If we do say so ourselves, Lynæs Surfcenter is an adventure destination. We have gathered all the things we like and built a kind of 'micro-resort' where locals, vacationers and city dwellers can meet, be active, eat and spend the night in nature. We've spiced it all up with our great passion; surfing - and voila, you have Lynæs Surfcenter !
The journey hasn't exactly been 'voila', in fact we've been going for almost 12 years and we're far from finished. If you want to learn a little more about what Lynæs Surfcenter is, we have collected our entire history with a lot of pictures and anecdotes from the years of creating the 'wave out of the city'
Watch the series; The wave out of town
Right from the beginning
We, Jeppe and Johan, moved from Skovlunde to Lynæs back in 2000. Our parents had bought a newly built detached house as a compromise to avoid having to look after both a house and a summer cottage. We were 7 years old at the time, so we didn't have much to say, but our older brother, 14 years old, quickly found his way down to the beach and learned to windsurf - and of course we had to. We spent all our free time down at the beach, and we saw a lot of the harbor in Lynæs, so when the old grocery store (which today houses Lynæs Surfcenter ) came up for sale, our parents decided to quit their jobs and start life as Mr. and Mrs. Grocer.
Grocery store life was a somewhat different reality than we had been used to, and our mother quickly realized that this life was probably not for her. But it was for our father, and he was good at it. In 10 years, he turned a more or less deserted grocery store into a gathering point for the locals and the vacationers. It wasn't just a grocery store, it was a meeting place and a local community, with New Year's Eve parties, art openings and a jazz festival. It was a success story for the area and a very popular place. The success story came to an abrupt end in 2012 when the Danish Parliament passed the 'Closing Act' - which meant that all supermarkets could open as they pleased, and three new large supermarkets quickly came to town. This meant that the small Spar grocery store on Lynæs Havnevej had to turn the key, and here ends the story of over 100 years of grocery history at the Gamle Købmandsgaard in Lynæs.
From deposit bottle room to surf school
Let’s rewind a bit. When there was no wind, we spent our free time in the bottle room, on the floor, or behind the counter. We were a big part of the family business, but we’d much rather be out on the water. After all, we were the grocer’s sons, so we quickly realized there were plenty of people willing to pay for tips and tricks on how to kitesurf. That was the starting point for a small kiteschool, and over time, kitesurfing lessons became more and more of our focus. Then, when the grocery store suddenly stood empty, we were allowed to borrow the old bottle room and set it up as our little makeshift surf shop with Kolbe coffee, cold Snickers, and some old gear on the shelves. Nordsjælland’s Watersports Mecca was the working title back then because, well, that’s what it was. The ambitions were big – everything we had spent our time doing on the beach, and then some – and perhaps a bit too much to handle at the start...
Kitesurfing was definitely our thing, and it was a sport on the rise. But kitesurfing was just the beginning, and we knew we had to get into windsurfing too, because Lynæs was just as perfect for that. The problem was, windsurfing gear was more expensive, and we didn’t have the funds to buy more equipment. However, we knew the people selling gear in Herning, and after many promises and declarations of faith that they would get their money back within three months, we managed to buy five windsurf boards and five sails on extended payment terms before the summer of 2012. History tells us they did indeed get their money back in Herning – and rightfully so, because with that gear, we were ready to kick off Nordsjælland’s Watersports Mecca version 2.0: Lynæs Surfcenter.
For a number of years, alongside our studies, we spent every weekend and day off teaching out on the water at Lynæs Beach. In the winter, we spent every penny we had on surf trips and ordering new gear for the school. Over time, the activities expanded to include youth camps, kayaking was added to the program, and then out of nowhere, SUP (stand-up paddleboarding) became the fastest-growing watersport in history, opening up the beach to a much broader audience – people who weren’t necessarily into the extreme but were drawn more to the tranquility of the sea. And that’s how our school still operates today – a great mix of all the water activities we loved as kids, offered through courses, camps, and rentals.
