Our Story
Swell Bender was born in Capitola, California, in June 2026.
We came to Capitola as a family: my wife, our daughter, our baby son, and me. We love road trips and experiencing places together. This one was special. It was our son’s first family trip, and our first time experiencing Capitola.
Capitola felt like a perfect place. Sitting on Monterey Bay, the little beach town began as a seaside camp in the 1870s and became the oldest beach resort on the West Coast. More than a century later, families still come here for essentially the same reason: to be near the water together.
During our surf lesson, my daughter caught her first wave ever. For a moment, I could only see the swell rising behind her. Then her head appeared above the crest, and there she was, standing on top of the world. She was beaming. I was bursting with pride.
My wife brought our son down to the water to watch us and found her way to an observation deck overlooking the surf. He was only a few months old, but he seemed completely at home. He loved the sound of the waves, the cool air, and the sea breeze.
Later, resting on my board beyond the break, I talked with other surfers while we waited. Kelp brushed against our legs. There was nowhere else to be and nothing to rush. For a while, you live on nature’s timetable.
Closer to shore, kids at surf camp chased wave after wave. There were as many girls as boys in the water, and everyone seemed to belong.
A handful especially caught my attention. They surfed as if there might never be another chance. As soon as a ride ended, they turned around and swam back out as fast as they could. One more wave. Then another. I knew that would have been me if I’d had the chance to grow up here.
There was something wonderful about watching kids pursue something they loved so completely, outside in nature, thinking about little except getting back out there.
After our lesson, we stayed by the beach. A hundred or so kids from surf camp gathered around the bandstand pavilion while a DJ played music. They jumped and danced together, still buzzing from their morning in the water.
That feeling seemed to extend through all of Capitola: surfboards strapped to bicycles, colorful Venetian houses facing the bay, music on the beach, families gathering, kids playing, people dancing. Even under the June gloom, the place felt unusually happy.
Our whole time there felt a little magical. Capitola was one of those rare places that seemed to have held on to something other places have lost: a closeness to the ocean, to community, and to the joy of being outside. It felt like a place where childhood could last a little longer.
And then we heard the words that would give this brand its name. Our surf instructor told us the waves nearby had been so good lately that he and his friends had been surfing day after day until they were wrecked. Then he said, “Swell bender,” and shook his head.
I had never heard that before and wasn’t even sure what it meant. Were surfers bending the swell? Was it something about the shape of the waves? He explained that a swell bender was one of those stretches when good swells keep coming and you keep going back until surfing becomes less an activity than the rhythm of your life.
Suddenly the phrase made perfect sense. It captured what we had experienced in Capitola: chasing good waves, losing track of time, living closer to nature, and finding community around the water.
It also captured something bigger: Chase the good days while they’re here.
Our Mission
That experience gave Swell Bender more than its name. It gave us a reason to exist beyond making things we love. Our mission is simple:
Keep young surfers on the waves.
Keep the waves worth riding.
Keep Young Surfers on the Waves
During our lesson, I overheard our instructor talking with older surfers about competitions and life after high school. He was working to afford competition entry fees and thinking about community college because he felt it was time to “grow up.”
My reaction was simple: Stay on the waves as long as you can.
I thought about those kids racing back into the water for one more wave. I thought about the kid I would have been if I’d had the same opportunity.
Not every kid grows up beside an ocean. Not every family can afford lessons, equipment, travel, competition fees, or all the other costs that come with pursuing a sport. But when a young person discovers something in nature that fills them with that much joy, we should do what we can to help them keep chasing it.
Surfing gives Swell Bender its meaning, so the brand should give something back. A portion of Swell Bender’s profits will support young surfers and the places that make surfing possible. We want to help young surfers stay in the water by supporting competition entry fees and other opportunities to surf, compete, learn, and see where the waves take them.
Keep the Waves Worth Riding
Watching all those kids in the water, I found myself thinking about our son. I imagined him learning to surf here a few years from now, his big sister paddling out with him, and him feeling the same excitement as those kids who couldn’t get back to the next wave fast enough.
For that future to exist, the places that create it have to be protected. The water needs to be clean enough for our son to surf in someday, and healthy enough for the fish, birds, kelp, and other marine life that depend on it.
So our responsibility doesn’t end with surfers. Swell Bender will support efforts to keep Capitola’s beaches, surf breaks, and surrounding waters clean and healthy.
That is the promise behind Swell Bender:
Help kids chase the things they love.
Protect the natural places that make those experiences possible.
And when life gives you good swells, keep going back for more.
Born in Capitola. Connected by the Ocean.