Surf Dayton conducted 15 clinics that first year. Now, its instructors have taught more than 700 people how to paddle board and/or river surf.
“The first year or two, it was everybody in Dayton taking lessons, but then we saw a change in the third or fourth year that it’s mostly people coming from outside of Dayton,” Thomas said. “We’ve had people from Chicago, New Jersey (and) Florida come up to Surf Dayton.”
From teaching lessons to offering retail, rentals and board repair, Thomas is ready to expand.
Creating a space for adventure sport athletes
Eddy Out, a surf shop, hostel, bar and restaurant catering to adventure sport athletes such as cyclists, river surfers and paddlers, will be located at 120 Valley St. in Old North Dayton next to the new Point Park — which will eventually have river access.
It’s a “one-stop river stop,” Thomas said.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Customers can get a first look at the space when the surf shop opens in the coming weeks with Surf Dayton apparel, paddleboards, river surfboards, wet suits, safety gear and much more.
Thomas not only wanted to expand the surf shop side of the business, but he also had a dream of creating a hostel in Dayton.
“A lot of people have a bad analogy of the word hostel, probably from the movie, but if you go to other countries, you stay at hostels, and it’s very welcoming,” Thomas said. “Some of my awesome friends that I’ve met in other countries, I’m still friends with them today... That’s what we wanted to create here.”
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
A hostel is similar to an Airbnb, but with shared spaces. Eddy Out will have a private bedroom, as well as a bunk room with four adult-sized bunk beds. All five beds will be available to rent.
The private room is expected to cost around $90 a night. Each bunk bed will cost around $70-75 a night.
Thomas is hoping to open the hostel part of the business this summer. He is in the midst of finishing the second bathroom. After that, he’ll start working on the outdoor bar and then the kitchen.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
The full-service bar is expected to open by September and the kitchen will open next summer featuring tacos.
“I think surfing and tacos kind of go hand-in-hand,” Thomas said. “We’ll have a small, limited menu that will always kind of be changing. Every time you come here, expect something different.”
A love for being on the water
Thomas, a 2003 Fairmont High School graduate who went on to study printing technologies at Sinclair Community College, started getting into watersports when a former boss introduced him to canoeing. From there, he started kayaking, paddleboarding and eventually river surfing.
“It’s always been a sport, but it’s really became popular in the last like 10 years,” Thomas said.
Prior to starting Surf Dayton, he spent about five years living the “surfer life and the vagabond lifestyle.”
Thomas would spend his winters in Florida and South Carolina before transitioning to the mountains in the spring. May through July would be spent in Colorado for a river surfing tour, before returning to Dayton for the late-summer. He would then go to West Virginia in the fall for Gauley season and do it all again.
In Dayton, river surfing can be done year-round depending on river levels. Surf Dayton’s busy season is June through October.
For those that have surfed in the ocean, it does translate to the river.
“The biggest difference is everybody gets a turn,” Thomas said. “You’re not fighting for waves, and it’s an endless wave. You could surf all day and you could literally have two-three months worth of ocean waves in one river surf session because it’s always there. You’re not waiting for the swell or waiting for each wave.”
What’s behind the name?
The name of the business is a river term.
“When you are in the river and you want to get out, usually you find an eddy. An eddy is a safe zone, so basically (it) gets (you) out of the current,” Thomas said. “People paddling down the river could literally “eddy out” and come up to the hostel.”
Eddy Out is all about building community.
“Bringing people together is always a good thing,” Thomas said. “In the summertime when it’s hot, there’s nothing better than being in the river.”
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Investing in his hometown
Thomas purchased the Valley Street property from Dayton Children’s Hospital in 2022. Total investment in this project is $130-140,000 with the help of CityWide Development Corporation’s First Floor Fund.
When asked why he continues to invest in Dayton, Thomas said, “I think if I can, I do.”
Thomas is also the co-owner of The Silos, a food hall and beer garden near 2nd Street Market.
“I just want to invest in my community and make Dayton better. If we all did that, it would be the best city in the world,” he said.
MORE DETAILS
For more information and updates, visit Eddy Out’s Instagram page (@eddyoutdayton).
To learn more about Surf Dayton or to book a lesson, visit surfdayton.com or the business’s Facebook or Instagram pages (@surfdayton).
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