Nate Stevens has a great mustache. It’s Freddy Mercury-esque and worthy of legions of screaming fans. It’s quite something to behold. One of the few things in this world to outshine Nate’s brilliant facial hair is this weird, obsessive bent he’s had for the last decade to work in the surf park space.
Nate entered the wave pool industry during the development of NLandSurf Park in Austin, Texas. Without a predefined role available, he created his own opportunity by developing a detailed pitch, building connections with project leaders, and securing a position as head of retail. He later expanded his responsibilities to include guest services, admissions, and rentals, gaining operational experience during the early rollout of this first-generation artificial wave technology.
Stevens first learned about the Atlantic Park Surf project in 2017 while it was still in early planning stages. He followed its development for several years before joining the team. Today, as general manager, he now guides multi-department operations including guest services, marketing coordination, HR collaboration, accounting oversight, and policy development. During peak season, Nate oversees more than 65 employees across operations and coaching.
Editor’s Note: WavePoolMag’s Employee of the Month and Surf Park Jobs posts are done in partnership with the Shorelinejobs and Wavepooljobs platforms.
Give us some history about yourself. What have you done with surf parks?
Probably more than you want to know, but I grew up about two and a half hours away from Galveston, Texas, which is a barrier island south of Houston. It’s very similar to the Outer Banks, but not quite as much money there. I was pretty far from the beach but had family on the island since the fifties. I grew up casually surfing but never took it very seriously.
After graduating high school, I moved to Austin, Texas, which is where Inland Surf Park was developed. I only lived in Austin for two years and wasn’t super into it, even though everyone claims Austin is the greatest city on the planet. It’s beautiful, but something was missing for me. So I moved to Galveston, Texas, met my wife there, and then she was finishing grad school and had clinical rotations lined up. We moved back to Austin, and I decided to follow her without knowing what I was going to do.
It just so happened that NLand Surf Park was being developed at that time. I made a huge effort to get a job there. I put together a super ridiculous sales pitch and tried to connect with anyone associated with the project.
You really wanted that job
I wanted that job. I didn’t even know what job I wanted, but I wanted to be part of the project. Then I finally connected with the director of revenue at the time. He said they had a surf shop and guest services and needed to figure out what made sense. I ultimately started as head of retail, running the surf shop. That quickly transitioned into head of guest services, retail, and rentals. I oversaw admissions, the surf shop, and the rental department.
I got to watch the first wave of technology (Wavegarden Lagoon) get developed from the ground up, which was awesome.
How did you land here at Atlantic Park Surf?
In 2017, I was working when two guys from Virginia Beach showed up fresh off the airplane and needed a place to store their surfboards in the surf shop. I said absolutely. They introduced themselves and told me about this project. I had heard of Virginia Beach but had never visited and didn’t know much about it. Listening to them talk about the project back in 2017—when this was just a parking lot—I immediately became enamored with it and very interested. From that point on, I followed the project’s progression. Some years, there wasn’t much happening, and then it started ramping up.
So that was while you were at NLand Surf Park?
Yes, when I first learned about the project. Then I transitioned from Inland, moved back to Galveston because I missed the beach, and started my own company there—beach services, equipment rentals, kayaks, paddleboards, all that. I also worked in the public sector, managing a couple of beach parks. Then the economy shifted, and we got hit by an early-season hurricane—a Category 1 storm in early July, which is unheard of. Being a dad with two small kids, my wife and I realized that while we loved the island, there was a lot of uncertainty from an opportunity standpoint. I reconnected with Blake Hess, who I worked with at NLand. Blake had gone on to work at Kelly Slater Wave Company and Surf Ranch and then came back here.
Blake is almost an institution in the Surf Park Industry
Blake is amazing. We stayed in touch naturally, checking in once or twice a year. We weren’t talking regularly, but he was always someone I could reach out to as a former boss, mentor, and friend. The timing was perfect. I told Blake I was transitioning out of owning my own business. The Virginia Beach project was ramping up, and with my background in recreation, tourism, leisure, and booking systems, I said, “Let’s put this booking system together.” That’s where it all started back in November.
What are you in charge of here as General Manager?
It’s quite robust. I oversee all operations and departments. I started as head of guest services, focused on ticketing, admissions, guest flow, and the booking system. Blake and I worked early on putting the website together. I’m not naturally a creative or marketing person, but I’ve developed those skills organically. General manager was always something I was working toward. Now I work closely with marketing, HR, and accounting, and oversee surf experience and lifeguarding. I try to keep my finger on the pulse of every aspect of the operation.
Is your job more technical, like scheduling and logistics, or more customer-focused?
The entire operation is service-focused. We’re very guest-forward. Everything we do is about delivering top-tier guest service. Every decision we make—whether in accounting, club management, or operations—is about what it does for the business and, ultimately, for the guest experience. That includes the surfer experience and the beach experience for people who are just hanging out. A big part of my role now is personnel management—managing directors and managers beneath them—and policy formation. We have more SOPs than anyone would care to look at.
I noticed that everyone has a walkie talkie tagged with a dangling list of codes. It looks confusing.
It’s a robust list, for sure. There’s a misconception that working at a surf park or beach is super chill. It’s an amazing job, and we wouldn’t trade it for anything, but there’s a lot of thought and process that goes into running this daily, much less bringing projects like this to fruition.
How many employees do you have?
We have about 65 employees during peak season working for Beach Street Operations and Atlantic Park Surf. Then another 20 to 25 surf coaches work for WRV, our retail, rental, and coaching partner. WRP handles all coaching, lessons, and rentals. But we’re all one big family.
What’s something that you learned very quickly once you opened?
Everything you train on for two to four weeks goes out the window on day one. You have to be adaptive and think on your feet. In any startup environment, things happen very quickly. Having a team of bright, self-starting people with a common goal is critical. It’s special to sit around a table and workshop ideas, formulate policies, and build components of the business in real time. Sometimes things change hour to hour, day to day, week to week.
I always ask this, but what’s your favorite thing about this job?
That’s a loaded question. It’s undeniably seeing how stoked our guests are, from kids to first-time surfers to older guests getting back into surfing. The net is wide. The smiles are everything. People are absolutely stoked on this place. You can talk about it, watch videos, read articles, but when people step through the doors, and their eyes widen, that’s special.
Hopefully, that was your experience too, walking in and thinking, “Wow, so THIS is what this place is all about!”
