WRITTEN BY Lyndsay Harper
Cam Richards and Evan Geiselman—East Coast surfers who never sit still for long.
Garden City Beach, South Carolina isn't exactly the first place people think of when they picture world-class surf. The waves are fickle, the sandbars shift, and the best sessions often come wrapped inside hurricane swell forecasts. But that's where Cam Richards learned to surf—and where he built the kind of grit that's paid off throughout his career.
Cam grew up embedded in surf culture. His dad ran Village Surf Shoppe, a Lowcountry institution known for its handmade Perfection Surfboards, and the shop doubled as Cam's proving ground. By the time most kids were figuring out their first cutback, Cam was already competing up and down the East Coast. He turned pro at 11 and never really slowed down.
The amateur titles, WQS wins, and perfect 10s at Pipeline would come later. But his real foundation was built on the East Coast, where surfers learn early that if you want good waves, you've got to hunt for them.
That mindset travels well.
These days Cam spends plenty of time in Hawaii, where winter swells march across the Pacific and unload on the North Shore with a kind of consistency that still feels surreal to someone who grew up watching hurricane charts and hoping the wind would provide. Pipeline. Sunset. Backdoor. Waves that demand everything you've got—and the kind of waves Cam has built a reputation charging.
He's not the only East Coast surfer who made the leap. Florida's Evan Geiselman grew up chasing swell the same way—unpredictable forecasts, flat spells, and the kind of restless energy that turns surfers into multi-hyphenate athletes.
When Cam and Evan head to Hawaii, they bring that same restless energy, but they also bring a deep level of respect. Almost a reverence. Hawaii has its own rhythm, its own rules, and respect isn't optional. It's everything. Spend enough time on the North Shore and you start to understand the idea of mana—the energy of a place. You give respect, you earn it back.
“Respect isn't a gift, you got to earn it. And Hawaii makes you work for it. But that's what makes it so special.”
Cam
On our latest trip out there, it took nearly half an hour for Cam and Evan just to make it down the beach to the water—stopping to catch up with friends, photographers, and locals. Over time, those lineups have stopped feeling like someone else's backyard and more like a community they're welcomed into.
Put the two of them in the same place and it becomes clear pretty quickly: surfing might be the reason they're there, but it's rarely the only thing they're doing.
On that same trip, before we even met up with them, Cam and Evan were already several activities deep—just a couple of East Coast guys who can't sit still. Early-morning surf, a quick round of golf, and a few hours spent fly fishing just because the water looked good. Later in the week they'd squeeze in a bonefishing mission, too.
It's the same East Coast wiring: if the tide's wrong, find something else. If the wind's up, pivot. Keep moving. Surf sessions, fishing missions, whatever spontaneous side quest comes next.
For Cam and Evan, the waves might set the schedule—but they're never the whole story.
