Native Son: Byron Sewell’s Lifelong Ride on Hilton Head’s Waves

There’s a good reason why Byron Sewell is known around Hilton Head Island as “Surf Dog.” The nickname, like the man himself, is woven into the island’s saltwater tapestry — as familiar as the tides, the sand dunes and the morning light on a glassy swell.

For more than two decades, Sewell has introduced thousands of kids and adults to the joy of surfing through his business, Native Son Adventures, headquartered at Palmetto Dunes Resort.

But that only scratches the surface of the life he’s lived — and the lives he’s touched.

Today, at 50, Sewell is sun-burnished and salt-souled, still teaching kids to stand up on a board and still carving his own path through the waves — even if that path currently includes an oyster shell lodged in his Achilles.

“It’s been the worst experience ever,” he says with a laugh, recounting the moment it happened while anchoring a boat. “And I tell everyone not to mess with the oysters. Of course, I’m the one who kicks one, and it breaks off in my foot.”

That’s Sewell — equal parts laid-back waterman, rugged adventurer, patient teacher and philosophical guide. In many ways, his story mirrors Hilton Head’s evolution. He was born in Savannah and raised on North Forest Beach, part of one of the island’s original families, long before the rows of rental homes and resort amenities.

His dad was a champion surfer and beach patrol officer; his mom ran an enrichment camp that mixed art, ocean and exploration. “They were salt of the earth people,” Sewell says. “They never met a stranger. Our school was called Kindred Spirits — and it truly was.”

A Childhood Built on Water and Wonder

Sewell’s earliest memories are stitched together by the shoreline — driving the beach in his dad’s truck, building treehouses near the dunes and paddling alongside dolphin pods. “I had a golden retriever, a treehouse on the beach and the ocean out my front door,” he says. “It was the dream life.”

He grew up fishing the lagoons before Hilton Head Outfitters existed, back when a few old-timers ran a shack with 20 bikes, a few canoes and a cigar haze around the door. “It was a different setup,” he remembers. “That’s where I started.”

Initially, Sewell chased professional surfing — until competition robbed the sport of its soul. “I realized I wasn’t having fun anymore,” he says. So, he shifted course. With the help of family friends like Nanci Polk-Weckhorst — Hilton Head’s original “turtle lady” who patrolled the beach on horseback — Sewell traveled to Costa Rica and fell in love with what he calls “the secret beach life.” For years, he split time between the Lowcountry and the wild Pacific coast, living on fruit, fishing and waves.

He’s since surfed in Hawaii, Mexico, Fiji and the South Pacific. He’s worked on adventure boats, led charters in Turks and Caicos and pioneered hydro-foiling on the East Coast, chasing tanker wakes miles up the Savannah ship channel. “You’ve got to get creative around here if you’re serious about surfing,” he says.

But Hilton Head always pulled him back — and in 2000, he launched the surf school that would become a generational touchstone for so many, with its homebase at Hilton Head Outfitters in Palmetto Dunes Resort.

The Soul of Native Son Adventures

Sewell started Native Son Adventures with a folding chair, a wooden sign, and $175 lagoon charters. “I remember when I broke 100 kids in a summer,” he says. “Now we do 500 in a season.”

Even during COVID, his surf school boomed. “We did more lessons than anyone else on the island,” he says. “It was the one thing families could still do — safely, outside, in nature.”

His approach is part surf lesson, part life lesson. Every kid gets a nickname — Pink Pufferfish, Shark Boy, Squid — to help build camaraderie and keep it fun. “We hoot. We holler. We cheer each other on. We let it out,” he says. “When do you get to do that in life?”

Sewell teaches safety, too. How to read the water. How to talk to lifeguards. How to know your limits. “It’s real out there,” he says. “The ocean doesn’t care who you are. You have to respect it.”

His classes attract everyone — city kids, special needs students, hesitant adults. He once taught an 80-year-old woman who rode every wave on her belly. “It’s not about standing up,” he says. “It’s about being out there. It’s about the feeling.”

He’s especially proud of his students who’ve gone on to win East Coast titles — kids like J.T. Roberts and Ryan Trenary. But for Sewell, the biggest win is when a kid who didn’t believe in themselves catches that first wave. “You can change a kid’s life when you give them a moment with nature,” he says. “My mom used to say that, and she was right.”

A Community That Raised Him — and Was Raised by Him

Many of Sewell’s current instructors started out as Kindred Spirits campers. Some, like “Captain Will” and “Leilani” Hannah, now run his boats and manage the surf school. Others, like the Crose family kids — Lawton and Patchin — have taught alongside him for years. “They’re like my own,” he says. “I’m ‘Uncle B’ to a lot of people.”

That’s no exaggeration. Families who took surf lessons a decade ago now bring their kids back to meet Surf Dog. “We want our kids to learn from you,” they say. “We want them to feel what we felt.”

And Sewell doesn’t take that lightly. “Surfing is a gift,” he says. “I want people to experience that moment of peace and power. That sense of connection. I want them to remember what it’s like to be in awe.”

The Next Wave: Building the Next Generations of Surfers

Though his body bears the scars of a lifetime in the water — including a recent shoulder surgery and that brutal oyster shell — Sewell isn’t planning to slow down. “I’ll keep going as long as I can,” he says. “I’m still dreaming up what’s next.”

He’s expanding the Native Son brand, adding new experiences at the Shelter Cove Marina and stepping back into the surf school more this year to train new instructors. But he’s still chasing swells in the off-season, still living by the rhythm of the sea. 

No, Sewell doesn’t have kids of his own — but the way he tells it, he’s got hundreds. “I’ve taught so many kids over the years. They come back and say, ‘You changed my life.’ That’s better than money. That’s everything.”

As Hilton Head continues to change, Sewell’s presence is a reminder of what matters: family, nature, fun, respect and the power of letting go. His office may be the ocean, but his work reaches far beyond the shore.

Join in on Hilton Head Island surf lessons with Byron Sewell and his amazing group of instructors at Native Son Adventures. Reserve your surf lesson spot here.