Michael Reinhardt is the owner and co-founder of Locals Surf School in Rockaway Beach. As a life-long Rockaway beach local, Mike has always been around the ocean and has dedicated his life to it. After learning to surf at an early age, Mike always dreamed of using surfing as his vehicle to travel the world in search of amazing waves and developing a career based on his passion for the sport. He now spends the majority of his year sharing this passion with others by teaching them how to surf, getting involved in the development of his community, and chasing waves around the globe during the off-season.
Mike started his business, Locals Surf School, in 2012 and has grown it into a locally famous attraction that draws thousands of people to the Rockaways each year. Locals has built a reputation for providing high quality surf instruction in a fun and friendly environment as well as surf camps for kids that focus on mentoring the youths of the neighborhood and developing their ocean safety skills. In addition to surf lessons, Locals provide skate lessons, vacation rentals in the Rockaways and guided surf adventures to other countries like Nicaragua. Locals has also gained a reputation for hosting some of the best events the peninsula has to offer like their popular surf contests and massive parties at the Rockaway Beach Surf Club.
Through his business, Mike has also been heavily involved in community affairs and has made a strong effort to give back. In conjunction with the Surfrider and Swimstrong organizations, Mike started a program that teaches local underserved youths how to swim and surf with hopes of giving them the tools they need in order to enjoy the sports and activities of a beach community. Mike also regularly hosts beach cleanups and volunteers for other programs that take place in the neighborhood like the Wounded Warriors foundation and Life Rolls on surf events for wounded veterans and disabled surfers.
Aside from his business, Mike spends his time traveling the world in search of waves, skateboarding, swimming, stand up paddling, playing sports, and spending time with his family. After the loss of his mother at a young age and enduring the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, family and community values have become more important than ever to Mike as he makes sure to take care of his several younger siblings and honor the family's heritage of having ties to this neighborhood for over 100 years. In this way, Mike has become a local liaison for all things Rockaway and surfing in NYC and has been featured in many related fashion and editorial campaigns.
As such, Mike is very dedicated to surfing, his entrepreneurial pursuits, and to his hometown of Rockaway Beach. Wherever he might be in the world, one thing is for sure: he is most likely in the water.
Life Rolls On is a program that comes to the Rockaways every summer which gives disabled persons the chance to try surfing. I regularly volunteer my time and my instructors time for this cause.
Mike started his business, Locals Surf School, in 2012 and has grown it into a locally famous attraction that draws thousands of people to the Rockaways each year. Locals has built a reputation for providing high quality surf instruction in a fun and friendly environment as well as surf camps for kids that focus on mentoring the youths of the neighborhood and developing their ocean safety skills. In addition to surf lessons, Locals provide skate lessons, vacation rentals in the Rockaways and guided surf adventures to other countries like Nicaragua. Locals has also gained a reputation for hosting some of the best events the peninsula has to offer like their popular surf contests and massive parties at the Rockaway Beach Surf Club.
Surfrider Foundation helped organize a group of deserving, underserved kids that my company helped mentor and teach how to surf.
Through the Swim Strong program, I helped teach local underprivileged kids how to swim and prepare them for the ocean.
I host and moderate my former high school's newly created surf club.
