Urbnsurf Melbourne opened this week. And Wooly TV is first out of the gates with a YouTube review of the world’s newest wave pool.

In a quick six-minute clip Wooly Macpherson shares s a few takeaways from his sessions at Urbnsurf, from board choice to surviving Beast Mode to paddling.

Paddling

“Don’t paddle casually into the waves,” says Wooly. “Paddle like it’s a bigger wave. It looks like you got this little ripple coming but then it’ll just bottom out on you, especially if you’re close to the wall.”

And that slab setting that lit up the Instagram sphere last month – Beast Mode? How is it for a non-CT level surfer?

Beast Mode

“On beast mode, I got fed a few pretty gnarly wipeouts that I wasn’t expecting in a pool and even hit the bottom a couple times,” said Macpherson. “I came up with a bruised elbow and managed to clip my nose on one and, yeah, that was a bit of fun.”

“It does jump up on you really fast. A couple times I got lit up and I wasn’t expecting it to happen. So if you’re surfing Beast mode stay super low and listen to the guys. Direct yourself out of the tube and don’t just surf it like a normal ocean wave. It’ll throw you and you’ll get lit up.”

Turn 6

Wooly says your standard shortboard is the go on Beast Mode, but for the other settings you can ride a shorter board than normal and kit it out with stiffer, smaller fins. Out of all the settings on tap at Urbnsurf Wooly says the Turn 6 Setting was his favorite.

“The turn 6 setting I just loved that one and managed to do four or five turns on that one on the left and the right.”

Backhand

Wooly also added the waves in this full-size Cove are a bit more difficult on your backhand. “On your backside stay super low and just keep pointing on an angle as you’re coming out of the tube.”

Wooly even throws in a Kelly Slater Surf Ranch comparison.

“Slater’s one seems to be pushing a lot,” said Macpherson. “It doesn’t really feel like you can read what’s going on. I think you need to learn it before you really get a grip on it. But you can sit in the tube for ages!”

You can book Urbnsurf sessions here. Check out Wooly’s channel on YouTube here.