It's a rich man's game.

The surf tub game is still in its infancy. While certain investors are wildly bullish, tossing money into developments with pools as centerpiece, claiming they will be the new golf course communities, others are not so sure, pointing to the debacle in Bristol or bad publicity from Palm Springs/Utah.

Though where does Brazil stand on the matter?

The surf mad South American nation, population 211 million, would be an absolute boon to savvy speculators if they could squeeze reals out of artificial wave enthusiasts. The average monthly Brazilian salary is $580ish USD. A day at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California reported to run between $50,000 and $80,000 per day.

Well, if the price tag coming out of two new Sao Paulo projects is snaring any suckers, then the gold rush may well be on.

With over 11 million souls, Sao Paulo is the southern hemisphere’s largest city, stirring rage in the hearts of Sydneysiders. It is known as a major economic hub for South America though many traffic-choked miles away from any real surf.

Beyond the Club and Sao Paulo Surf Club, just opened, seek to remedy. Only four miles apart in the tony Santo Amaro district, both are currently offering memberships. Beyond the Club runs $125,000 for a family of four. Sao Paulo Club around $150,000.

A lightly used Mercedes Maybach sedan (no accidents, one owner, 9,330 miles), by comparison, costs $145,000.

Unlike Surf Ranch, the properties include tennis, squash, ski simulators, skate parks, spas and restaurants. There is a ski simulator at Hansen’s Surf Shop in Encinitas. It looks horrible.

The membership fee does not come with a home or condominium.

Are you enticed?

Are you enticed to buy that Maybach?

Act fast. Link here.

“Tao” is “turtle” in Thai.

The turtle is, by every measure, an exemplary creature. A symbol of steadiness, longevity and wisdom. Significant and ancient. Researchers in the Levant recently uncovered one of the oldest religious artifact ever, a 37,000 year old turtle. Hinduism and Chinese mythologies depict the turtle holding up the earth on its strong and handsome shell. Various Southern African and Native American folklores share similar themes.

Kelly Slater is, then, in good company when it comes to turtle appreciation. The 11-time world surfing champion dressed up as a turtle, once, and released a sandal with turtle shell/moon markings. The press release read, “Kelly was particularly moved by the mysterious and special relationship between the moon and the sea turtle. Turtles hae 13 large scales that represent the 13 lunar cycles in each year and 28 smaller scales that represent the days in each cycle. As a tribute to these coexisting forces, Kelly designed the top of the sandal to mirror the moon’s surface while the bottom sole to represent the turtle’s scales.”

Buy turt-moons here.

Even better than honoring the turtle with a sandal, Slater, it appears, has gone one better with the birth of his son. The baby boy was introduced to the world almost a year ago, now, the 53-year-old telling Barton Lynch, “We got a little boy and my friends think we’re playing a game with him because we haven’t said the name. Because we actually, we actually don’t call him anything. We gave him a name for his birth certificate but, as of now, we don’t have a name to call him. So, we’re kind of just, like, letting him figure out his personality.”

Well, it appears that, like papa, little baby Tao, as the name was revealed to be after many months of anticipation, shares his father’s personality.

While many assumed the name to be related to the venerable Chinese philosophy, an eagle-ear’d listener to The Grit! Podcast shared that “Tao” is also “turtle” in Thai.

Now, this could be considered a fun coincidence except Slater’s main business, Firewire Surfboards, are manufactured in Thailand.

So there we have it.

The rounding of the shell.

Listen for more talk about Italo Ferreira’s new perfume venture here.