It’s a damn shame. California surfing legend Kurt Van Dyke, 66 years old, was killed on February 14, 2026, when two armed intruders busted into his apartment on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. His 31-year-old girlfriend survived with only minor injuries after they zip-tied her hands and feet. The guys grabbed whatever valuables they could find, including Van Dyke’s 2013 Hyundai Elantra, before things turned fatal.
Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) got the call around 10:50 a.m. local time about a break-in at his place in the Hone Creek area of Cahuita, Limón Province roughly 105 miles east of San José. Two armed men stormed in, held the couple at gunpoint, tied her up, and went to work. Kurt was strangled and stabbed several times in the torso. When authorities arrived, they found his body shoved under the bed, a sheet pulled over his face, and a knife lying nearby.
A tweet from X.
His girlfriend got free after the suspects fled and called for help. OIJ spokesman Carlos Valverde didn’t sugarcoat it:
“He was asphyxiated and had several stab wounds.”
Nobody’s in custody yet. The investigation is still wide open and being treated as a robbery that went horribly wrong.
Kurt grew up in Santa Cruz, right in the middle of one of Northern California’s most storied surfing families. His parents, Gene and Betty Van Dyke, basically helped build the surf culture there in the 1970s. He made a name for himself riding big waves, then packed up in the late ’80s and moved to Costa Rica for good.
Down there he basically put Salsa Brava on the map near Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and earned the nickname “King” from the locals. For more than 40 years he ran Hotel Puerto Viejo a simple, no-frills dorm-style hostel that became a home away from home for surfers and travelers passing through. He was the guy who’d take young riders under his wing, lend a hand, and just be there. That’s how everyone remembers him.
His brother Peter said it plain and simple:
“My brother was a very benevolent, giving person who would help just about anybody. Kurt would never hurt anybody, and he was always there when you needed him. Everyone that he met knew this about him.”
The tributes have been pouring in from both California and Costa Rica surf circles. One post just read
“You left waves,”
And honestly, that hits hard. Kurt is survived by three children and a big extended family back in the Santa Cruz and Gilroy areas.
Costa Rica has always pulled in American expats and tourists chasing perfect waves and easy living. But Limón Province, where Kurt made his home, has seen more than its share of drug-related violence and gang activity in recent years. Nationwide homicides jumped again in 2025, topping 900 by some counts. Local tourism operators are already worried this kind of story will scare people off, even though authorities insist most trouble in Cahuita and Puerto Viejo is still just petty theft.
For anyone thinking about heading south, it’s a sober reminder: plenty of expats live there safely for decades, but every once in a while an isolated robbery turns deadly.
OIJ is going through CCTV footage and putting out alerts for the stolen Elantra. Kurt’s girlfriend has been cooperating with police and is recovering. Family members said he’d been in good spirits lately, though Peter mentioned some underlying local tensions and admitted the attack felt “more nefarious” than a straight-up break-in. Investigators are still calling it robbery-related for now.
The surfing world lost one of those rare guys who bridged two coasts California’s big-wave roots and Costa Rica’s Caribbean soul. Memorial plans are already coming together in Santa Cruz, where Kurt first paddled out as a kid. As one longtime friend put it, his generosity left a mark way bigger than any single ride he ever caught.
