of the worst.
Romeo: It’s the worst feeling. Or when someone goes to drop in on you and they foam-ball it and ruin the whole wave. It’s not a good feeling, but we can surf every day. There are plenty of waves out here, so there’s no reason to fight about it.
Rich: A lot of wisdom coming.
Romeo: There’s no reason to fight about it. But definitely at times I’ve yelled at people. I’m not aggressive towards people and I’m not going to try to fight anyone, but I’m not scared of confrontation and I’ll tell you—I’ll put you in your place if you do something like that.
22:30 – Maintaining the Community Vibe and Addressing the Infrastructure Crisis
Rich: That’s a great segue. I give massive credit to the locals from here in helping keep the vibe good, even back when you were very young. I give Nelson a lot of credit on the podcast. I’ve seen him go to people who were getting into an argument—one guy from San Jose or somewhere else—and he went to them and said, “Hey, don’t do this here. If you guys need to fight, go over there, just don’t do this here.” That meant the world to me to see people bring it down without screaming. I’m from Florida; when I go back and visit and try to surf as soon as there are waves, people are really snippy and very unpleasant. I miss this place so much, and I’m terrified we’ll lose that vibe. I was debating Pat, who we all love and respect, but I disagree with Pat on several things. His take is don’t promote it anymore, it’s gone, and the vibe is going to be gone forever. He’s really mad and he has every reason to be. I would agree with Pat if it was 2006 or 2009. Now that the people are already here, we just got to do the best that we can.
Romeo: Exactly. You’re not going to stop it, so help it grow in a conscious way.
Rich: Yes. So I think a lot of it is on you and your generation, because there are even younger kids coming up. We don’t want to get into a Hawaii situation where the resentment gets so crazy. This is a soft wave. We have well-heeled people here, and those well-heeled people coming in that can build these houses—we need their money, man. They’re the solution. I’m telling your generation: yelling about it does not help. Vibing those people when they get here closes them up, and then they don’t donate or support kids like you who are trying to do something. We need those people to get involved. So it should be: follow these rules and get involved. If you don’t have money to donate, that’s fine, donate time. People need help. That’s my rant on that subject.
Romeo: I really agree with that. You don’t need everything to donate. I’ve given away skateboards, clothes, or time—just giving a surf lesson to some kid or even talking helps. Anything that you can do helps. If you do have a lot of abundance and you’re able to do as much as you can, well, that’s how we save it.
Rich: That’s how we save it. The one interesting thing is where we’re sitting—this was all cattle field, right? They came through and cleared everything, and now it’s proof we can bring the trees back. I’m not saying this takes away from the bad we’re doing; I’m saying if the bad is happening, we got to do as much good as we can.
Romeo: For sure. Another thing about that is the septic problem. That’s a big thing that I would hate for our ocean to turn into something really gross.
Rich: Have you seen the new campaign that’s come out, the “No Shit No Nosara” campaign?
Romeo: Yeah, that was cool. If you have a lot of abundance and you’re making this multi-million dollar house, you can definitely put the extra money into a proper septic system where you’ve got a good gray water system and it’s not getting flushed into the ocean. Without the ocean, we don’t really have that much.
Rich: Dude, let’s give a shout-out to the WCA for doing the water tests, and let’s give a shout-out to Dr. Edgeworth. He’s been on the podcast several times and he’s on a real campaign. Now he is one of the people you’re talking about who has a multi-million dollar house, but he is stepping up and trying to get other people involved. He feels it’s unethical for people to have a rental house here in particular and not upgrade your septic system if you’re gonna put bodies through. He really means it.
Romeo: Shout out to him, that’s super cool. Everyone should be getting on that because it’s dangerous too. I’ve had cuts and gone in the water, and it used to be fine—you weren’t gonna get super infected. Now the bacteria is just ramping up and it could get really bad. So that’s a big thing.
27:15 – Local Surfing Talents, Funding Deficits, and Family Inspirations
Rich: Let’s talk about crocodiles for a second, because Tamarindo has the river out there. They fed them for years and then stuff started to happen. That’s terrifying, that’s gnarly.
Romeo: Yeah, don’t ever feed crocodiles or wildlife because they associate humans with food and it can be very bad. Don’t mess with wildlife.
Rich: That’s an unpleasant subject. Let’s find some happier stuff. What else is good going on?
Romeo: Life is good, school’s good. My mom is doing a lot better. She had a lot of medical stuff over the past few years and she’s finally getting up and surfing again. She’s back on it, so I’m very happy to see her happy again and not just surgery after surgery. She’s trying to get her shop up to what it used to be. So if you see this and you need to go buy some jewelry for your girlfriend or boyfriend, go check out Genstones. It’s by the Apothecary by Surfing Nosara. Pretty much all the proceeds go to helping me out and getting my surf career going. It’s been around for 20 years.
