Surf’s up in landlocked Central Texas, nearly 200 miles from the nearest coast.

Waco Surf is drawing surfers from around the world to practice their sport with a revolutionary patented technology that takes the guesswork out of the consistency and kinds of waves it produces. But if the technology is the genius brain behind the park’s success, David Taylor is its beating heart and gentle hippie soul.

It’s Taylor’s extraordinary vision and quirky personal stamp that have parlayed Waco Surf into not just a wildly successful business enterprise, but a beloved recreational “beach” destination that now has legacies of families coming year after year to bond over water fun.

Taylor, a California surfer dude now in his early 40s who says he’s never had a “real” job in his life (presumably meaning at a desk in suit and tie), saw a niche opportunity to grow a small cable wakeboarding park with a side of surfing into a training and recreational destination not just for locals but world-class surfers. When the “investment opportunity of a lifetime” came up, he jumped at it.

He admits that even four years after acquiring the property with a group of three other California investors, none of the ownership team actually has job titles — but if pressed, his would be co-owner and co-president.

Titles aside, it’s Taylor’s superpower of bringing people together that cinches the park’s rugged authenticity. Though he won’t brag on himself, his incredible relational ability is paired with a brilliant instinct for marketing and branding — creating a sense of community that has grown a loyal following among surfers and local families alike.

Taylor credits Sam Brown — a longtime community leader who left 25 years in the banking business to become CEO of Fuzzy Friends Rescue this July — with paving the way for his introduction to Waco.

Brown was on vacation in Hawaii when a performer at a luau, upon hearing that he was from Waco, told him, “‘You have the best surfing park in the world,’” he quoted. “That quickly let me know what an asset Waco Surf was to Waco.”

Brown met Taylor in the spring of 2020, when Taylor and his group partners were in the process of buying Waco Surf.

“Sam was an avid skateboarder, but he hadn’t skateboarded in 25 years,” said Taylor. “We put him on our ramp and he had an unbelievable time, and reconnected with a passion that had gone by the wayside. Sam kind of introduced me to everybody.”

After meeting, Brown began connecting Taylor around Waco.

“David Taylor is one of the most unique individuals I’ve ever met,” said Brown. “I believe in the power of ‘a rising tide raises all ships,’ which is why I wanted as many people as possible to know David Taylor and Waco Surf. He’s a sweet, honest, empowering man who makes everyone around him a better person. He has such a positive spirit that’s contagious to those around him.”

The Buzz

Four years after being rebranded from BSR Cable Park to Waco Surf and exponentially increasing its features and services, the park has an undeniable international presence. Just how famous is this ranch-ringed surfer’s paradise, a place that many Wacoans have never even heard of — or if they have, didn’t realize its mega-stature in the community and surfing world?

It’s been featured in print publications ranging from Southern Living and Outside to The New York Times travel section and Texas Monthly (on the cover in August 2023), in online publications or broadcasts including “The Texas Standard;” WavePoolMag, “NPR Morning Edition,” Texas Lifestyle Magazine and KWTX-TV. It was even spotlighted in a Super Bowl commercial on Texas tourism.

It’s been visited twice by the Bucket List Family — the five-member Gee family of travel journalists who document their global adventures to thousands of social media followers.

Bolstering its unique branding as a destination surf resort — at the time the first in the country — are the professionals and Olympic athletes who have come to hone their skills with the system that can produce 120 waves an hour and provide more waves to catch in two days than they would in two months on the beach.

Superstar surfer clients include some of the sport’s most elite. There was Kelly Slater — both the youngest and oldest World Surf League Champion, who spent decades creating a similar artificial wave system using different technology and is widely considered one of the greatest surfers of all time. Bethany Hamilton, a surfing pro who lost her left arm to a shark off the shores of Hawaii, has been a frequent visitor with her family.

Members of the Chinese, Australian and U.S. Olympic surfing teams have also trained at Waco Surf.