The gastronomic revelation
When we started the surf school, we promised each other that we would never get into food – it was tough business, with bad working hours, and we had absolutely no experience in it. But as the years went by, it became clear that something was missing from the experience if we were to elevate it from offering a good day on the water to a good day by the water. The first year, our take on lunch in Lynæs was, of course, the signature dish: the toast. It was delicious, hard to mess up, and a great snack after a session on the water. The toast was a hit among surfers, but it never really caught on with the locals. After a winter in Cape Town, we had it – the burger. Tasty, a little easier to mess up, and back in 2018, it was undoubtedly the type of restaurant opening most in Copenhagen. We’ve always worked on the principle that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
After testing every burger joint in the big city, we were ready with our very own Lynæs burger for Midsummer Eve in 2019. We had Hancock draft beer on the new taps, and we had bought a massive grill so we could flip Lynæs burgers for everyone who came down to watch the bonfire – and there were a lot of people there that evening. We ran out of everything, the grill caught fire, and there was a wait of over two hours before the last guests got their food. The execution of that Midsummer was certainly not something we were proud of, and hunger rarely breeds tolerance for the youthful overconfidence we had. It took us a few days to get over that night, but once we brushed off the defeat, it became clear that there was a market for a good burger in Lynæs. Fortunately, the rest of the summer went much better, and despite a bit of a rough start, we still had strong support for our concept. It turned out to be a summer with plenty of new guests who weren’t necessarily there for the water, but simply to hang out with us – and that was awesome!
The grill turned into a food truck, and the food truck became a full industrial kitchen inside the old general store. The Kolbe coffee turned into a second-hand espresso machine from Ricco’s Kaffebar, and we got our dad on board as “Bolle Thomas” – the one with the great sourdough buns at Lynæs Harbour. That’s actually how the beach bar began, and that’s exactly how we want it to be today – simple, high-quality food, top-tier surf vibes, and of course, you're welcome to sit and enjoy a coffee in your sandy wetsuit with your dog along.
Cabingate
The next natural step for the business was to be able to go from a good day by the water to a good weekend by the water - but that required a place to stay overnight and there was, and still isn't, much of that in Lynæs. Alongside Lynæs Surfcenter we had taken over a business that rented out mobile saunas, because saunas were a good complement to surfing because the primary activity was in the winter months. We weren't sure if there was a market for accommodation in Lynæs, but we knew we could rent out saunas in the winter. Therefore, we had a mobile cabin built that could be set up as a sauna in the winter months in just a few hours, so there wasn't much risk in buying three cabins and testing the demand - which we did.
We got the cabins home in the spring of 2021, we got part of our parents' backyard involved and wupti, there were three Instagramable "surf hacks" overlooking Lynæs Strand - and they went like hotcakes as soon as we posted the first picture from them. In hindsight, we were perhaps a little too quick on the trigger, we had certainly forgotten to ask the municipality for permission to put up the huts - and of course you have to, but it was our own land, we thought... It also did not go unnoticed when the first neighbor complaints started dumping in, and the setup of the huts started an avalanche of letters, not just for and against the huts, but for and against Lynæs Surfcenter .
42 letters to the editor, countless articles and a feature in Lorry. The cabins were of course part of the debate, but the debate was more about the noise, lack of parking during the summer months and the wear and tear on nature that some felt we were responsible for. It wasn't much fun to be at the center of such a debate, especially when you've done everything in your heart for the area. In retrospect, we were definitely not good enough at listening to our surroundings in the early years, and the debate about a vibrant Lynæs or not was bound to happen at some point. We were 100% not good enough at involving our surroundings in what we wanted to do with the place in the first few years and even though it was hard, we have learned a lot from it.
'The Cabingate', as it was called, culminated after a few months of heated debate with us having to crawl out of the cave and give our version of the story in a longer post. There were over 2700 likes, 1200 shares and 500 long comments about what Lynæs Surfcenter means for the area. It warmed a lot in the time that followed, because until then it had been the negative letters to the editor that had dominated, and for us it meant that we regained the belief that we had actually created something valuable for the area. The reactions to that post loosened the political atmosphere somewhat, and after a long period of mediation, we managed to gather all our neighbors in an outdoor circle under the corona, where after two hours of non-stop adult scolding for all the parties we had held over the years, we agreed that there could probably be room for everyone if we talk about things over the hedge instead of over letters to the editor.
We don't tell this part of the story because we're proud of the handling, quite the opposite. But it's one of the most important lessons we've learned on the journey with Lynæs Surfcenter and it stands as an eternal reminder that we live in a coexistence between a local environment and our own ambitions for the place. The story ends with us getting permission to set up the cabins in the middle of summer 2021 and today we have five surfshacks and six glamping tents that each year house a few thousand guests who get the 'full experience' in Lynæs.
