A well-known California surfer who built a second life along Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast was found stabbed and strangled inside his home over the weekend.
Kurt Van Dyke, 66, was discovered dead under his bed on Saturday with a sheet over his head and a knife nearby, authorities and local reports said. His body had multiple stab wounds and showed signs of asphyxiation ahead of an autopsy, according to Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department.
GIRLFRIEND DESCRIBES ARMED HOME INVASION
Van Dyke’s 31-year-old girlfriend, identified only as Arroyo, told investigators she was in the shower when two armed men stormed into their home in Hone Creek, near Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. The intruders forced the couple into a room at gunpoint. She escaped without serious injuries.
Arroyo said the men zip-tied her hands and feet, assaulted her and stole several valuables before attacking Van Dyke. They fled in two vehicles, including the couple’s 2013 Hyundai Elantra. Authorities said she was not seriously injured.
The brazen attack has stunned residents in the Limón province town, which is largely considered safe.
“I am deeply saddened,” Roger Sams, president of Costa Rica’s Southern Caribbean Chamber of Tourism and Commerce, told La Nación, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. “We’ve had a long period of calm and tranquility. This shocks and saddens us because the Caribbean has been so peaceful.”
CALIFORNIA SURFING ROOTS
Van Dyke was no ordinary expat.
Originally from Santa Cruz, California, he was part of a surfing dynasty. His father, Gene Van Dyke, was a pioneer of the sport in Northern California. His mother, Betty, helped blaze a trail for women surfers in the 1950s and ’60s. Kurt followed the same tide.
According to the New York Post, Dyke arrived in Costa Rica in the early 1980s chasing the powerful Salsa Brava break off Puerto Viejo. Over time, he earned the nickname “King” along the Caribbean coast. He went on to run a modest hotel in Puerto Viejo and became a familiar face in the surf community.
Beyond surfing, the Van Dyke family name is tied to agriculture in California. The longtime Van Dyke Ranch near Gilroy is known for apricots and cherries sold at local farmers markets, the Post reported.
His brother, Peter Van Dyke, said the family is struggling to make sense of the killing.
“There are people who like him and there are people who don’t. It was more nefarious,” he told the California Post, suggesting he believes there may be more to the case than a robbery. He added that he did not know much about Kurt’s girlfriend and that some people in the area “did not like” his brother.
The killing comes amid a broader rise in violence in Costa Rica. The country recorded 833 murders in 2025 as of December 16, an average of about 2.4 killings a day, according to The Tico Times. Many of the deaths have been linked to gang feuds, often tied to drug disputes.
With inputs form Associated Press
