From Surfboard to Dashboard: How East End Surf Club Rides the Wave of Booking Success

When born-and-raised Montauk locals Pat Fallon and Mike Poli launched East End Surf Club in 2020, they weren’t just eager to teach people to surf, they wanted to share a way of life.

“Surfing has given us arguably everything,” Pat reflects. “It dictates the people we hang out with, the clothes we wear, where we live, the places we travel to, our jobs, organizations and brands we decide to partner with, and so much more. We wanted to give the gift of surfing to others.”

That passion runs deep. Both Pat and Mike were raised surrounded by water and hooked on surfing from an early age—competing, training, traveling, and teaching. When pro surfing proved a tough field to break into, giving surf lessons became a natural way to stay close to what they loved.

After nearly a decade of teaching and running camps through a local surf shop, the duo made a bold decision.

“With almost 15 years of experience under our belts, an eagerness to keep people surfing during hard times, and a passion to keep pursuing our careers as surf coaches, Mike and I saw an opportunity to start our own business and took advantage of it,” Pat says. “We created a website and put all of our ideas into play—and with that, East End Surf Club was born.”

A small business making big waves

Starting a business in a small town is always a leap of faith, but the waves were already building. Years of experience had earned them a loyal base of clients who followed them into this new chapter.

“Turns out, our base was more loyal than we even realized,” Mike says. “Once we got a website up and started reaching beyond just word-of-mouth, we got busier than we could handle. That’s when it really became a business. We brought on some of the most talented young local surfers in Montauk and trained them in how to teach a proper lesson. A year later, we had a full squad—8 instructors, including me and Pat—out there turning and burning lessons all summer.”

Together they built a community rooted in ocean knowledge, safety, and shared respect for the water. But to keep it thriving, they needed to upgrade their systems.

Going digital with Acuity Scheduling and Squarespace

Before launching their own business, Pat and Mike had been operating the old-school way: texts, calls, and penciled-in notebooks.

“We had always wanted to go digital,” Pat explains. “We needed an online presence and better yet, we needed to simplify our client booking experience. We were very analog in the past—call the shop or our cell, and we'll pencil you in. It was very time consuming.”

“I think we had both personally seen how limiting it was not to be online, and personally, I saw how much of an advantage businesses have when they can offer both in-person and online booking from taking workout classes at a local gym. We needed that kind of easy booking for our platform. So we did our research and found that for the price and development time, Squarespace and Acuity were going to be the best value. It made it easy as a one-stop shop for our site and bookings.”

Compared to the competitors in the lineup, Acuity had exactly what they needed to grow the business and stay in control.

"What drew us to Acuity was how organized and easy it made scheduling,” Mike says. “It gave us the tools to scale while still having full oversight of all the lessons being booked for anyone on our team.”

“We used to be pen and paper. A lot of client interaction was great for our brand, but took away from time doing other things. Acuity makes us the most efficient we can be. Less time talking and organizing, more time working and growing our brand and business.”

Scaling with confidence and streamlining surf operations

With Acuity embedded on their site, booking a surf lesson became quick, seamless, and wipeout-free. Customers can choose instructors, select packages (with built-in discounts for multiple sessions), and even buy gift certificates—all on their own. With intake forms and secure transactions, the team gets all the information they need before they even hit the beach.

“Every morning Mike and I wake up and touch base on the schedule, establish roles and responsibilities with our staff, and plan out the day,” Pat explains. “It's all done right in the app.”

“It lays out exactly who’s working and when, so we always know what instructors are needed and for how long,” Mike continues. “It also lets customers book and pay online, which saves us a ton of time on the phone, especially once they get familiar with the website."

Because they spend their workdays oceanside, the mobile capabilities are a major bonus, too. “If we need to reschedule or shift something we can contact all clients directly through the app. It's really made us more efficient,” Pat says.

“We work from the beach, so the app has been a huge help to be mobile.”

Results that speak for themselves

With Acuity’s mobile app in their pocket to run their schedule from the sand, Pat and Mike turned their shared vision into a top-ranked surf school.

"Now we've got a successful business,” Pat shares, “a website, online booking through Acuity, we're ranked number one on search engines in our criteria and area, we have kids programs, private lessons, group lessons, and corporate partners. We have a full staff of awesome surf coaches and we're growing our reach and offerings every year. What started off so small has turned into something much bigger than we had imagined."

Even as surf conditions shift and business expands, having this operational hub ensures they stay on track and make a standout impression. “It allows us to maintain client relationships, store all our client base in one place, expand our marketing and offering capabilities, and be the best business managers we can be,” Pat says. “If we need info on a client, it's easy to find and super interactive, helping us to put our best foot forward.”

“Acuity has taken our business to another level and now 6 years in, has gotten better and better with each season. The new updates make things so easy and seamless. We couldn’t have it any other way and can’t believe how long we did things with pen, paper, and a notebook.”

Looking back on how far they’ve come, the impact can’t be understated. “We’ve saved time, we’ve saved money, we’re more efficient, we can offer more services, roles and responsibilities are more easily communicated, and more processes are automated.”

Less screen time, more wave time

Ultimately, Acuity Scheduling helps the team at East End Surf Club make a living doing what they love—teaching others how to surf, connecting with the community, and chasing the next perfect wave.

“It just makes life easier to have a program like Acuity to depend on,” Pat says. “It really makes a difference for time management and gives you peace of mind that the info you need is in the app at any time.”

That means less time behind the screen and more time in their element.

“Acuity Scheduling streamlines our business and makes sure we can spend most of our time where it counts. Less talking, less answering questions, less confusion. More surfing.”

Want to stay in your flow instead of stuck in your inbox? Try Acuity for free today and do more of what drives you.