( CNN ) Riding the crisp green waves that break into a whirl of foam on Costa Rica 's Pacific shore , Rupert Hill looks like he could surf before he could walk . However , for the 37-year-old owner of Surf Simply , a surfing resort in Nosara , the sport was an early love that blossomed later in life . He first paddled out to the big blue when he was a teenager , but his professional life took a different turn when he embarked on a fine art degree in London . In the end , the pull of the waves was too strong and Hill decamped to Costa Rica with a goal to create a surfing school with a difference . `` I wanted to create a really intimate space that was a long way away from the putting the lots of people in the water kind of business model that surf schools often are . I wanted to just have a few people , 12 people each week , and then this area is somewhere where they can completely decompress and just focus on being coached how to surf better , '' he says . A large chunk of the school 's training is devoted to theory classes , and Hill also films his students while they 're surfing so that he can show them what aspects of their technique they need to improve : `` The first time you see yourself surfing , it 's kind of mortifying . It 's a little bit like hearing yourself sing for the first time . But , like most sports , it 's the best coaching tool we have , '' he says . Hill 's fine art credentials have not gone to waste though , as his creative training helped him design the website as well as the resort logo . While following his passion for surfing was important , Hill stresses that figuring out how to make money out of it was equally significant . `` The business side of it has to work , the numbers have to make sense . Otherwise , what you 've got is a brilliant hobby that 's not a business , '' he says . Hill says that , while he feels fortunate that his work fulfills him , it still involves ordinary tasks that can sometimes be mundane . `` I do n't think anyone is going to find a job that they love all the time , but if you can find something that you love most of the time , you 're luckier than most people in the world . ''
Surf Simply trained in fine art in London . However , his heart was in surfing and he opened a surf retreat in Costa Rica . He says following a passion is important , but it has to make financial sense .