“In the Japan Summer Olympics (held in 2021, postponed from 2020 because of the pandemic) they planned to have the surfing competition in the ocean, but AWM built a backup facility just in case the waves or weather didn’t cooperate,” said Taylor. “So several Olympic teams came here to train because they knew it was the same technology. In case they needed to surf in the pool, they wanted to have their athletes ready.”

The Technology

Previous owner Stuart Parsons, a champion barefoot skier, had opened the site as BSR (Barefoot Ski Ranch) Cable Park in 2012. Though it offered a 3,500-foot-long lake with cable wakeboarding, using a motorized cable system to pull riders across water instead of being towed by a boat, it was mostly a local attraction. It had what was originally a modest surfing lagoon, but in 2018 debuted the PerfectSwell® system patented by AWM, a surf technology and engineering company out of Solana Beach, California.

Though pneumatics had been around for decades, AWM created a revolutionary proprietary software to sequence waves. The pioneer technology generated surfing waves through a pneumatic system whose computer algorithm controls the size, shape and direction of each wave.

The system creates a wide range of wave types, with size, shape and wave patterns all adjustable. Before PerfectSwell®, all wave pools in waterparks had side walls. Its novel invention eliminates side walls and the redirection of swell to run along the back wall, rather than away from it, allowing sustained rather than diminishing power throughout the wave.

“The new wave machine was definitely a game changer,” said Taylor. “This professional surfer named Seth Moniz was invited by the ownership at the time, and he did a backflip on a wave here.”

Moniz is a professional surfer from Oahu, Hawaii, who at 17 won the title in the National Scholastic Surfing Association Championship, a nonprofit organization that supports amateur competitive surfing for youth in the U.S.

“There’s this really high-performance wave that sets it up where you can basically do aerials,” Taylor explained. “It kind of creates this ramp-like feature where surfers can launch themselves into the air and do tricks. Seth Moniz did this backflip and was way in the air.”

The stunt went viral in the surfing world, putting the attention on BSR.

“It looked really raw and people were like, ‘Where is that?’ A lot of people didn’t know this park was here.”

After his Waco surfing experience, Moniz posted on Instagram, “I surfed more waves in two days at @bsrcablepark than I would in two weeks at home or anywhere else in the world. For me, I think @americanwavesmachines built the perfect training tool for high-performance surfing. Can’t wait to go back!”

The Story

Taylor, who gives more credit to incredible good luck than to his uncanny knack for making things happen, describes how he came to co-own and expand the phenom that is now Waco Surf.

“My friend Brandon Lowry knew someone that had come to Waco and invited me out to come surfing in early 2019,” said Taylor. “I had an incredible experience! Then I found out that the property was for sale. The owner had contacted Brandon and basically said, ‘Would you be interested in putting a group together and trying to buy us out of this thing?’”

Taylor assembled a group of investors that included himself and three other Californians: Luke Schock from San Diego and brothers Matt and Jason Simmons from San Marcos. The group began negotiations to acquire the business in 2019.

Today, Taylor and Schock run day-to-day operations as co-presidents, with Taylor’s skillset leaning to marketing and culture and Schock’s to finance and real estate.

Though Jason Simmons is titled vice president of land development, Taylor concedes that Matt Simmons doesn’t have an official title.

“Both those guys are wizards on the land use and the entitlement and development side,” said Taylor. All four owners have been involved since the beginning and are still involved today.

Immediately after acquiring the park, the owners rebranded it to Waco Surf.

“No one knew what the BSR acronym stood for,” said Taylor. “You couldn’t build a brand around it, so we abandoned the old name all together and started fresh. The whole brand changed. When we bought this place, the surfing element of it wasn’t really the focus, right? There were thousands of people who would come here to go wakeboarding, float the lazy river and go down the slides, and then a handful of people would come surf.”

The revamping of the surf park didn’t just hang on the rebranded name — the new owners quickly made significant upgrades that involved a complex interplay of engineering and landscape architecture to improve functionality of the surf pool and customer experience.