Rich: It’s never not been there. It’s one of the OG shops. Tell us about the future for you and upcoming tournaments.
Romeo: Yeah, I’ve got a training camp next week in the Caribbean to try to get reselected for the ISA. They like to do the reselection every year to give everyone a chance and not just take the same kids. I’ve been training super hard and I’m gonna try my best to get selected again.
Rich: I wish you luck, man. Anything I’ve seen you do, you’ve done well—whether it was running, jiu-jitsu, or surfing. Even if you softly walk into it, once you’re in it, you give it your all.
Romeo: That’s one thing I’m super proud about myself—anything I do, I’m gonna give it everything I have. Another thing with surfing that I wanted to put out there while we have this platform: a lot of the kids in Costa Rican surfing don’t have much and don’t have significant funds to be able to do these contests. This ISA in El Salvador is coming up and sadly the Costa Rican government isn’t going to be able to fund it this year. A lot of us are gonna have to do our own fundraising. Up until May, I’m gonna be putting some stuff out there on my social media if you want to support me and help me get there. There are some young kids that are so talented and want it so bad but just don’t have the resources.
Rich: Can you rifle out a couple of up-and-comers that people can keep their eye out for so we can get them boards, some funding, and try to support their dreams too?
Romeo: Yeah, some super groms. There’s this girl, Miquela Castro; her older brother is Axel Castro, a great friend of mine. She’s nine years old, went to Brazil with us, and got second in U16 in the national ranking. She’s an amazing surfer. There are these siblings, Koa and Kalena Bryant, from the Caribbean as well—amazing surfers. This kid Ian Eduardo, Amets Garay, Eduardo Legrama—he’s an incredible surfer. All those kids are super good. Even my friends like Ethan Hollander, Tommy Pastene, Simon—there are so many kids that are great friends of mine.
Rich: Costa Rica is on the way up is what I’m hearing.
Romeo: For sure. Right now, a lot of my motivation is just inspiring this younger generation of super groms. I know that if I set a good example about working hard, not doing drugs, not partying, and getting good grades, those kids will catch on and then we’re gonna have a whole sweep and Costa Rica’s gonna be on top.
31:40 – The Legendary Beach Foot Race, Injury Recovery, and Visualization
Rich: Well, congrats on getting to where you have as quickly as you have. I’m not surprised at all. Let’s wind up with some lighter subject stuff real quick. I want to recount a story that actually happened right here. There was a foot race—I can’t remember how old you were, you were young—when Charlie tripped you.
Romeo: I was like seven or nine. It would have been like 2009. I always loved running and I’d say I was pretty fast.
Rich: You were like double fast. I watched you win a race one time so bad that you stopped and hung out. The story that I remember is that you were winning that race, pulling ahead of everyone, and then Charlie tripped you, you ate it, and then you got up and still won the race.
Romeo: Yeah, that was super funny. My dog, Charlie, she passed away last year. But what a run. She was the best dog, though when she was a puppy she wasn’t the best dog and kids would be running on the beach and she’d go and tackle them. There’s this big race every year, Stop the Shocks, to help with the monkeys and stuff like that, and it was always super fun. They’d have a kid’s division, under 14s, and I still would win that super young. I was running super fast and I was almost at the finish line, and Charlie came and started racing me, took me out, and I ate the sand. I crawled over the line. I’ve got it on video deep somewhere; maybe I can find it. That was hilarious.
Rich: I never forgot that. But it was kind of the same thing with jiu-jitsu—you went hard—and then surfing wasn’t even that long ago, maybe two or three years ago, when you started to just pop off. It clicked. Your turn went from just surfing to total commitment of verticalness and trying to land it. A lot of us will go up and do a flyaway, that’s most of the lineup, right? But then you were like, “No, I’m going to try to land this.”
Romeo: Yeah, for sure. I just like to send it, it’s super fun. Now you just got to not hurt your ankle or your knee. I’d never had any injuries my whole life, and when I was 13, I kind of threw my back out a little bit. Because of that weird hinge, it put my hips off, and then every time I’d land, my knee would get messed up. It ended up that I got really bad tendonitis and got filled with a bunch of fluid. That turned into tearing a ligament in my ankle. It was just a bunch of things back-to-back, but every single time I would just focus—if I couldn’t use my legs, I’m gonna work out my upper body. If I couldn’t use my shoulder, I’m gonna work out my lower body. I never gave up, and it made me stronger and made me want it even more.
