Why Chile’s surfing boom is driven by bankers

Christian Acevedo has been surfing in Chile for 26 years. Known in the community as El Macha, or “the clam” because of the amount of time he spends at the ocean and in the rocks, Acevedo is one of Chile’s first certified instructors. He has taught surf camps at Puertecillo, a beach about 110 miles (178km) southwest of Santiago, as well as at Pichilemu, a more popular spot 25 miles farther down the coast. While working at Surfers Paradise surf shop in Santiago, he became a mentor to an entire generation of young surfers.

In 2007 he realised there was a growing demographic in the city that wanted the best possible surfing gear. And in 2008 he opened El Ruco, a surf shop that caters to a more elite crowd. It was a prescient business move.

“They come in with their suits after work,” says Acevedo. “Many of them are bankers, stockbrokers, people related to the financial industry. We opened based on that segment’s needs.”

This new generation of Chilean bankers doesn’t care for such sedate, leisurely pastimes as golf. They want something more high-adrenaline: mountain biking, motocross, and, increasingly, surfing.

It’s symptomatic of a cultural shift: Bankers aren’t as interested in working 15 hours a day and then discussing deals on the golf course over the weekend. Now they want to get away from work in their free hours, to disconnect. You can’t take a mobile phone on a surfboard, they joke.

Andres Rochette, 31, vice president at Deutsche Bank Securities, started surfing 16 years ago and has travelled the world practicing the sport. Though his father, who’s also a banker, played golf, Rochette heads to the coast at the weekend.

“There is a generation of bankers from 25 to 35 years old who are part of this boom spreading among young people in general,” Rochette says. “Prejudice around surf is disappearing. You are no longer seen as a hippie in the office if you practice it, and that is important in an industry where image has historically mattered.”

A matter of geography

Santiago is bordered by some of the highest mountains in the Americas, making it a prime location for adventure sports—skiing in the mountains, mountain biking in the foothills, and surfing to the west. It’s only a three-hour drive from the city to some of the best surfing along the Pacific coast, including the left-point breaks at Pichilemu and Puertecillo in the centre-south of Chile. Farther away, 270 miles south of Santiago, are the uncrowded beaches of Buchupureo. A two-hour flight north of the city brings you to giants such as El Gringo, a 12-foot-long wave near Arica.