The lining at the surf pool’s bottom was originally made of roofing material that was often slick. It was improved with new concrete, and the zero-depth entrance was also replaced with concrete to keep sand out of the pool. The partners invested in a new water filtration system.

Through AWM, they’ve also added new waves over the years.

“The best addition was the addition of a world-class beginner wave,” said Taylor. “It’s the best place for a beginner to learn how to surf in the world.”

The park got an unlikely publicity boost when it reopened early in the Covid pandemic. California Governor Gavin Newsom had closed the state’s public beaches early on, and surfers were desperately seeking an alternative venue to practice their sport.

“There were laws around how much space you had to keep between people, and what density we could have for people per acre,” said Taylor. “Our property is roughly 500 acres. So that backed out to like, 50,000 people allowed to be on-site, though we’ve never had that many at one time. When it’s full in the summer, we’ll have two to 3,000 people in the water park.”

And so, the flow of California surfers coming to Waco swelled from a small stream to a surge — even in the middle of a pandemic.

Taylor had hired longtime buddy Mike Schwaab in 2020 to serve as general manager while the group finished conducting diligence; they closed on the deal in March of 2021. Taylor moved to Waco with his family while the other three partners remained in California (though they remained heavily involved in the business), and Schwaab left his job in Hawaii to come to Waco.

Taylor helped Schwaab run the company on-site from 2021 until 2024, when Taylor realized a longtime dream to move to Mexico — Sayulita, Nayarit on the Pacific coast, where he and wife Amy have a small hacienda.

When Schwaab left the company this summer to pursue other interests, Taylor returned to Waco to oversee operations, persuading partner Schock to serve as co-president with him. Schock now spends about half his time in Waco to assist Taylor in day-to-day operations.

“Dave and I are a team,” said Schock. “We come from different backgrounds and careers, so we each add a unique perspective when making decisions together. I’m from the banking and accounting industry, so I focus on risk and financial management of the company.”

Schock was a finance executive in the community banking business in Southern California for 15 years but left banking in 2015 to launch a CFO advisory company to help grow small- to medium-sized businesses.

“The day I left [the corporate world], I put on shorts and flip flops and haven’t looked back,” said Schock, who started surfing at 12 years old. “My suits and ties are full of dust at this point, and I couldn’t be happier about that. When I found my passion for finance, I pursued that as a career and kept my passion for surfing as my hobby. To be able to bring both together in this company has fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine.”

The Park

You reach Waco Surf by country roads outside of Axtell — about 12 miles north of Waco — past ranches where cattle placidly graze around post oak trees, where the modest entrance sign gives no clue to its status in the elite surfing stratosphere. It’s a full-on recreational waterpark that offers surfing, cable wakeboarding, giant slides and the longest lazy river in the world (“allegedly,” its website claims modestly, but it is a mile long and takes 45 minutes to float). With its chill amenities of on-site lodging, food and drink venues, rental gear and instruction in wakeboarding and surfing, you’ll swear you’ve landed on the beach of your dreams.

What keeps surfers flocking in from around the world is an insanely complex computerized system that creates multiple kinds of uber-realistic waves. The patented PerfectSwell® system features pneumatic technology, driven by algorithmic software, released by California-based American Wave Machines (AWM) in 2018. The system made its debut at the Waco site — in its previous incarnation as BSR Cable Ranch — that same year.

There are two parts of the facility: the two-acre surfing pool and the water park — and until recently they’ve had fairly separate clienteles.

“Maybe 70% of the folks who surf here had been out-of-staters,” said Taylor. “The waterpark with slides and cable skiing had been about 90% Texans, but I think that’s shifting. We haven’t run the numbers this year, but I would say more of that surf number is Texans now, too, because we’ve seen the beginner surf product grow exponentially here in the last three years.”

There are three ways in which Waco Surf differentiates itself from other surfing facilities: its diverse wave settings, engagement with local culture and sustainability practices.

