~ by Alexandra Luty

Champagne family  

“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you only need champagne”. This quote holds true for Kevin Champagne, at least the part about not always needing a plan. Kevin’s father Remy, had learned about Costa Rica from a fellow Dive Master in the late 1980s. A few years later he moved down with a dream and $50K.

He bought land in Ojochal through a fellow French-Canadian and opened a garage on Calle Soluna, spending the next couple of years repairing motor vehicles. He then built himself a boat, which would launch his next adventure: artisan fishing. His small seafood stand evolved into a ceviche restaurant, serving the growing expat and local communities. With his visible location under an inflatable shark at the entrance to Pinuelas beach, customers began asking Remy to post their real estate plans on his wall. He had no idea where this simple task would lead him, but he found that he naturally slid into the role of one of the first brokers in the community.

All the while, his little son Kevin learned to embrace his new life in the jungle. He loved the freedom of being in nature, with no phone or television. Now he says that those were the best years of his life, full of innocence and joy. “At 11 years old, you make friends with whomever,” says Kevin, who learned Spanish in 3 months through playing with other kids. Kevin began working in real estate with his father at the age of 20, eventually buying Osa Tropical Properties from him in 2014. Although much has changed in the community since Kevin grew up, his love of it hasn’t and he looks forward to watching his daughter, Zoe, enjoy the same sense of adventure that he did. “When you love some place so much as we do, it’s easy to want the best for your community and to watch it grow like your own child.”