Tropical Australia a natural choice for human-made barrels

An Australian architecture firm released designs for a wave pool in Cairns Australia recently. CA Architects says their design will appeal to the large number of tourists who choose Cairns as a resort destination.

Tropical Australia seems a natural choice for a wave pool. Weather averages remain steady between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit and it rains a helluva lot. But there’s heaps of sunshine between downpours, giant fruit bats in the trees and the Great Barrier Reef is just off the coast.

It’s this reef that saps the region of any cyclone or South Pacific swell leaving Cairns surf less. Until now.

“With a tropical climate and no natural surf, Cairns is an ideal location for an artificial Wave Park,” the company said in a statement. “Australia is set to become the latest destination to build commercial, artificial surf parks. Melbourne will be first, followed closely by Sydney and Perth, with a dozen others also on the drawing board.”

The wave pool landscape has yet to solidify a working “go-to” model. In fact, right now, it’s a bit all over the map.

The first generation of chlorinated facilities made fistfuls of cash from the tourist swim set bobbing around in the lineup. Snowdonia has rebranded as an Adventure Parc to keep visitors, and Kelly’s wave pool is reserved for the elite. BSR Surf Resort has locked in a day-in-day-out working model. And currently, the world is holding its breath to see how Urbnsurf’s Melbourne launch goes this month.

“The opportunity to develop and run an international standard, high-end on-land surf park and cabin resort in Cairns, ticks a lot of boxes,” the company concluded.

The biggest thing missing from the announcement is the reveal of which technology will be used. We have to cancel out Wavegarden Cove tech as Urbnsurf owns the licensing for that system throughout Australia. The fastidious media arm of Urbnsurf has mentioned nothing of a project in Cairns. The big thinkers at Surf Lakes have also been mum, but the design looks decidedly un-Surf Lakes like.

The company sketches look like first generation Wavegarden tech, the Lagoon, which has been sidelined for now. But there are other wave systems that would suit this project including American Wave Machines, Webber Wave Pools, Swell MFG and others.

More on this project as it develops.