Complex wave settings allow Waco Surf to provide different levels for those looking to learn how to surf. Instruction includes Wake Academy and surfing lessons at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

“This summer we launched Beginner Academy, a new program offering lessons for PerfectSwell® surf sessions,” said Taylor. “Lessons cover everything from safety to reading the waves, paddling and popping up.” (Waco Surf’s website describes beginner waves as similar to “a gentle day at The Point in Malibu or Queen’s in Waikiki.”)

The park employs energy-efficient electrical use systems, including solar panels that harness renewable energy. Water management systems minimize water waste while keeping operations running smoothly, and include a rainwater harvesting system and stormwater management. All rental surfboards are made from eco-friendly materials.

There’s a little wildlife too: Four lemurs (that “just hang out on their island,” said Taylor) that are cared for by the Cameron Park Zoo veterinarian. Whitetail deer roam freely on the undeveloped part of the property — populated from the descendants of deer liberated on the former hunting ranch.

And the park’s lakes are full of bass.

On-site lodging is what sets Waco Surf apart from other surf parks, and includes the newly remodeled Waco Surf Hotel with a 20-person hot tub right on the beach, seven family-friendly lakefront cabins with a community fire pit, shared dorms, camping and RV hookups.

The waterpark’s other amenities include community fire pits and numerous food and beverage options that cater both to Texas tastes and healthy food preferences (not always the same thing). Complementary FloWater refill stations and Sun Bum sunblock stations dot the grounds.

The park rents all the necessary equipment for wakeboarding and surfing: boards, wetsuits and leashes (or you can spring for your own). There are also fishing rod and bike rentals. New Wedge Cabanas by the wedge slides can be rented daily.

The Events

Nearly year-round events are a major draw to the park. Every year Waco Surf hosts several annual surf contests. Live music concerts start in late spring, and have featured musicians like The Lindsley Brothers, Tyson Motsenbocker and The Inkcaps.

A huge event occurred this summer with Waco Surf’s second hosting of The Swatch Nines, a European-founded exhibition featuring extreme freestyle sports. 2024 marked the first time in its 18-year-old existence that The Nines had ever been held in the U.S. — and it happened at Waco Surf. Originally centered around the single sport of snowboarding, the 2024 exhibition offered surfing, skateboarding and BMX biking for the first time — again, in Waco.

“[The Swatch Nines organizers] approached us and asked if they could bring it here to Waco, and we said yes,” said Taylor.

A skate ramp floated over the wave pool, held up by a crane, and a rail was added on the side so that surfers could launch themselves.

“They create this crazy atmosphere and bring out pros who do the craziest tricks. It’s become an unbelievable partnership that’s going to get bigger and better every year. Next year we’re going to open it to the public, which we’ve never done. It’s an absolute spectacle.”

The Future

“Next year is really gonna get exciting,” said Taylor.

New programs will include mountain bike rental (either traditional or Ebikes) to cruise through the property’s vast forest trails and a skateboard program with a ramp to be built in partnership with The Swatch Nines.

Coming in the spring is a kids’ fishing program in collaboration with local teen influencer “Fishkid” Kenji Urabe, a Bosqueville High School sophomore who competes in youth bass fishing tournaments and at 13 developed his own line of rod-and-reel sets with Walmart that’s now carried in more than 600 of its stores. He also spearheads “FishKid at Heart,” an organization promoting outdoor activities for youth.

“Fishing has always been my passion,” said 16-year-old Kenji. “[With the Waco Surf program] I want to help educate some newer fishermen but mainly just show other kids how to have a good time fishing.”

In March, Waco Surf will roll out a deepwater stationary wave featuring a new technology that’s never been built before.

“That’s going to be our transition into surf for people who’ve never tried surfing before, because actual rolling waves can be very intimidating,” said Taylor.

A winter program (think s’mores in firepits on the beach) extended this year’s season by a month, with passes sold out, and next year a weeklong package pass will be offered. Pickleball courts will also be coming in 2026. There might even be a future housing community coming to the back half of the property, said Taylor.

