“Find a job you enjoy doing and you’ll never have to work a day in your life,” is a quote often slung around loosely by encouraging parents, teachers and the odd digital nomad or two. For some the reality of the quote is cliché, but for people like Liam Turner it couldn’t be truer. It’s pretty easy to enjoy your job when it means you get to surf a world-class wave, Lance’s Right aka Hollow Trees, regularly because it’s on your doorstep.
The 28-year-old grew up in Cornwall in the UK and is now the live in manager at HTs Resort in the Mentawai’s. Throughout Liam’s youth he chased the professional surfer dream as he competed in a number of Pro Junior and QS events and was backed by Billabong for a number of years. He also began to make a name for himself in the free surfing world with his extensive aerial repertoire. However, after losing his sponsors and the responsibilities of adulthood began to kick in, he was forced to a chase a more regular nine to five job.
“During the summer of 2021 I was living in a tent for a few months, I was working four jobs lifeguarding, doing bar jobs and working as a chef. That following winter me and my partner went to Indo for six months and by the time the trip came to an end, we didn’t want to go home.”
“We’ve both worked in resorts before and we did a short stint surf guiding and teaching yoga in Simuelue before the job at HTs came up and now we’ve both been here two and a half years. Em does the reservations, bookings and is going to be doing the photography and I do a lot of the guest management stuff.”
Liam explained that having his girlfriend work alongside him, allows him to make the most of the waves when they are pumping, something he is ‘extremely grateful’ for. Judging by clips and edits that have dropped this season on social media, I think it’s fair to infer that Liam is one of the most barrelled humans at HTs.
“I don’t always get to surf but I do try to make the most of it when I can. It’s a heavy wave and it’s a lot more random than it looks, it’s not just a mechanical roll in into a crazy double up, some sets swing wide and clean you up and others will run too fast and pinch. It’s the most imperfect perfect wave ever. It takes time to figure it out and I think that’s why I love it because it’s always slightly different and I can never get bored of it. It has so many variations from two to ten foot.”
When quizzed on what qualifies someone to work at a place like HTs (just asking for a mate), Liam said: “It sounds silly but the main thing is just being able to be there and be someone that can be relied upon. I’ve worked as a chef, lifeguard and done other jobs so I know that I can step in and help if things go wrong. You need to be able to problem solve easily and you have to put guests first. However, I’d say it’s an easy environment to thrive in.”
Liam is currently back in the UK for the first time in over two years. He spends 11 months of the year at the resort and during his month off he tends to dip back to Bali were his parents spend most of their year.
When asked to compare his current job to the days he spent trying to make the cut as a professional surfer, he said that he prefers his current lifestyle.
“I’d much rather be getting barreled at six-to-eight foot HTs than trying to grind out heats in one foot waves. When you’re chasing the pro surfer dream the only pressure is what you put on yourself. Whereas now, I’m responsible for a lot more people, but I love my job and we’ve actually just extended to work at least another year at the resort.”
Guests will continue to come and go from HTs Resort throughout the rest of 2024. In the meantime, Liam will continue to find happiness in the life and home he has built for himself in front of, and in the tube at, Lance’s Right.
