About
Articles by John
Activity
12K followers
-
John Luff reposted thisJohn Luff reposted thisWe’re building the grand opening team at DSRT Surf. If you’re ready to be part of something new in the desert, we’d love to hear from you. Explore current opportunities on our website. Visit Greater Palm Springs City of Palm Desert Beach Street Holdings #surf #hiring #palmdesert #coachellavalley
-
John Luff reposted thisJohn Luff reposted thisSurfing’s next frontier is taking shape. For the first time, the World Surf League will join Surf Park Summit in an official capacity for a keynote conversation featuring Graham Stapelberg, WSL President of Tours, and Dave Prodan, Chief Strategy Officer and host of The Lineup podcast. Sam McIntosh, co-founder of Stab Magazine, will lead the discussion on how surf parks could shape the future of competition, athlete engagement, media, fan experiences and the growth of the sport. Plus, attendees will have the chance to hear directly from WSL leadership during an extended audience Q&A. Don’t miss one of the defining conversations of Surf Park Summit 2026. Summit is just weeks away. Register today: https://lnkd.in/eXpbs47V #SurfParkSummit #WSL #CRE #SurfRealEstate #RealEstateDevelopment #WaveTechnology #SurfParks #Surfing
-
John Luff reposted thisJohn Luff reposted thisWaves of Renewal kickoff was an incredible day of surf, connection, and community. 🌊 This program is about getting the youth off digital screens and into real-life experiences. Through surfing, they're building confidence, creating unforgettable memories, and finding space to renew their minds—one wave at a time. to learn more about Waves of Renewal visit wavesofrenewal.org
-
John Luff reposted thisJohn Luff reposted thisThe lagoon is taking shape. We walked the site to give you a first look at what’s coming this summer. The wave. The desert backdrop. Surrounded by two championship golf courses. Framed by mountain views. It’s all here, and it’s closer than you think. DSRT Surf is almost ready. Be the first to know when we open. Link in bio to get on the list. #DSRTSurf Beach Street Holdings Visit Greater Palm Springs Wavegarden Michael Gerano
-
John Luff reposted thisJohn Luff reposted thisStab High Virginia Beach just showcased a new era for surf events, delivering moments that are already entering the history books: HughieVaughan claimed the Pro Men's title after making history with the first-ever perfect 50/50 score in Stab High history, while 2x Olympic medalist Sky Brown sealed the deal in the women's division with a stylish frontside air. Hosted at Atlantic Park Surf ’s brand-new surf park — the first Wavegarden Cove in the US — the event proved why our wave pools are reshaping the future of competitive surfing. ⚫ Engineered Air Waves: give surfers the perfect, predictable runway to build massive speed before hitting an optimized launch section. ⚫100% Equal Playing Field: Identical wave conditions for every surfer. No luck, just pure talent. ⚫Next-Level Progression: The ultimate environment for athletes to push the boundaries of what's possible in the air. ⚫ No waiting periods: Non-stop action that's perfect for live streaming and fans. ⚫ Stadium Vibe: Beyond the insane performance, the venue transformed surfing into a true spectator sport. Congratulations to Hughie Vaughan, Sky Brown, Isla Hardy and King Nicol, and huge credit to the teams at Stab , AtlanticPark and Beach Street Holdings for delivering a landmark event and pushing surf entertainment into a new era. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e5uq6gCF
-
John Luff shared thisGo team ~ Atlantic Park Surf, Beach Street Holdings, Stab, Vans, Monster Energy, YETI, Quiksilver, Sun Bum 🌊🚀🙌 #makingwaves #stabhigh Location: City of Virginia Beach at Atlantic ParkJohn Luff shared thisThis weekend, Atlantic Park Surf welcomed thousands of surfers and visitors from across the globe for Stab High, the world’s premier aerial surfing contest (the first to be held in the U.S. since 2019). 🏄♀️ I have had a front-row seat to Atlantic Park since before it broke ground in 2023, but this weekend solidified how transformative this project is – not just for East Coast surfing or for surfing at large (though it most certainly is), but for what it means for the City of Virginia Beach, which I have now chosen to call home for a decade. Atlantic Park has raised the bar, setting the potential of VB at a new height and cementing it as a true year-round destination that beckons travelers from around the world. This first-of-its-kind, mixed-use district is not only home to North America’s first Wavegarden Cove surf lagoon but also to curated dining and retail offerings, a state-of-the-art live entertainment venue, outdoor gathering spaces, office and residential units, and even a boutique hotel unlike any other hospitality concept in the country. Every aspect has been purposefully and intentionally designed to showcase and elevate Virginia Beach’s visibility on a global stage. And if this weekend is any indication, it has done just that. Needless to say, I’m stoked to be involved and deeply grateful for the trust and true collaboration awarded to me by Venture Realty Group and the various Atlantic Park teams, on whose behalf I get to do what I love most. The storytelling has been in motion for a while, and yet, it’s also just beginning. I’m excited to keep riding this wave, goofy stance and all. Thank you, also, to every editor, reporter and freelancer who has taken an interest in this story and carried it out into the world. Your partnership is invaluable. Let's keep it going... 🌊 📸: The Virginian-Pilot
