Experience Kalon Surf in 3 Minutes

Two videos tell the Kalon story — and the story behind them says a lot about how we run this place.

The first video

In 2017, Mike Seib came to Kalon with a group of friends. We didn’t know much about Mike at the time — just that he was a great guest and his group had an amazing week. After they left, I got an email from him. It said something like: “We had a great stay, thank you very much. I made a quick video — here it is.”

I opened it, and it was incredible. Mike is a producer — he worked on NBC’s NFL coverage, Emmy-winning television — and he’s genuinely talented at what he does. The video was 10, maybe 50 times better than anything we had ever made ourselves. Beautiful footage, great editing, perfectly captured the feeling of being at Kalon.

We loved it. We put it online immediately.

And it didn’t work.

Not because the video was bad — it was stunning. But Mike, his wife Lauren, and their friends are all young, beautiful people. And while they’re genuinely wonderful (they’ve become real friends over the years), the video looked like it was for a very different kind of resort than the one we actually are. The people in it didn’t represent the typical Kalon guest. Someone watching it might think: “That place looks amazing, but it’s not for someone like me.”

That’s the opposite of what we wanted. Kalon is for everyone — solo travelers in their 40s and 50s, couples celebrating milestones, families with teenagers, people who’ve never surfed, people who’ve surfed their whole lives. The video was beautiful but it told the wrong story.

Here’s that original video — it’s still a gorgeous piece of work:

The second video

We reached out to Mike and explained the situation. Not because we were unhappy — we were incredibly grateful — but because we thought he might be able to help us capture something closer to what a real week at Kalon looks and feels like.

Mike understood immediately. He stayed in contact with us, came back several times, and over time he shot footage that represented the actual Kalon experience: the mix of guests, the coaching, the dinner table, the early mornings, the wipeouts, the sunsets, the moments between sessions that are just as important as the sessions themselves.

The result is this video — and it’s the one that works. Not because it’s more polished than the first (the first one was technically excellent), but because it’s more true. When someone watches this and thinks “that looks like something I’d love” — they’re right. It is.

As one guest says in the video: “Catching a wave — it doesn’t get old. It’s this perfect combination of adrenaline, but it’s also one of the most calm feelings you’ve ever felt. It’s like everything else around you goes away.”

That’s it. That’s Kalon.

Why this matters

We don’t work with influencers. We’ve never paid someone to promote Kalon. Not because we’re against marketing — we’re a business, and we need people to know we exist — but because influencer content almost always sells something the place isn’t. It creates expectations that don’t match reality, and that’s a recipe for disappointed guests.

What happened with Mike was different. He came as a guest. He loved his experience. He made a video because that’s what he does — he’s passionate about it. And when the first version didn’t represent us well, he understood why and helped us get it right. There was no brief, no shot list, no “make sure to mention the rooms.” Just a talented person capturing something real because he cared about getting it right.

That’s how most things at Kalon happen. The food got better because a guest who happened to be a Michelin-trained chef offered to help. The surfboards are Firewire and Slater Designs because we genuinely believe they’re the best boards for our guests. The coaching method evolved because our coaches care about getting people surfing, not just getting them through a lesson.

Mike and Lauren now have two kids and live in Connecticut. We stay in touch and we’re waiting for the kids to get a little older so they can come back and see everything that’s changed and improved since their last visit. That’s the kind of relationship Kalon creates — not a transaction, but a connection that lasts.

If you want to see what a week at Kalon actually looks like, these two videos are the best place to start. And if it resonates, we’d love to have you.