Rich: Sounds like Laird Hamilton, that’s his story too.
Romeo: It’s kind of like my mom when she went through cancer and all that stuff. She would meditate every single day. After two years of not surfing, she went back in the water and she surfed better than she did before. It was crazy to see someone could just envision, meditate, and visualize doing the things that they want to do, and when they get back, they’re better at it. It’s huge.
Rich: What an example for you to see.
Romeo: It was a super big inspiration for me. Surfing’s really gone up for me. I’m happy I started competing when I did because I already had that mental maturity. I’m 16 now, but being like 14 when I started, I had that mental maturity of losing and being like, “I’m not going to cry about it, I’m just going to learn from it.” Where if I was eight or 10, I don’t think I would have had that—I would have just cried and hit my board.
Rich: You’re right, your timing was good on that. I think your martial arts experience helped too.
Romeo: I want to get back into that too, it’s just with COVID, getting injured, and being so into surfing right now, I don’t have much time. I just don’t want to get hurt.
36:20 – Top Local Eateries and a Crucial Plea for Road Safety
Rich: I’m a big proponent of martial arts, but don’t mess up your tournaments. I think you’re about to hit your stride. Anyway, what are your three favorite restaurants around here?
Romeo: I’m a big cook and I love to eat at home, but when I’m not: Rosie’s, 10 out of 10, awesome. I love Almendros in Esperanza—I get chicken wings and chicken quesadillas. Whenever I just want to sit down and have some wings, I’ll go there. And I think El Local is such a good restaurant; I love what Henry and Spachelle have done with the place. Spachelle’s chocolates that she makes are the best in the world.
Rich: You gotta be careful with those, man.
Romeo: It’s hard not to eat the whole package, hands down the best chocolates ever. But she’s the best. This last contest here that I ended up winning, she came down midday, brought me a whole thing of electrolytes and fruits. Every contest she’ll bring me some goodies. Whenever my mom’s been away too, I had an abscess in my leg from an infection and she would pick me up to bring me to the doctor and bring me some chocolates. She’s super smart with holistic stuff too.
Rich: You’ve had a lot of good people in your life.
Romeo: I always feel such big support from friends and family. Shout out to everybody that’s been a part of my life because anytime I’m down or need help, I always have this great community that has my back. It gives me more motivation to do better because I’m doing it for others.
Rich: Before we end this, do you have any specific messages you want to get out there?
Romeo: I think just everything we’ve gone over. Be mindful, respect local people, respect the land around you, respect the trees, the animals, ride soft tops. Soft tops are cool. Have fun and try to involve yourself with the local community—learning the language, giving back, fundraising with whatever you can. Another goal that I forgot to mention: I’m wanting to try to get to the Olympics in 2028 for surfing. That’s a huge goal of mine, so the next four years I’m just gonna be working really hard to achieve that.
Rich: I think you are, man. I love ambition.
Romeo: Nosara is a great place, and please don’t ruin it. So get involved, respect the nature, respect the locals, shop local, drive slow. That’s something that’s so important right now: drive slow. It’s so sad to see all these accidents that have been happening. Almost daily I’ll see pizotes, iguanas, people, or kids running across the street. If you’re tailgating a motorcycle or a quad in a big SUV and someone stops, you’re gonna seriously hurt or end people’s lives. Passing people on blind curves, not wearing your helmets—wear shoes at least if you’re gonna be on a motorcycle. It’s just people taking advantage of the freedom. A lot of people have these really nice SUVs and are just dusting everybody and gunning it because they can. You don’t really need to be there five minutes early. It sucks to lose people and it’s so depressing. It’s such a small town, every time somebody passes, the whole community feels it. So please drive slow. Wear your helmet and be nice on the road.
Rich: Great message, man. So we’ll have you back at the beginning of this high season for your update, check in seasonally. You’ve made some goals, you said them publicly, now you go manifest it and make it happen.
Romeo: This summer I’ve got a big trip coming up. In August, I’m gonna go with a friend to New York to work and stay on the East Coast for hurricane season to get some barrels while it’s raining here. Then November I’ll have some big contests. We should touch back in around December or January starting the new year.
Rich: Let’s do this. It’s going to be cool following you all the way to the Olympics.
Romeo: Follow me on Instagram, it’s just @romeostone_. Follow Rich, this podcast is super cool. Thank you so much for having me.
Rich: We’re all rooting for you, buddy. Never lose sight that you’re an example for those kids coming up. Good luck next week.
Romeo: Thank you.