A California surfing legend was killed over the weekend in Costa Rica after armed intruders stormed his home, tied up his girlfriend and fled with valuables, according to local reports.
Van Dyke’s 31-year-old girlfriend, identified only as Arroyo, told investigators she was in the shower when two armed men suddenly entered the home. The suspects forced the couple into a room at gunpoint.
Rest in peace, Kurt Van Dyke. https://t.co/TIzYdmeUn6
— SURFER (@Surfer) February 16, 2026
Arroyo said the intruders zip-tied her hands and feet and assaulted her before stealing several items from the residence. Among the stolen property was the couple’s 2013 Hyundai Elantra. The men then fled the scene.
The killing occurred in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, a town along Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean coast that is generally regarded as safe.
The violent incident sent shockwaves through the local community, particularly among tourism and business leaders.
“I am deeply saddened,” Roger Sams, president of Costa Rica’s Southern Caribbean Chamber of Tourism and Commerce, told Costa Rican newspaper La Nación in Spanish, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Van Dyke was widely known in both Costa Rica and California’s surfing community. He had spent decades running a modest hotel in Puerto Viejo after arriving in the early 1980s.
He came to the area to pursue the powerful Salsa Brava surf break, a stretch of water that helped him earn the nickname “King” along the Caribbean coast.
Surfing legend Kurt Van Dyke, 66, strangled and stabbed to death in Costa Rica, 31-year-old girlfriend found zip-tied and beaten.
The brother of Van Dyke says the killing is "more nefarious" than a random break-in gone wrong.
Van Dyke was found with multiple stab wounds and… pic.twitter.com/8xq5wqGFb3
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 17, 2026
His connection to surfing ran deep. His father, Gene Van Dyke, was a pioneer of the sport in Northern California. His mother, Betty Van Dyke, helped blaze a trail for women surfers in the 1950s and 1960s.
Beyond surfing, the Van Dyke family name has long been associated with agriculture in California.
The family operates the longtime Van Dyke Ranch near Gilroy, known for producing apricots and cherries that are sold at local farmers markets.
Van Dyke’s death has drawn attention both in Costa Rica and back home in California, where he was regarded as part of a multi-generational surfing legacy. Authorities in Costa Rica continue to investigate the killing and the robbery.