Life's a Beach

See how ex-pats make living in paradise a full-time job, from a blended family that starts a Bahamian B&B to two friends who brew the first micro-beers in the Virgin Islands.

A struggling actor leaves LA to create romance in Fiji, an artist opens Tahiti's first pottery studio, a California native opens up a pizzeria in Costa Rica, and friends uncover tropical islands to flip for profit in Panama.

A shipwrecked couple builds a private paradise on Tonga, a Canada cowgirl starts a dude ranch in Nicaragua, a salesman shows tourists how to fly high in St. Thomas and an Anguillan Beach Bar spells success for a snowy transplant.

From a floating pizza boat in the Virgin Islands to a Costa Rican treehouse, a family resort in Mexico and a surf hotel in Fiji, ex-pats ditch their everyday lives to live out their fantasies on the best beaches across the globe.

From a custom motocross track in Nicaragua to island innovations in Fiji, a personal submarine in Honduras and a 50-foot catamaran in the Virgin Islands, big dreamers are ditching their everyday jobs for life in paradise.

Best friends open a beachside recording studio in Nicaragua. In Mexico, one man makes an island out of plastic bottles, and a Kansas native relocates to Puerto Rico to become a boat captain.

Savvy travelers settle down in paradise with a scuba business in French Polynesia and a surf and yoga school in Nicaragua.

After shipwrecking in the South Pacific, two lovebirds build their own private paradise. A cowgirl from Canada isn't horsing around when she builds a ranch in Nicaragua. Further east, a salesman flies around St. Thomas.

From a backyard spa in Costa Rica to a floating pizza food truck in the Virgin Islands, expats ditch the stresses of everyday life to live out their greatest fantasies on the best beaches across the globe.

A San Franciscan native skips town to Nicaragua to enjoy a personal motocross track in his backyard. An ocean away, a couple can see into yesterday in Fiji and a charter captain builds his own party vessel in the Virgin Islands.

Two families merge and move to the Bahamas for a chance at paradise. In St. John, best pals bring beer to the beach with island flair and an architect builds a six-story villa in the shape of a yacht in Costa Rica.

Friends uncover tropical islands to flip for profit in Panama and a struggling actor leaves L.A. to create romance in Fiji. A student starts anew in Costa Rica by finding love and opening a West Coast pizza joint.

A carpenter books it to Mexico to build an island from recycled bottles. Two friends boast the best party in Nicaragua and an oceanside recording studio. A Kansas native brings the Yellow Brick Road to Puerto Rico.

In Costa Rica, a contractor builds his dream home in the treetops. From business student to beach boss, a surfer coasts down to Nicaragua to open a surf school. An advertising exec discovers professional fulfillment in Moorea.

A New Jersey native constructs his own submarine in Honduras. An artist opens Tahiti's first pottery studio, and an Englishwoman starts a family on the pink sand beaches of Harbor Island.

A performing pirate sets sail for the British Virgin Islands, and a couple in Panama will trade your swim trunks for tacos with a twist. In Anguilla, a college grad takes the plunge and opens the island's most popular beach bar.

A former Peace Corps member crash lands in Costa Rica and turns junked jets into local gems. In Fiji, a single father transforms an off-the-grid island into a surfer's paradise, and one couple opens their very own B&B in Panama.