Marco Ortiz, the founder of ATL, does his Part in Developing Mexico’s Growing Surf-Culture

For surfers, hyperbolic tales and urban legends are commonplace. The waves were always “way bigger yesterday” and most surfers “know a guy who knows a guy who can get us into a secret spot that no one knows about.” The Bay of Banderas (home to Puerto Vallarta and it’s surf-abundant neighbor, Punta Mita) has had its own urban legend floating around for the past few years that’s gone something like this: “My friend knows of a guy in Guadalajara who shapes killer boards and sells them for only three-hundred bucks.” Fortunate for all of us in the Bay, this one’s true. 

Marco Ortiz grew up surfing the Riviera Nayarit, as several of his family members live in the Bucerias and La Penita in Nayarit. After studying reinforced plastics in Guadalajara, he began experimenting with ways to create foam “blanks,” the base product from which surfboards are shaped, in order to meet the board demands of the steadily increasing surf-culture in the city some nineteen years ago. Shortly after, his company ATL (which means “water” in the ancient Aztec language of Nahuatl was born.

Now almost two decades later, Ortiz and his wife/business partner Aimee have moved ATL’s operations to Bucerias, where the pair were happy to answer a few questions about their much sought-after business.

Continue reading on Marco Ortiz at Mexicotoday.org

Posted in: Bay of Banderas,guadalajara,Marco Ortiz,Riviera Nayarit,Surfers