Fernando Ortiz is a local surfer from Cobquecura who teachs youth to surf while he is trying to inculcate respect for nature and values at the same time. Fernando had a rudimentary infrastructure which did not allow him to improve or expand his business to serve the surf community in Cobquecura and its surrounding properly.

He presented his project, his idea and his business plan to the Recupera Chile team during the first entrepreneurial competition held there. Recupera Chile worked with Fernando to develop a strategy and a business plan to NanoSurf and they ended up winning the competition.

With the prize (USD$10.000) Fernando was able to develop a renovation and to make significant improvements in his surf shop. The result is a local surf shop that rescues some of the heritage features of the area (such as the wall of stone) and uses local building materials to receive altogether surfers, tourists and local youth in one place.

Now Fernando’s surf school is an icon in the community. In the tourism months, his school is full of regional and even international tourists who have come to know and love the waves of the 8th region’s beautiful coast. In the off season, Nano uses the school to teach children about ecology and surf as a form of exercise. He has also expanded substantially since the initial investment. He has built a mini surf school as well as a “domo”, a structure he rents out as a surf themed cabin, which provides a trendy and rustic destination for surfers who come to take his classes.

His business is much more than a surf school, it is a landing spot for tourists when they arrive, a purveyor of delicious food and drink, a representation of Cobquecura’s surf culture, an event space for touring musicians and the epicenter of Cobquecura’s burgeoning tourism economy.

BEFORE AND AFTER