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7 planned wave pool mockups that excited, lured or disappointed

Written by Bryan Dickerson

Wave pool images fuel our froth.

Everyone gets excited about a planned wave pool. There’s just something about developer mockups that fire our imagination and stoke.

But finding good ones is hard work. We’ve all emerged after a healthy dose of web browsing for the latest wave pool images and news (or maybe it’s just us?) only to note that our morning coffee is cold and it’s time for lunch. Screen time flies.

To help you through your day (and keep your productivity up) we’ve collected our favourite planned wave pool renderings so you don’t have to comb the web. Some of these designs materialised into the wave pools we know and love today, some are definitely on their way, and others never broke ground.

 

planned webber wave pool statium

Webber Wave Pools

One of the most stoked wave creators on the planet, when you hear Greg Webber talk about his wave-generating technology you know he’s also itching to surf it. There’s a clip of him surfing behind a boat on a river and he’s having a blast. Webber’s planned wave pool designs have been offered up in c-shapes, ovals and circles. Which one will the public see when his first project goes public? We’re not sure, but in the meantime he’s clearly best in show for artist renderings.

 

 

wave pool design for queensland location

Tunnel Vision Wave Pools

The only press we could find on this project was a report in the Gold Coast Bulletin that claimed the $10-$30 million project would revitalize Queensland’s “troubled city of Logan.” Along with the first public unveiling of Greg Webber’s wave technology, the article says the 18-hectare site will host a surf gym, indoor skate ramp, surfboard shaper and day spa.

Run by a core group of surfers, the site warns “contact us below and we will be in touch. Please note that if the surf is good we may take a little longer to respond. Please note that the surf is always good at Tunnel Vision Wave Park.”

We reached out for this story but haven’t heard back – guess the surf has been pumping. We will update details on this park as they develop.

 

 

Upcoming wave pool in Bristol

The Wave Bristol

You might remember Bristol as the bright-eyed and optimistic location for the world’s first surf-specific wave pool back in 2014. Unfortunately, The Wave project was hit with delays including a change in wave-generation technology as well as local permitting issues.

The Wave’s Founder, Nick Hounsfield, has invested the past six years of his life advancing the project with blood, sweat and tears and now the world is ready to see the Wavegarden Cove powered wave pool come to life in Bristol. The diggers are busy and the crew pushing around dirt to bring the facility to life. Will it be as big as the artist’s rendering?

 

 

 

planned wave pool by Surf Lakes

Surf Lakes

The project that recruited world champs Barton Lynch and Mark Occhilupo as brand ambassadors, has debuted near Yeppoon in Queensland. The most exciting thing about the artwork coming from Surf Lakes is that the pool design, as the world has since seen, is totally different. Instead of a hull or foil moving along a track (Kelly’s and Wavegarden) or a series of pressurized blasts (Murphy’s Waves and American Wave Machines), the hub at the centre of their pool pushes out waves in 360 degrees. It will be the first “stone in a pond” wave pool design. The artwork displayed above is one of the first concepts that included waterslides. But more recent updates to the artwork show 5 Waves Surf Lakes tech will be the central attraction.

 

 

 

planned fun surf town design

Fun Surf Town – Varberg, Sweden

In 2014 this was the upper echelon of wave pool artists renderings. A 300-meter pool using Wavegarden Lagoon technology in a small coastal town. With so much airbrush filter applied to the planned wave pool design, it looks a little hokey today four years later. But it worked. Surf in Sweden? Images of incredible waves, sensible furniture and hard-to-pronounce hot drinks danced in our heads while we packed up our board bags and 5mil wetsuits. Alas, the project never materialized. But for a moment we collectively dreamed.

 

 

 

Drawing of BSR Surf Resort

BSR Cable Park

The current wave pool world is buzzing with BSR’s powder blue peaks and skate-style wave formations. Before the park even opened we took in their artwork and wondered what exactly it would look like.

Since prior to the opening of the pool we’d only seen American Wave Machines testing in a small pool, it was hard to wrap our heads around what the experience would be like. A six-inch wave in a pool breaks totally different than a six-foot wave in a pool. Add to that the only prior human-made waves we knew were Kelly’s wave and the Wavegarden technology.

 

 

 

Planned wave pool for Oahu that was never built

Endless Summer resort – Oahu, Hawaii

Another in the long list of shelved wave pool projects, the 2014 surf resort/hotel complex had a great vision. It offered a multitude of water activities and the opportunity to stay in water-front Bora Bora style bungalows. The plan called for a 400 unit resort using American Wave Machines’ PerfectSwell technology, and the project pumped out some really sweet artists’ impressions of the coming wave pool. Why it was scrapped we’ll probably never know, but the art alerted the world to the creative genius of American Wave Machines.

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