“We don’t really have numbers on our total economic impact on Waco,” said Taylor. “We can tell you what ticket sales are or what people buy here for food and beverage, but that’s not the whole economic story. But if you take the 100 to 150,000 people who come through our park annually and spread them around Waco spending money to stay and eat and recreate here, it’s a lot.”

The Guy

David Taylor showed up at our interview in Waco Surf business attire: shorts, T-shirt and flip-flops, his shoulder-length hair still damp from possibly catching a wave. The interview ended up being in Schock’s office, because Taylor (even as co-president with Schock) doesn’t have one. Not his thing.

Taylor thought the Wacoan magazine was profiling him as part of a larger article on unique local businesses (a partial truth I had to promote to keep total secrecy), not realizing that his was the unique business and leadership selected to receive the 2025 Wacoan of the Year award.

But that would have spoiled the surprise that’s only revealed in the December magazine when it hits the shelves to announce that year’s individual or group who has made a significant impact on the Waco community.

Taylor is so disarming and easy-going that it was less like an interview and more like shooting the breeze with a buddy under a beach palapa. We chatted a little about our shared love for Mexico, but then I really did have to ask a few questions without giving away the endgame.

Here’s the condensed version of how Taylor — who answers to David, Dave or DT depending on who’s asking — came from California to Waco to oversee the international phenom that is Waco Surf.

He grew up in the little California beach town of Encinitas, about 25 miles north of San Diego and “the mecca for surfing on the west coast,” said Taylor. “It’s one of the most unbelievable surfing communities in the world and every surfer knows about it. Lots of pro surfers have come out of there. So as a kid, surfing was just part of my lifestyle.”

His late mom Julie was a soil technician for a geotechnical engineering firm and late dad David was a plumber. His brother Michael — his first surfing buddy — is two years younger and still lives in California.

“I got on a board early,” said Taylor. “At first, it was a boogie board. Then it was a skim board. I probably picked up a surfboard at 10 or 11.”

His first surfboard was a Stewart longboard that a friend had given him, “old, because it had been his dad’s,” said Taylor. “It was this single-fin Stewart surfboard with blue stringers down the middle of it, and it was really cool.”

And because I had to ask, Taylor explained that a stringer is the central strip of material, traditionally wood, running from nose to tail that prevents the board from bending and snapping.

“The beach was our babysitter in the summertime — our parents would drop us off there and pick us up when work was over,” he said. “There was a bus line that ran straight from my house to a local beach called Moonlight Beach. It was just this quintessential southern California hangout spot — everyone out in the sun, tan and beautiful. We’d go there and surf and try to talk to girls and just be there all day.”

Taylor headed off to the University of California San Diego (UCSD), where he played baseball — though of course he continued to surf. At UCSD, he developed an unlikely mentorship with a theater professor and at 18 was introduced to the stage.

“I agreed to try out acting, just once,” Taylor said.

That first play was “The Zoo Story” by Edward Albee, a one-act play featuring two actors that takes place on a bench in Central Park.

“I was rehearsing for the whole quarter and didn’t tell my baseball team. Didn’t tell anybody. Opening day comes along and the curtain goes back, and my whole baseball team’s in the front row. I absolutely buckled and it was like we turned a 45-minute show into 15 minutes. The director was furious, and we had to do it three more nights in a row, plus another weekend. As time progressed, the show got better and better, and then the last day, I was like, ‘This is amazing, this acting thing.’”

Bitten by the acting bug, Taylor got a local talent agent in San Diego and started going out for castings. He did a few television commercials, then began getting booked for small roles on TV shows like “Pensacola” and “Renegade.”

“My big break came when I got cast in this film called ‘Bring It On,’” said Taylor. “It’s a cheerleading movie that came out
in 2000, and that movie opened up everything for me in Hollywood. It’s now a cult classic, like ‘Dazed and Confused’ of the 2000s.”

So Taylor was a Hollywood actor for 13 years of his life, with more to that story surely to be told than in this interview. That brought him to 2009, when he got involved with a local restaurant concept called Board & Brew, offering up sandwiches and craft beer in a surfer-friendly beach location.

