OC Surf Is Making Waves in the Hamptons This Summer

Let us introduce OC Surf, Southampton’s family-owned and -operated surf camp by Alli, Luke and Will O’Connor. Here, Alli and Luke go on a deep dive into their personalized lessons, ocean conservation and more.

“This year will be our fifth year operating OC Surf” says Luke. “Each year, we’ve seen our support grow, both from full-time and seasonal members of the Hamptons community.”

What inspired you and the family to open OC Surf?

LO: Our family was lucky enough to grow up going to the beach every day in the summer. Our mom would pack a cooler and we’d spend the entire day in the sun and salt. Spending so much time at the ocean surrounded by friends and family who surfed naturally led all of us down the surffing path. Our first jobs were working at a surf camp, and once we were ready, we decided to start our own surf school, as a family.

The surf school offers group and individual lessons, plus a summer surf camp Monday through Friday. What can students expect at the camp? What do the lessons look like?

AO: The camp is for surfers of all levels aged 6 to 16, and can look very di erent depending on the day.When the ocean is glassy and the waves are perfect, we surf almost the whole three hours of camp, and on other days—when there are bad surf conditions—we surf what we can and then incorporate other fun into our morning. This can be in the form of ‘surf water polo,’ an obstacle course or a relay race in the ocean. At OC Surf, we try to help our students become independent surfers. To us, this means teaching ocean safety, incorporating beach exercises and stretches that translate to surffing.

Individual and group lessons are more tailored to the student. We’re happy and grateful to share surffing with anyone who wants to try, if it’s just to stand up one time and get the feeling of riding a wave, or working to become a proficient surfer who can go out on their own!

“This year will be our fifth year operating OC Surf” says Luke. “Each year, we’ve seen our support grow, both from full-time and seasonal members of the Hamptons community.”

Talk to us about the team at OC Surf. What does it mean to work with family?

LO: At OC Surf, we are a family-run business. ree of us siblings—Allison, Luke and Will—are hands-on running the camp and doing lessons every day, with support from our older sister, who moonlights as a guest instructor at times, and snack deliveries and visits from our mom and her dog Dixie. We have developed a good balance of responsibilities between the three of us running the business, learned over the past five years building our business. We’ve made a priority of keeping a regular structure of the weekly camp and all have the same foundations for our technique instruction, so we are able to share and balance responsibilities to maximize the benefit to our students.

All ages and skill levels are welcome at OC Surf’s lessons and camp. Don’t have the gear? No worries—wetsuits and boards are provided. When asked about her biggest tip for newcomers, Alli’s answer is quick: “Take a lesson! Surfing is hard and can be dangerous, especially depending on how confident in the ocean someone is. Taking a lesson helps you learn the ropes from an experienced surfer who will steer you in the right direction.”

In addition to surfing, you also teach your students about environmental awareness around the East End. Can you tell us more about your focus on the Hamptons’ oceans and beaches?

AO: The magic and beauty of our beaches and the ocean and bays we spend time in are lost on no one. rough our time on the beaches and in the water with students, we are able to effectively communicate the impacts and causes of erosion, pollution, overdevelopment, overfishing and the delicate connections between our ponds, bays and oceans. We like to keep it simple in our explanations, and communicating major issues in the Hamptons in a simple, easily digestible way will have the greatest impact on our students and ripple out into their families and friends.Surffing as a vessel for environmental conservation is far from new, and we are happy to pass the torch to the next generation of surfers and beachgoers to protect and preserve what has given us so much.

We always do beach cleanups when we notice the beaches are dirty. Recently, we realized our roadways need way more attention, as most of them border waterways and are loaded with plastic bottles and trash from drivers. Although less glamorous than cleaning the beach, we are starting to do roadway cleanups to tackle the mounting trash issue there. Keep up to date with our Instagram, @oc_surfschool, for our next cleanup, which is likely after summertime, due to the inherent dangers of cleaning a highly tracked area.

All ages and skill levels are welcome at OC Surf’s lessons and camp. Don’t have the gear? No worries—wetsuits and boards are provided. When asked about her biggest tip for newcomers, Alli’s answer is quick: “Take a lesson! Surfing is hard and can be dangerous, especially depending on how confident in the ocean someone is. Taking a lesson helps you learn the ropes from an experienced surfer who will steer you in the right direction.

Anything else you would like to buzz for the summer?

LO: We are a family of entrepreneurs, and when we’re not in the ocean we like to stay creative. Will has a carpentry business, crafting the most beautiful outdoor kitchens, custom shelves, decks and much more. And Alli has a clothing and art company, printing hand-carved designs onto secondhand clothing, and using the East End beauty as inspiration for unique prints. Come get in the Atlantic with us this summer; you won’t regret it!