San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.comLotsa' Palapas

Lotsa' Palapas

Take a trip to any tropical paradise from Costa Rica to Hawaii to Cabo to the Caribbean, and you'll see they all have one thing in common - that made-in-the-shade thatched place of peaceful repose known as the palapa.

"It's palm fronds hand-woven in big sheets, so every knot is tied individually," Terry Collins of Lotsa' Palapas said.

Terry and his business partner have been building palapas here in San Diego for over 12 years.

"Basically we came back from one of those trips and decided to build one for ourselves because there was really nobody around who did any of that work. So we did it. People liked it, started getting phone calls, so we decided to start a business," he said.

Now Palapa Kings ships their made-to-assemble kits all around the world. Their handiwork includes some of the most recognized commercial palapas in town.

"They called us up and wanted kits made for their stores around the U.S.," Terry said.

Originally, the natives used the thatching not for shade, but rather to keep dry.

"What they built them for was like a poncho. They wore them like that if it was raining really hard," Terry said.

But stitch some rain capes together, add some lodge pine from Idaho and Palapa Kings can turn any space into an oasis. Basic kits start at around $750 and their custom work can go up to around $30,000. All provide a space to rest your soul and jog your memory banks.

"At least when you get home from work, you can have a Corona, sit under the palapa and remember your surf trip to wherever or your honeymoon in Hawaii or whatever the memory is," Terry said.

Because everyone can be king of their own palapa.