Claus Meyer is coming to Lynæs
We wanted to create a year-round destination, not only because we wanted to be a place for the locals throughout the entire year but also because, by that point, we had built up a team of excellent employees who needed year-round employment to stay with us. After the introduction of burgers into our menu, it became clear that this would be the gastronomic direction to sustain us through the winter, when the water was too cold to play in. For a couple of years, we attempted to convert what is now the reception area— which had also served as a co-working space—into a restaurant. We named it "Vinterhi" (Winter Den), as that was precisely what it was. It worked well, but it was tough. The level of the kitchen was significantly higher than what we had been accustomed to, and it was likely more luck than skill that allowed us to make it through the first winter – but make it through, we did.
The premises where we spent the winter were not ideally suited for a restaurant, but many were pleased that there was a place at Lynæs Harbour where one could enjoy a good glass of wine and dine with knife and fork. One day in December, while walking along the harbour, we passed the old Skipperstue, which had reportedly been for sale for two years at that point. We had never seriously considered purchasing it since it had been listed, as the life of a restaurateur had not been our aspiration. Nevertheless, we decided to schedule a viewing the following day, as it seemed like an intriguing project, and given the length of time it had been on the market, the price was likely negotiable. After a few viewings and a week of careful consideration, it became clear that we had to acquire it. We took over Skipperstuen on March 1, 2022, and immediately began the renovation of the '80s time capsule into a modern restaurant.
We had not yet developed a concept when we took over Skipperstuen, but we wanted to create a ‘Madbar’ – an informal restaurant, as there was a clear need for such a place in the area, and it seemed to align with our kitchen expertise. The renovation of the Madbar was a significant task, and although we enlisted the help of friends and family, it became evident that it would likely be mid-June before we would be ready to welcome guests. At the same time, the renovation was delayed, and it became increasingly clear that, in the aftermath of the pandemic, it was extremely difficult to find service staff. So difficult, in fact, that we had to abandon our plan to open our own Madbar in the first year. Nevertheless, we were determined that something needed to happen at the Madbar, even if we weren’t ready ourselves. We considered many different solutions, and after a series of 'No, thank you,' 'What on earth is Lynæs?' and 'Is that in Tisvilde?' from every trendy restaurateur in Copenhagen, our hopes for a summer with guests on the terrace slowly diminished.
One spring day in May, we received a return phone call from what was likely the biggest long shot we had taken: a guess that Claus Meyer’s email might possibly be either cm or claus@meyers.dk. On the other end of the line was the CEO of all Meyers restaurants, who wanted to learn more about our project. Two days later, three cars drove into the parking lot, and we reached an agreement for a six-week summer pop-up with the 'fine dining' restaurant Fasangården from Frederiksberg Have. They planned to close their restaurant for the summer and open a Greek taverna in our Madbar. Fearing it might be too good to be true, we didn’t dare tell anyone until the cancellation period for the contract had passed, as it was a huge opportunity for us that one of Copenhagen’s most ambitious restaurants would be opening in our space.
The pop-up was a huge success for us and perhaps the best possible way to clearly signal a shift away from Wiener schnitzel.and roast pork ad libitum. When Fasangården closed its doors, we were left with some big shoes to fill, and we needed to come up with a food concept that could survive the winter, when there are very few guests in the area and limited gastronomic expertise to rely on. After much deliberation, we teamed up with a local pizza expert who could teach us how to make high-quality pizzas, and in the autumn of 2022, we developed a Nordic/Italian dining concept that we could find staff to run and that the locals could enjoy all week long throughout the winter. In fact, this is the concept we operate today, and we have succeeded in creating a Madbar that serves as a meeting point for the locals in Lynæs year-round, which is exactly what our Madbar is meant to be.
Catching the wave out of the city
We have been working with Lynæs Surfcenter for nearly 12 years – and we’re not done yet, and we never will be. The projects we have initiated have been diverse, but what all of them have in common is that they have always been based in Lynæs – and that will continue to be the case. We have no intention of replicating this concept elsewhere, even though we’ve been asked many times. However, we do want to inspire others in terms of what can be done to breathe life into Denmark’s coastal regions – just as much as we want to share our experiences of what one should ideally avoid. We are passionate about creating experiences and communities, and for us, it’s all about creating movements. We are still surfers at heart, and although we currently spend most of our time playing restaurateurs, our vision is crystal clear; we want to create the wave out of the city – for us, the wave heads towards Lynæs, but if we can send some of those movements out to the small towns along the Danish coastline, then we will have truly succeeded.
Jeppe and Johan