“[Board & Brew] was an established restaurant in Del Mar, right up the street from where I used to surf all the time,” said Taylor. “One day, I talked the founder into letting me open another location and so I did.”

That second location brought awareness to the Board & Brew concept and allowed the model to scale into what now comprises 30 restaurants in California and Arizona. Taylor still owns several franchise locations, though he’s no longer involved in day-to-day operations.

“I think everything I’ve learned in my life and jobs have provided me this opportunity to land [in Waco],” he said. “Honestly, I learned so much from acting: How to deal with rejection, not take things personally and how to grow as a human. Like they say, show business is only about 10% show but is 90% business. So you gotta know people who are successful in that business and know how to create a brand.”

While acting taught him how to create a brand for himself, translating that into a regular business was the next step.

“I learned a lot about business and business strategy from the restaurant business, including branding, operations and scaling a brand. That’s also where I learned the customer-facing hospitality side of things.”

(“David Taylor and his extreme experience and success as a businessman sneaks up on you because he’s such a free-spirited, laid-back surfer from California,” said Sam Brown.)

While still in the restaurant business, Taylor’s life took another major turn. In 2017, he had reconnected with now-wife Amy at their 20th high school reunion; they had known each other since fifth grade in Encinitas. They got married in 2018 and after she became pregnant in 2019, they decided to redirect their lives to focus on daughter Matilda, now 5.

“After Matilda was born, I stepped down from my role with the restaurants,” said Taylor. “The only job I ever really wanted was to be a dad, so I cleared my slate for the new position. Amy was an attorney, but she retired, and so we were just going to put all of our energy into being parents. We had this dream of living in Mexico and raising our family down there, just living simply.”

Only an amazing project could take Taylor back to work and Waco Surf checked off several of his professional and personal boxes.

“It’s not just like another job,” he said. “Surfing has always been such a crazy important part of my life. This opportunity was a passion project, a lifestyle project, and to this day it doesn’t feel like work. I love every minute that I get to come here.”

Taylor remains a dedicated surfer who tailors his boards to their specific venues. In California, he rides a 7’ Chris Christenson Flat Tracker 1.0 model, which he’s had for nearly 10 years and considers the best board he’s ever had. In Waco, it’s a 5’7” tri-fin shortboard, a Firewire Groove by legendary surfer and shaper Rob Machado.

“Before moving to Waco, I hadn’t ridden a shortboard in 10 years. It’s fun to pretend I’m a shredder again!” said Taylor.

For the record, a shredder is a surfer who rides a wave in a flashy and aggressive manner, often with high-speed maneuvers. Longboards are usually eight feet-plus, with wider rounded noses and are more stable and easier to paddle than shortboards. Shortboards generally range from five to seven feet long, have an upturned nose and usually two to four fins. Shortboards are shorter, less stable and more agile, allowing for quick turns and tricks.

In Mexico, Taylor rides a 6’10” MAS board with twin fins from local shaper and professional surfer Miguel Sinclair.

Taylor and Amy have a traditional Mexican hacienda — across the street from the local surf break in Sayulita, Nayarit — and spend several months a year there. Amy also surfs (though not as hard-core as her husband, who says she loves the four-wave intermediate setting at Waco Surf), and daughter Matilda has just taken it up. Taylor surfs most mornings by himself, before he and Amy drive Matilda to school in their golf cart.

Most days there are spent on the beach or going on hikes in the jungle. They eat fresh fish, organic vegetables and beans, and make tea from the butterfly pea flowers that grow all over the yard.

“Life seems to move slower down here and the important things that we value the most as a family are at the forefront of our lives,” said Taylor.

When he’s back in Waco, Taylor is still livin’ the dream and wanting to share it with the multitudes.

“Waco Surf is just magical,” he said.

“I think our success comes from the incredible people who make up this brand and show up every day to change people’s lives.”

