Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch: “You Have No Idea.”

Story and Photos by Brent Flaaten

In August of this past year I was asked to be a guest at Kelly’s Surf Ranch in LeMoore California on a robust Summer weekend. I thought about it for a tenth of a second and said yes knowing full well that this would cost me physically at work. However, I was willing to forego an energetic Monday at work to experience this phenomenon. Since its inception we all bore witness to Kelly’s first freezing, cold, dark and dirty wave where he surfed it seamlessly and finished with a barrel. The winds of change were even blowing offshore and you knew this would alter surfing forever. But just how, we didn’t know.

From Kelly Slater Wave Co. website, it is the longest open barrel high performance human-made wave in the world. It’s a 6’ barreling wave that travels over 2300 feet with rides as long as 1 minute long. The wave can be dialed up and set to a specific skill level at any given moment which is beneficial to all who partake in the surf. I was leery after having several friends that have gone over the last several years that the Surf Ranch has been open. Like many of you reading this, I am an ocean surfer and that’s all I have ever known. During the 80’s when they started introducing wave pool surf contests, I thought ,”what a load of crap!” Thankfully I wasn’t alone and this pathetic attempt at bringing surfing inland failed miserably.

Kelly’s is not going away anytime soon and here is why. First you have large surf companies that are willing to pay up to bring some of their team riders to the Ranch. You also have extremely wealthy business owners from all over the world who surf and will throw down large sums of money (think golfing business trips with the executives) to bring their business associates on an unforgettable surf-filled weekend full of all the amenities one could want. You also have the WSL who have signed up for the competitive side of things.

The thing that sets this place apart is the service and the smiles with the fact that you can literally watch your average surfer friend, sister, brother, mother or father get a wave that is so mind-blowingly perfect about 10 times or more in an 8-10 hour day. I won't forget the full course Breakfast, Lunch and sit-down Dinner that is served. The kicker is that you can have anything you want to eat or drink at any time, like a smoothie or an iced coffee or even a Roy Rogers and with the most gracious service I’ve ever experienced. The wonderful individuals who work at the Ranch are the people of LeMoore. One such gentleman was a 26 year old named Sage and when I asked him just how stoked he was that Kelly opened a Surf Ranch in his hometown he replied, “You have no idea!” Sage then proceeded to explain that he is so stoked to be a part of this entire experience and that a major perk is that he gets to surf the Ranch. Of course his eyes lit up as he told me this while peering over my shoulder at a perfect righthander peeling off for several yards perfectly. Sage was just one of many that the Surf Ranch employs, who enjoy the benefits of surfing.

Here's what they don't tell you -

You will witness over and over, minute by minute, hour after hour every one of your friends, family or whomever you came with in your group surf the most perfect waves while smiling the biggest smile you have ever seen them smile, period. I have proof, because I shot photos for nearly 10 hours in blistering 104 degree heat and every photo I shot of the people who have just completed their wave and are walking back up the path, is a photo of someone smiling so big and so wide of a smile,that the glare off those teeth could light up the night sky. I watched all ages and all skill levels get a perfect wave over and over and over again and as the day progressed each and every person became a better and better surfer. As a surfer who had surfed for over 37 years, competitively at times, this gave me hope, because I haven't surfed since around 2010 when a debilitating injury forced me to get a full right hip replacement. Two years later while stretching before a surf I would pull my hip replacement out of its socket, ending my surfing life right there at Hobo’s Jungle in a screaming heap on the beach.

At Kelly’s Surf Ranch I watched a good friend of mine’s father, who had a bad back injury and hadn’t surfed in years get up on a dialed in wave just for him and that’s when it all came together and I saw the power of this Surf Ranch right before my eyes. It has the power to help people who are seriously injured catch a wave that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to catch. It also has the power to put smile after smile on everyone’s faces, including the people who are watching the people surf because you’re seeing how happy it makes them’ which is extremely contagious. No I didn’t surf, but I can tell you that for over a week I was as high as a kite, because of what I observed over that 10 hour period that Saturday in the San Joaquin Valley in Central California.

I know, you can go book a trip with your friends and go to Indo for 2 weeks on what it would cost to go to Kelly’s Surf Ranch for the day but I can almost guarantee you that you won’t catch as many perfect waves over and over and you’ll be back in your comfortable bed by morning. It’s that simple.