Roark is bringing its East Coast Surf Tour to Deerfield Beach on Saturday, September 12, and the whole thing is free.
Four Roark ambassadors are coming down: Koa Smith, Nate Zoller, Ivah Wilmot and Max Beach. We are paddling out with them in the morning, then walking back to the shop for a Q and A, poster signings and the premiere of a new Roark surf film called Sonic Nomads. There is food and coffee, and Roark is running raffles and giveaways.
A sign-up link is coming soon. You do not need your own board, and beginners are welcome in the water.
At a glance
- What: Roark East Coast Surf Tour, Deerfield Beach stop
- When: Saturday, September 12, 2026. Check in opens at 9:30am
- Where: Island Water Sports, 1985 NE 2nd St, Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
- Cost: Free
- Boards: Free loaners, first come first served
- Who can surf: All levels, including beginners. Everyone signs a waiver
- Sign up: A sign-up link is coming soon. The event is free either way
How the morning runs
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 9:30am | Check in opens at the shop, 1985 NE 2nd St. Sign your waiver, grab a loaner board if you need one |
| 10:00am | We all walk down to the beach together and paddle out with the Roark crew |
| 11:00am | Surf ends. Everyone walks back to the shop |
| After 11:00am | Q and A with the crew, poster signings, the Sonic Nomads premiere, a slideshow of photos from Roark trips, snacks and raffles |
The surf finishes at 11, but the morning does not. The shop session runs on after that, so give yourself time for it.
What to know before you come
Everyone signs a waiver
Anyone going in the water signs a waiver, adults included. You sign it at the shop when you check in, which is exactly why check in opens at 9:30 and we do not paddle out until 10. That half hour is there so nobody is filling in paperwork while everyone else is catching waves.
If you are under 18, a parent or guardian needs to be there in person to sign for you.
You do not need a board
We are lending boards that morning, free, to anyone who turns up without one. Bring your own if you have a board you like. Loaners are first come, first served.
All levels, and a word of sense
This is not an experts-only session. Our surf camp crew is paddling out and so is everyone else, beginners included. It is still open ocean, so look at the conditions when you get there and make your own call about what you are comfortable with.
Park in the garage
Use the Deerfield Beachplace Parking Garage at 123 NE 20th Ave. Our shop lot is not available that morning. The garage runs $4 an hour at weekends with a $20 daily maximum, so budget a few dollars for the morning. More options are on our Deerfield Beach parking guide.
We walk to the beach together
You do not have to find us at the water. Park at the garage, walk to the shop, check in, and the whole group walks down to the beach together at 10. If you have never been to one of these, this is the part worth knowing: turn up at the shop and everything else is taken care of.
Who is coming
Koa Smith
From Kauai, and the name most people here will know. Koa is the surfer who rode one wave through eight barrels at Skeleton Bay in Namibia, a ride that went around the world. He grew up surfing Hanalei Bay with his brothers, won three junior national titles, and spends his winters on the North Shore. Roark signed him as a brand partner earlier this year, so this tour is early days in that relationship.
Nate Zoller
A Roark Revivalist since 2013 and the longest-serving of the four. Nate is a surfer, photographer and writer who has been behind Roark films including The Forgotten Archipelago, Dear Mexico and Arc of Aleutia. He studied cultural anthropology, edited Beached Days for Surfer Magazine, and is the one most likely to be telling the stories when the slideshow goes up.
Ivah Wilmot
From Bull Bay, Jamaica, and one of the best-known surfers his country has produced. His father, Billy Mystic Wilmot, built the Jamnesia Surf Club at Bull Bay, where local kids learn to surf, fix boards and get help with their schoolwork. Ivah grew up in it. He rides for Roark and appeared in their film Future Mystics, guiding a trip through Jamaican surf culture.
Max Beach
A goofy footer out of San Clemente. Max teaches surf lessons and volunteers with Surfers Healing, taking kids with autism out on a board. If you have a nervous first-timer with you on Saturday, he is a good person to have in the water.
Koa, Nate and Max travelled into Mexico together earlier this year as Roark's scout team, and Nate and Ivah share a film from 2022. They turn up as a crew rather than four names on a poster.
Raised by Surfshops
The tour comes out of a Roark campaign called Raised by Surfshops. The idea was simple: they filmed professional surfers naming the shop that raised them. Koa Smith named Hanalei Surf Company. Max Beach named Laguna Surf and Sport. The argument underneath it is that surf shops deserve some public credit for the surfers they produce.
Roark has been a storytelling brand since Ryan Hitzel and Ryan Sirianni started it in Orange County in 2009. Every collection is built around a trip, and most of them come with a film. That is why this stop is a screening and a slideshow rather than a rack of clothes.
They have done it in Florida before, too. In November 2015 they ran a tour called EAST COASTIN through Florida surf shops, sharing photographs and stories from an expedition to Nepal. Sunrise Surf Shop in Jacksonville Beach hosted them then, and is hosting them again this week. What is new in 2026 is that the tour finally comes this far south.
The rest of the Florida tour
Seven shops over three days. Ours is the only morning stop, and the only one where you get in the water with them.
| Date | Shop | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 10 Sep | Aqua East | 4:00pm | Neptune Beach |
| Thu 10 Sep | Sunrise | 6:30pm | Jax Beach |
| Fri 11 Sep | Catalyst | 12:00pm | Melbourne Beach |
| Fri 11 Sep | Drift House | 6:30pm | Cocoa Beach |
| Sat 12 Sep | Island Water Sports | 9:30am | Deerfield Beach |
| Sat 12 Sep | BC Surf | 12:30pm | Ft. Lauderdale |
| Sat 12 Sep | Nomad | 6:30pm | Boynton Beach |
Roark at the shop
We carry Roark year round, and it is worth a look while you are in: breathable travel shirts, hybrid shorts you can surf in and then wear to lunch, trail and travel pants, jackets and hats. Have a browse below, or see the whole range on our Roark collection.
Getting here
Island Water Sports
1985 NE 2nd St, Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
(954) 427-4929
Park at the Deerfield Beachplace Parking Garage, 123 NE 20th Ave. We open at 6:30am on Saturdays, so there is time for a coffee and a wax before check in opens at 9:30.
New to all this? Our surf lessons run year round for all ages, and the Deerfield Beach surf camp is the crew you will see in the water on Saturday.