The Community

“I live in Waco and most of our employees live in Waco, so having local partners is big for us,” said Taylor. “This town has become such an unbelievable place for food and experiences. We just want to be an advocate for that.”

That said, its deep ties to the community and partnerships with local businesses are what sets Waco Surf apart from most (maybe all?) recreational parks. Some of those partners weighed in on working with their surf park neighbor.

Sendero Provisions Co. creates the merch for sale at Waco Surf that includes t-shirts, short-sleeve button-ups, one each of a long-sleeve pearl snap and hoodie design, hats and board shorts.

“The collab started the way the best ideas usually do — a couple of convos between amigos, a shared love for Waco and a mutual itch to make something that hadn’t been done before,” said Sendero CEO and founder Hunter Harlow, who with fellow Baylor University geology grad Aaron Bryant started the southwestern-themed clothing company in Waco in 2014.

The collaboration mixed Western grit with an easygoing surf vibe that was a hit.

“Folks loved it,” said Harlow. “That Western-meets-surf crossover hit a sweet spot the world needs right now.”

Film-making and surfing may seem unlikely partners, but not in Waco.

“We were first introduced to David through a mutual friend, Sam Brown, when we all had lunch together and discussed our shared love for films,” said Samuel Thomas, co-founder of the Waco Indie Film Festival. “We realized that Waco Surf had a similar vibe to Waco Indie, and we wanted to see each other succeed and to collaborate whenever possible.”

Since that meeting, Waco Surf has become a valuable sponsor and friend of the film festival. Waco Indie provides infrastructure to allow outdoor screenings at Waco Surf and in turn, the surf park has provided complementary lodging for filmmakers attending the festival.

“Waco Surf also gives all of our attending filmmakers free passes to the park during the run of the festival, and BOGO (buy one, get one) tickets to all our VIP passholders,” Thomas explained.” Plus, they graciously host our staff recap party each year, so we can dine and debrief, then dip into the lazy river afterwards! We’ve also collaborated to bring cool surfing-focused films to the Waco community.”

“We really feel like Waco Indie matched well with Waco Surf,” said film festival co-founder Louis Hunter. “We’re both community-focused and share fun, relaxed vibes. But underneath that, we both work so hard at providing a world-class experience to those who spend time with us.”

Waco Surf and Brazos Bluffs Ranch have an informal agreement where they send each other clients to experience a different activity — surfing or horseback riding.

“We work with Lem Brown at Brazos Bluffs Ranch for our guests to do horseback riding there,” said Taylor. “He’s such a legend and just takes care of our people. He’s an amazing partner.”

The connection between the two business owners happened to be another made by Sam Brown.

“Sam is a connector!” said Lem. “Sam Brown connected me with David Taylor after he bought the water park. David is enthusiastic, upbeat and just a fun person. As a businessman, he’s visionary and collaborative, and puts the customer’s experience at the forefront.”

All coffee on site at Waco Surf is from Pinewood Coffee Bar, opened in 2016 by Baylor grads John David Bear and Dylan Washington who got their start roasting beans in a garage.

“I met with John David Beard and Dylan Washington — the owners of Pinewood and absolute legends,” said Taylor. “Pinewood coffee is everywhere, all the time at Waco Surf — they roast some of the best coffee on the planet and we love to introduce our customers to their coffee,” said Taylor.

Waco Surf is a Tasty Ticket Sponsor for the Texas Food Truck Showdown (sponsored by the Texas Farm Bureau), a now-signature event for the city introduced by the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce in 2015 as the first state-wide food truck competition that now draws more than 25,000 people annually.

“We actually print all the tickets for them and give a pass for people to come to the water park,” said Taylor.

McLennan Community College (MCC) partners with Waco Surf to offer beginning surfing classes in its summer schedule and members of Baylor University’s student Oso Stoked Surf Club, founded in 2022, meets there. (Not surprisingly, since it was founded only after Waco Surf came to town, it’s the university’s first surfing club.)

There’s one more community relationship that Taylor would love to make happen.

