For nearly two decades, Nicholas Cena has called Pavones, Costa Rica, home. What began as a visit to see his sister eventually became a life, a family, a restaurant, and now a book. Nick’s Place: Last Stop Before Nowhere tells the story of life in one of Costa Rica’s most unique coastal communities and the people who have fought to protect it.
Cena opened Nick’s Place in Pavones in 2017. Over the years, the small restaurant became more than somewhere to eat. It became a meeting place for surfers, local families, travelers, fishermen, expats and anyone passing through the remote southern Pacific town. Then everything changed.
In 2025, government actions connected to disputed public land and road boundaries resulted in demolitions throughout the community. Nick’s Place was among the structures destroyed. Cena turned those experiences into Nick’s Place: Last Stop Before Nowhere, an autobiographical novel inspired by his years living in Pavones and the people and events that shaped the community.
Jamie McGonagle and his family have been in Pavones for decades, “Nick’s Place is a fun and entertaining read, based on real-life events, and the ending leaves the reader with a positive feeling of hope and resilience. At the same time, the demolitions were a terrible and traumatic injustice. Sadly, many of the same issues are still a reality for those who live in fear of losing properties that they have owned and cared for decades”
The book follows an American who arrives in Costa Rica expecting a temporary escape and instead finds a new home. Against a backdrop of surfing, love, friendship, loss and conflict, the story explores what happens when the quiet life people have built collides with forces far beyond their control. At the center of the book is Pavones itself.
Known around the world for its extraordinarily long left-hand wave, Pavones sits along the Golfo Dulce, one of Costa Rica’s most environmentally significant marine regions. Yet behind the postcard image is a working community facing questions about development, land, tourism and who will ultimately determine the future of Costa Rica’s coastal towns.
For Cena, the book is not simply about losing a restaurant. It is about belonging. It is about the Costa Ricans and foreigners who built lives together in a town at the end of the road as well as what people are willing to fight for when the place they call home begins to disappear.
“As much as I enjoy the conveniences of phones, internet and electricity, Nick’s book immediately took me back to the days in Pavones before those things were available. It helped me to realize how beautiful those days were… how the true beauty of Pavones lies in the people, the environment and the waves” said Jeffrey Gere longtime Pavones visitor.
Today, Cena and his family are rebuilding Nick’s Place in Pavones. It’s going to be located just a few feet from the original spot. The original building may be gone, but the story continues.
Nick’s Place: Last Stop Before Nowhere by Nicholas Cena is available through Amazon.