-
John Luff reposted thisThis is a post I’ve been waiting a decade to write. DSRT SURF, the largest Wavegarden Cove in North America and the first on the West Coast — opens this summer in the City of Palm Desert, California. And now we’re hiring the founding team that will bring it to life. Developing and building this has taught me one thing above everything else: the waves are the product, but the people are the experience. A guest might forget a perfect wave. They won’t forget how our team made them feel. So we’re looking for those people. Surf instructors, lifeguards, cabana hosts, F&B, facilities engineers, a social media lead, guest experience — nine roles, and room for more if you walk in with the right energy. Surfers AND Non-surfers absolutely welcome. What we care deeply about about is heart, hustle, and a love for hospitality. Open hiring event this week: Thursday, May 7 · 12–5 PM Friday, May 8 · 9 AM–1 PM 📍 Desert Willow Golf Resort — The Willows Room, Palm Desert No appointment. Just a résumé and yourself. If you know someone who belongs on this team, please share this with them. Founding teams only get assembled once — and we want ours to be unforgettable. Let’s go 🚀🌊 Beach Street Holdings #BeachStreetOps #BeachStreetDevelopment #DSRTSurf #wavegardencove #hiring #makingwaves
-
John Luff shared thisThis is a post I’ve been waiting a decade to write. DSRT SURF, the largest Wavegarden Cove in North America and the first on the West Coast — opens this summer in the City of Palm Desert, California. And now we’re hiring the founding team that will bring it to life. Developing and building this has taught me one thing above everything else: the waves are the product, but the people are the experience. A guest might forget a perfect wave. They won’t forget how our team made them feel. So we’re looking for those people. Surf instructors, lifeguards, cabana hosts, F&B, facilities engineers, a social media lead, guest experience — nine roles, and room for more if you walk in with the right energy. Surfers AND Non-surfers absolutely welcome. What we care deeply about about is heart, hustle, and a love for hospitality. Open hiring event this week: Thursday, May 7 · 12–5 PM Friday, May 8 · 9 AM–1 PM 📍 Desert Willow Golf Resort — The Willows Room, Palm Desert No appointment. Just a résumé and yourself. If you know someone who belongs on this team, please share this with them. Founding teams only get assembled once — and we want ours to be unforgettable. Let’s go 🚀🌊 Beach Street Holdings #BeachStreetOps #BeachStreetDevelopment #DSRTSurf #wavegardencove #hiring #makingwaves
-
John Luff shared thisA thought provoking and insightful post from John Winsor, executive fellow at Harvard Business School following his visit to Atlantic Park Surf. Climbing gyms, surf lagoons, and AI sandboxes all share a common and highly useful purpose — reps before the real thing. 🌊🧗♀️ Beach Street Surf #makingwaves #AI #climbinggymsJohn Luff shared thisHopped into the Atlantic Park surf pool for the first time today. In one hour, I caught 15 waves. They were clean, shaped exactly the way I needed so that I could work on my progression. And I felt the old twitch. Thirty-five years ago, a few friends and I launched the Boulder Rock Club. It was one of the first indoor climbing gyms in the country. At the time, the core climbing crowd gave us endless grief. Plastic holds on plywood walls. Not real climbing. We'd sold the soul of the sport. I felt some of that same tension standing at the edge of the pool. It's not the ocean. It never will be. But 15 waves. In an hour that you don’t have to fight over…. You cannot get that kind of rep count in the ocean. And maybe not even in a week long surf trip. Artificial environments build real skills. The purists had it half-right and half-wrong. Of course, the ocean is different. Of course, granite is different. But the wall and the pool aren't pretending to be the thing. They're the place you go to get ready for the thing. Which is what I keep thinking about with AI. Most organizations I talk to are trying to learn AI in the wild. Running experiments on real customers with real consequences. And then they're surprised when the team hesitates, or misfires, or freezes up. You need a sandbox. Something artificial, where you can play and fail without the full stakes of the open water. You need reps. You need the plastic wall and the wave pool of AI, the place where you build the craft before you take it into the wild. Climbing, surfing, AI... the principle is the same. You don't get good in the wild. You get ready in the sandbox, and the wild teaches you the rest. What's your sandbox?
