If you’re looking to go to the beach in Arizona this summer, your options are pretty limited.
But there is one unique experience in the East Valley that might fit your needs. Cannon Beach, 4503 S. Power Road in Mesa, offers a one-of-a-kind beach and surf experience that provides fun for all ages — without needing an ocean.
No ocean is no problem. Cannon Beach recreates the beach experience with its 2-acre wave lagoon surrounded by sand and palm trees. Visitors can book surf sessions at the Revel Surf wave lagoon or just spend time having fun playing in the fresh water. There’s also a river wave and cliff jumping as well.
“We brought the ocean to Arizona. It’s a 4.5-acre ocean and beach. It has a river wave, which is a standing wave that you can traverse back and forth on. And then we have a full scale 2-acre lagoon that has traditional surfing,” Cannon Beach founder and developer Cole Cannon said. “You full on paddle into the wave like you would in the ocean, stand on your board, ride for about 12 seconds and then you paddle back out and get in the lineup again. You typically book surf sessions by the hour.”
According to Cannon, while families will typically come to Cannon Beach for a surf session, they’ll stick around for the beach and the various local restaurants and activities that Cannon Beach offers. It has 11 tenants and more than 20 new businesses on the horizon.
“A family will come in and they’ll book a surf session for noon, for example. And they’ll show up at 11 a.m. and they’ll stretch and hang out at the beach.” Cannon said. “They’ll go surf at noon, they get out, dry off, the whole family go eat lunch, maybe do some cliff diving when they’re done or hit the skate pump track. Most families stay for about four hours. That’s long enough to get a sunburn, long enough to enjoy some of the amenities we have at Revel Surf, get a bite to eat and then move on to their soccer games or date nights.”
Cannon said the idea for Cannon Beach came from when his family moved to the southeast Valley from Utah in 2016. At the time, Cannon’s six kids were all under the age of 10, and their family had to commute 35 minutes to go out and do anything.
For Cannon, this presented a problem for him and his fellow neighbors who also had kids — how do you make an entertainment hub for the southeast Valley, and one that is fun for all age groups?
“We wanted to create a holistic entertainment atmosphere and ecosystem that people of all skill levels could participate and legitimately have fun in. Too often, entertainment venues for families really cater to one specific age group or another,” Cannon said. “So either the parents are bored out of their gourd, and the kids are stoked, or the older kids are stoked and the little kids are too scared, or the little kids are stoked, and the big kids are bored, or dad is having a great time and mom is rolling her eyes. It’s very hard to find a place that everybody in the family is having a good time, and that was my mission.”
Cannon said demand is high for tenants to come in and put their shops and restaurants in Cannon Beach. They get a new tenant almost every three weeks.
One such tenant is Schlotzsky’s, a national shop that sells sandwiches, salads, pizzas and more. Tim and Eva Wickersheim, the owners of Schlotzsky’s, opened their location at Cannon Beach in May, and believe their business was perfect for a surf-style atmosphere.
“We’ve driven by the property a lot. When the sign went up for Cannon Beach around three years ago, and I thought it was such a cool concept, bringing surfing to the valley. It’s hitting a market that has a lot of demand because we get a lot of California transplants,” Tim Wickersheim said. “Years ago we had thought a bit about opening a sandwich shop but we thought maybe a surf-type shop on the beach would have a lot of interest. We got the Schlotzsky’s franchise and opened up our shop inside of a little miniature surf city. We felt like that was meant to be.”
Something that stood out about Cannon Beach for the Wickersheims was how the resort created the island-type vibes so effortlessly.
“We have been to a lot of resorts in the valley that offer unique stay packages. But when you first walked into Cannon Beach and the Revel Surf there and you hear the crashing of the waves, you see the palm trees, and you even see large jetliners flying over top as if they’re bringing more tourists into an island type place, and it just takes you away,” Tim Wickersheim said. “When you’re walking through the Cannon Beach area and you see surfers waiting for waves, surfers riding waves, and kids building sand castles, it gives you the full effect as if you’re sitting on the beaches of San Diego, even though you’re not actually there. You don’t really find that at other resorts.”
Schlotzsky’s is the only nationally recognized tenant to put their business in Cannon Beach. Cole Cannon said he prioritizes local business and stores to put into Cannon Beach. For Cannon, keeping the amenities local is a big part of Cannon Beach’s DNA.
“I connect really well with the local entrepreneur. Even though this is a big business, a $300 million project, to me it still feels like it’s just me and a handful of my friends who have built this asset. I really love that opportunity to help the small guy expand their business and footprint. I want to help them succeed. That’s just part of my DNA,” Cannon said. “The second part is, if you look at any good community like Newport Beach, La Jolla Shores, Encinitas Beach, Santa Monica Pier. If you walk along the boardwalk of those beaches, you’ll find a very eclectic group of different tenants. It could be random little shops, like the amazing taco shop or hot dog stand. That really creates a unique mix of places that make it a destination. If you went on the boardwalks and saw all the national chains there, most people would be bored and it wouldn’t be the beaches we know and love. So I’m trying to replicate some of those unique beachfront properties that you see in California and in Florida.”
One such tenant is Hooligan’s Coffeehouse, a Mesa-based coffee shop that opened its doors in Cannon Beach last December. Owner Logan Antelman has a surfing background.
Antelman was raised in the Phoenix area but lived in Hawaii for many years, he was dead set on building a surf park in the Valley when he came back to Phoenix, but he couldn’t get the investors to sign on.
When he approached Cole Cannon about putting his business in Cannon Beach, the two connected over their shared love of surfing.
“It was a huge part of me wanting to open a coffee shop there at Cannon Beach. I love surfing and we are heavily addicted to Revel Surf. We’ve been surfing twice a week,” Antelman said. “Our families have monthly passes, so we go over there, have dinner, sit on the beach, and watch the sunset. The beach does the same chemical thing that happens to me at a real beach where everything just slows down a little bit.”
To Antelman, there are a couple things that make Cannon Beach unique from other resorts or surf parks.
“It’s the first of its kind in this area, even in the Wave Park community for surfing,” Antelman said. “It’s unique in that kids can still play in the surf nearest to the beach. You can do that when people are surfing, which is unique to surf parks. And it has cliff jumping, which is really fun. I know my kids love playing on that skate park inside. We just love it.”
Cannon said that more amenities for Cannon Beach are the on the way, including entertainment centers such as theaters and arcades, and also two hotels. Cannon Beach is far from done expanding.
“Currently under construction is a seven-screen movie theater with state-of-the-art seating and backlit LED movie screens as an elevated movie theater experience. We have electric go-karts coming in with a three-level electric go-kart track. It’s very fast and adrenaline pumping.” Cannon said. “We have a great bowling alley, arcade, karaoke concept coming in out of Kansas City called Breakthrough. You can use it for date nights, team building, through multiple challenge rooms where you go and shoot hoops or do laser tag, rock climbing or escape rooms. We’re eventually gonna be building two hotels. We’re hoping to break ground on the first one this year. People might never leave Cannon Beach. They can come stay at the hotel, wander 100 feet outside the front door and get some really great food, and then wander another 100 feet in a different direction to hit a beach, and then wander another 100 feet and hit a movie theater for the night. What more do you need?”
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