“I’ve never met Chip and Jo,” he said. “But I would love to meet them and hopefully one day if I put it out there to the universe, it’ll happen. I would love to have them out here — I think Chip would love it! I mean, they’re the largest draw in Waco, and what they’ve done to regenerate this town is nothing short of a miracle. They’ve really shined such a beautiful light on Waco, and I think that’s been part of our success: The success of Waco as a community.”

While there are on-site accommodations and food venues at Waco Surf, they quickly overflow when the park hits full capacity.

“We send [park guests] into town when we’re full up — to golf at Cottonwood, and we support local restaurants like Milo, Opal’s Oysters, Luna’s, Terry Black’s and Herringbone. We really support local places,” said Taylor.

And that support is returned to Waco Surf.

“Local community support has been unbelievable, and the amount of people who are gravitating towards the sport of surfing is growing,” Taylor said. “I think it’s been one of the most special things to see here. When you come here, we’re gonna put you on a wave and to see what surfing is like. Because there’s nothing like it. It’s life changing.”

The Californians

How are area Texans reacting to the California influx, which now includes not only Schock and Taylor but a marked flow of surf enthusiasts who are buying homes in the area to be close to their sport?

“While I’d traveled to Texas many times before, now that I’m spending more time here, I’m really learning to appreciate the culture, the people and the way of life in Waco,” said Schock. “The people here are some of the kindest and most hospitable I’ve ever met. The state is a wonderful place to do business in, and the city, county and state really want you to succeed and create jobs here. It’s been so refreshing to be supported across the board as we’ve worked to build something for the community.”

For Taylor, he has felt the support from the moment he arrived.

“Since we moved here, people have rolled out the red carpet for me and my family and it seems like we’ve been introduced to everybody in this town (maybe by Sam Brown),” said Taylor. “Everybody is so supportive of what we’re doing out here; this town’s really getting behind Waco Surf. I’ve met some of the most unbelievable human beings here and we’ve made lifelong friends.”

The Credit

So where do all of the park’s innovative ideas for features and marketing strategies come from? Taylor again sluffs off personal credit. He says that it’s simply from listening to customers and, in particular, to the staff of Waco Surf whom Taylor describes as “the most loyal, dedicated employees that I’ve ever seen.”

“They have all the ideas, and it’s just listening to them and being a steward for their ideas and passions,” he said. “They see the customers every single day and they have unbelievable ideas, so it’s just giving them the confidence and the comfort to see their ideas become reality. They’re so passionate about what they do, and so personable and friendly. They’re unbelievable stewards of the brand.”

The Dream

“The best thing is when a when a parent comes to me and tells me their kid just had the best time of their life, because I know how awesome that feels as a parent. I got to experience my daughter Matilda catching her first wave here at Waco Surf. We rode it all the way into the beach and the amount of unfiltered joy that exuded from her was overwhelming. It was my proudest dad moment ever.”

Taylor wants to make those kinds of moments accessible for everyone who comes to Waco Surf.

“I want to just to lean into the dream to make this place a full-on family-oriented resort, where it’s a legacy trip like a ski resort and families go to the same place every year.”

And Taylor is already seeing that dream becoming realized. Families book their stay for the following year before leaving the property. Lifelong friends are made in the community that is growing at Waco Surf.

“There’s something so powerful about surf culture, and now we’re providing that access to people in landlocked places,” said Taylor. “Some of them have never even been to an ocean, and they’re learning what it feels like to slide on energy in the water. I love to look at people’s faces when they come off a wave; they’ll be smiling ear to ear. It’s just such an epic experience to watch.”

Authenticity drives Taylor to keep pushing Waco Surf into bigger and better things. To keep growing.

“I’m not scared to take risks, because I think some of the greatest opportunities in my life have come as a result of taking a chance,” said Taylor. “I’ve been like that my whole life. And I’ve always had belief in myself that I’d figure things out — that everything’s gonna work out. I’d like Waco Surf to be the premier surf-centric family resort in the whole world. I have no doubt it’s gonna happen.”