-
John Luff liked thisJohn Luff liked thisIt's my second week at Journey Beyond, and I headed out to the Great Barrier Reef to unveil the newly reimagined ReefWorld where our guests get to sleep, play and dine just metres from the Great Barrier Reef. We saw whales splashing, turtles diving and I met George, the resident Grouper. My favourite part was cocktail hour on the top deck as we watched the sun sink into the horizon. Huge kudos to the Cruise Whitsundays team for all their hard work to create and deliver an elevated experience so far from shore, and to the Journey Beyond Sales and Marketing team for executing a launch event that perfectly combined professionalism with the laid-back charm that is such a signature of the brand. I'll be back! #journeybeyond #cruisewhitsundays Alicia Triggs Justine Lally
-
John Luff liked thisJohn Luff liked thisEXPANDING OUR FOOTPRINT IN THE US MARKET We are proud to have successfully completed the wave commissioning phase at DSRT SURF in Palm Desert, California. Marking our second facility in the United States and our most technically ambitious project to date. Our fluid engineering and SurfOps team has developed a definitive catalogue of more than 60 world-class wave types. This menu includes innovative programming evolutions like "Turns to Barrel", "Air Training" ramps, “Carve waves”, and "Twister"—our most powerful, wide, and technical barrel to date—already fully tested and endorsed by California’s surfing elite. Operating in a desert environment, the project reflects our strict commitment to sustainability. Powered by an innovative water management system, the lagoon is completely independent of the public supply network, running on an annual water consumption equivalent to just 1.3 holes of a traditional golf course. As we prepare for further expansion across the country, DSRT Surf stands as a benchmark for high-performance surfing, technological efficiency, and sustainable development. ➡️ Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/egE7VpqB
-
John Luff liked thisJohn Luff liked this#BarrelsandBogeys are almost here and we couldn’t be more stoked! With DSRT SURF almost open, here’s a little glimpse of the new complex in action! Huge shout out to Alex Perez, Craig Whetter & World Champ Tanner McDaniel for the shot! Designing the villas around this place, is such a fun project and we’re grateful for the team that put this together both internal and external! Beach Street Holdings AO
-
John Luff liked thisBeach Street has demonstrated balance between the love for surfing and thoughtful integration into an existing and thriving community. DSRT Surf will undoubtably be one of the next, best destination spots in the Coachella Valley!John Luff liked this“Today, we are proud to announce that DSRT Surf has received the world’s first International Dark Sky certification for a lighting system at a surf lagoon. We invested over a year into developing a dark sky lighting solution that meets rigorous photometric standards while beautifully illuminating our surf lagoon and creating an extraordinary experience: surfing under the stars in Palm Desert.”- John Luff | Beach Street Holdings Visit Greater Palm Springs City of Palm Desert
-
John Luff liked thisJohn Luff liked thisWe’re building the grand opening team at DSRT Surf. If you’re ready to be part of something new in the desert, we’d love to hear from you. Explore current opportunities on our website. Visit Greater Palm Springs City of Palm Desert Beach Street Holdings #surf #hiring #palmdesert #coachellavalley
-
John Luff liked thisJohn Luff liked thisSurfing’s next frontier is taking shape. For the first time, the World Surf League will join Surf Park Summit in an official capacity for a keynote conversation featuring Graham Stapelberg, WSL President of Tours, and Dave Prodan, Chief Strategy Officer and host of The Lineup podcast. Sam McIntosh, co-founder of Stab Magazine, will lead the discussion on how surf parks could shape the future of competition, athlete engagement, media, fan experiences and the growth of the sport. Plus, attendees will have the chance to hear directly from WSL leadership during an extended audience Q&A. Don’t miss one of the defining conversations of Surf Park Summit 2026. Summit is just weeks away. Register today: https://lnkd.in/eXpbs47V #SurfParkSummit #WSL #CRE #SurfRealEstate #RealEstateDevelopment #WaveTechnology #SurfParks #Surfing
-
John Luff liked thisLet’s go surfing 🏄♂️!John Luff liked thisHay momentos en los que un proyecto deja de imaginarse y toma forma. Así, Gemswell Surf Madrid sigue avanzando y entra en una nueva fase del proceso: los planos ya son espacios reales y estructuras tangibles que nos recuerdan que queda menos para disfrutar de este destino y acercarnos a una nueva forma de vivir el surf en la ciudad. La obra sigue su curso, paso a paso, manteniendo el ritmo y preparando el terreno para todo lo que está por venir. Cada vez más cerca de Gemswell Surf Madrid.
Experience & Education
Licenses & Certifications
-
Find, Create, Operate: The Hotel Project Development Lifecycle
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Volunteer Experience
-
Volunteer
Surfrider Foundation
- Present 24 years 6 months
Environment
Dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the worlds oceans, waves, and beaches.
-
Volunteer
Conservation Volunteers Australia
- 4 months
Environment
Australia's leading practical conservation organisation managing more than 2,000 conservation projects across Australia each year.
Publications
-
Surf Parks & Man-Made Waves
Playground and Attractions Magazine
See publicationA future full of surf parks and man-made waves is nearly upon us. With several new venues having opened over the past two years and many more coming online in the near future; it’s now, more so than ever, becoming a relevant topic in today’s destination development conversations. See PDF of article at top of profile.
-
Surf Park Central
www.SurfParkCentral.com
See publicationThe Ultimate Resource for Surf Park, Wave Pool, and Artificial Wave Technology News. It's going to be epic when we can all get shacked 24/7
Organizations
-
Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code (CMAHC)
Co-Chair of the CMAHC Surf Venue Ad Hoc Committee
- PresentObjectives of the CMAHC Surf Venue Ad Hoc Committee: 1) Review and evaluate current Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) requirements and definitions to determine if Surf Venues and corresponding design requirements are adequately addressed. 2) Develop revisions to the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) design, operations and safety standards / best practice recommendations and corresponding Annex content to address identified changes needed to Surf Venue design and safety / operational criteria…
Objectives of the CMAHC Surf Venue Ad Hoc Committee: 1) Review and evaluate current Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) requirements and definitions to determine if Surf Venues and corresponding design requirements are adequately addressed. 2) Develop revisions to the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) design, operations and safety standards / best practice recommendations and corresponding Annex content to address identified changes needed to Surf Venue design and safety / operational criteria, as appropriate.
-
LAHQ - Los Angeles Headquarters
-
-Since 1961, LAHQ has provided its members the connections to knowledge, colleagues, and problem solving solutions that sophisticated professionals have needed for success throughout Los Angeles. LAHQ is comprised of over 450 members representing 150 companies. Become part of the community that shapes the future of Southern California's economy.
-
NAIOP
Developing Leaders
- -
Toastmasters International
La Jolla, California
Recommendations received
2 people have recommended John
Join now to viewOther similar profiles
Explore more posts
-
Leo McMahon
Why can’t the PGA of America simply do what the Club Managers Association of America already does so well — post every available job and collaborate with all reputable executive search firms in the golf industry? Instead, the PGA created its own in-house search division that competes directly against PGA Members who own or work for those firms. It’s an ethical conflict wrapped in bureaucracy — and it hurts the very professionals the Association was built to serve. If the PGA truly wants to “elevate the profession,” it should start by promoting transparency, fairness, and open access to opportunity.
-
Leo McMahon
Less than a month away from the PGA Annual Meeting—and still no registration details, no published agenda, and no transparency. I’ve been around long enough to say: I’ve never seen it this delayed, or this vague. On a call today among PGA of America Golf Professionals and Merchandise Buyers, the same frustrations came up about the PGA Show—PGA members are left in the dark, details aren’t finalized, and costs are climbing. Elevated travel, room, and registration expenses are falling squarely on the shoulders of PGA members who simply want to participate. This is not just poor planning. It’s evidence of a deeper problem: Headquarters and hierarchy are out of touch. Members are consistently left to suffer. Leadership accountability is absent. At some point, responsibility has to be taken at the top. Don Rea and Derek Sprague must step aside. The current system is failing PGA Members, and until there is leadership willing to prioritize members over bureaucracy and pet projects, nothing will change. Resignation isn’t a punishment—it’s the first step toward a healthier, member-first future.
Explore top content on LinkedIn
Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place.
View top content