March 2, 2022  |  News

Is it worth it? The risks and rewards of wave pool investment

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Here's what to expect if you are considering investing in a wave pool. We spell out the risks, rewards and explore whether there's such a thing as a "sure bet." What does it take for a wave pool to get up and running? Dreams and daring help, sure. But mostly it's money. Lots of it. This means major investors with

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February 28, 2022  |  News

Employee of the Month: Giovanni Piro of Alaia Bay

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Giovanni Piro is a tall affable man with an air of seriousness that is totally out of place at a wave pool. It isn’t until I watch him work, traversing the grounds at Alaia Bay and ping-ponging between employees delivering instructions that I realize it's the job that requires seriousness. I mean, on one hand, it’s just surfing. Fun, wet,

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February 25, 2022  |  News

Ocean experts, Bondi Rescue star to descend upon Urbnsurf

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In what is likely to be the world’s first national lifeguard conference to be held at a wave park, the Australian Professional Ocean Lifeguard Association (APOLA) has advised that its 25th annual Conference will be held at Urbnsurf Melbourne Australia.Set to welcome leading ocean safety experts from around Australia on the 5th and 6th of May 2022, among those presenting

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February 25, 2022  |  News

Firewire launches Artificial Wave Technology boardbuild, partners with Awayco

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Surfboards are beautiful. We’ve all lusted after and coveted a model from time to time. For many of us, chasing the perfect board is as obsession-ridden as chasing perfect waves. But finding a craft which is as fine-tuned as it is ding-resilient, well, that’s a tough nut to crack - terrible pun wholly intended.  Wave pools are tougher on surfboards

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February 25, 2022  |  News

The Wave Pool Whisperers – What professional surf coaches really think of wave pools

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In sports coaching it’s not too difficult to get close to an athlete/participant, watch and record their moves and interrupt them for tips and advice. Football, tennis, golf, swimming, baseball, easy done. And then there’s surfing.Unless a surfer is listening to a coach through a waterproof headset (as Ken Bradshaw and 7x world surf champ Layne Beachley did for a

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February 17, 2022  |  News

Celebrating the latest round of wave pool project superstars

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Our Surf Planner is Dead Wrong. Sorry. We have created the most comprehensive wave pool map on the planet with more than 100 projects listed. But it’s not accurate. Some listings are a decade old and spawned by nothing more than a $100 spend on renderings from a Fiverr art student then paired with empty investment return promises. It’s a

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February 17, 2022  |  News

Sound Off: Pro and Con for the Coral Mountain project

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Before people took to making inflammatory statements in ALL CAPS on Twitter, there was the tradition of the letters to the editor where subscribers could submit their thoughts on any given subject. While 10% of the letters often came from Flat Earth enthusiasts and alien abductees, the other 90% were most often concerns about community projects (put a stop sign

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February 16, 2022  |  News

Darwin eyes Surf Lakes wave pool at harbor front

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Surf Lakes is hoping that Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory will approve and fund the latest in a string of wave pool proposals for the Gold Coast company. Darwin’s waterfront is the central attraction for tourists wanting to explore the famous town of 150,000 residents. The land was tagged and plans were underway for a luxury hotel complex, but developers

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February 11, 2022  |  News

Wave tech company announces Canary Islands surf park plans

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South American company Olas Surfing Technologies and Spain’s Radical Surf Wave group announced this week they’ve launched plans for Technological Wave Park in the Canary Islands. Olas Surfing Technologies (OST) of Ecuador is working together with Radical Surf Wave (RSW), a group of Spanish entrepreneurs led by Miguel Gomá, former director of Radical Surf Magazine. The concept is to create

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February 1, 2022  |  News

The often complicated, terribly fascinating answer to the question, “who built Typhoon Lagoon”

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When Typhoon Lagoon opened it became one of the Surfing Wonders of the World. Despite its performance shortcomings when compared to today's marvels like Kelly's, at the time it made us stop and pontificate "what if it was shallower right over there" or "what if we set the dial to 11?" In short, this Orlando wave tank fired our collective

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February 1, 2022  |  News

Destination Earth: WPM exclusive on new wave-making system from Belgium

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Construction on a new R&D test facility is nearing completion and the company expects to pump out its first full-size waves this Spring. Once proven, the same company will probably construct a surf park for the public a few miles down the road near the beach at Knokke-Heist. The tech uses a system of submerged textile that moves to push

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January 29, 2022  |  News

DSRT Surf gets the official go-ahead, construction to start soon

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DSRT Surf has received final approval from the City of Palm Desert, in the Coachella Valley. Construction is planned to commence this summer, with an opening date by the end of 2023. Says Doug Sheres, founding partner at Beach Street Development and Desert Wave Ventures, “There were three Palm Desert City groups which needed to approve this project - first

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January 29, 2022  |  News

Former quarry now closer to being British Columbia’s first wave pool

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Canada’s first west coast wave pool project has passed its initial reading at a Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) board meeting. While this is only the first hurdle, it’s a vital step towards the realization of a pool and associated residential development.The site is an ocean-front disused quarry in South Britannia Beach, 45 minutes north of Vancouver, near the halfway point

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January 28, 2022  |  News

Melbourne boardriding club charts new territory in the wave pool world

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One of the great things with wave pools popping up all over the world is, as a journalist, being able to connect with many people from various walks of life who share a common passion/obsession. And then you meet folks who’re outgoing and to put it mildly, more enthusiastic than Tony Robbins on uppers. What tall Tony is to life-affirmation,

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January 28, 2022  |  News

Urbnsurf and SurfAid form official partnership

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Australia’s first surf park, Urbnsurf announced an exclusive partnership with surf non-profit SurfAid. The relationship allows Urbnsurf to support SurfAid’s mission to improve the health, wellbeing, and resilience of people in remote surf communities. To kick-off the collaboration, Urbnsurf will host the inaugural SurfAid Cup on March 25th of this year. Teams of six surfers will have the opportunity to

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January 24, 2022  |  News

Watching Olympian Kolohe Andino bodyboard Waco makes us smile

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It's difficult to pin what exactly qualifies as a surf film circa 2022. Mediums (remember video cassettes?) and running times have changed heaps. A 90-minute "exploration of slow-motion water dancing" worked in the smoke-filled cinemas of the seventies but today it would be considered a form of punishment to make a grom watch it on their iPhone. In Unit 38

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January 22, 2022  |  News

Florida space race is on as Fort Pierce gets city approval

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The Fort Pierce wave pool project inched closer to breaking ground as the City Commission unanimously approved the first phase, the wave pool. Willow Lakes Resort Village and Community development will build a Wavegarden Cove as its central hub. On the periphery will be a hotel, retail space, office space and 800 residential homes. Cost for the project is estimated

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January 19, 2022  |  News

Aventuur expands, signs on industry vet for key role

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Aventuur, the global surf park developer with projects in Perth, Queensland, Northern NSW, New Zealand, Singapore and Fiji announced the addition of Rupert Partridge as Chief Revenue Officer. The company’s announcement signals just how fast the surf park landscape is expanding. Partridge comes to Aventuur after five years at Urbnsurf Group where he wore many hats, leading that company’s commercial,

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January 18, 2022  |  News

Surf Lakes clears hurdle in race to be Australia’s next public wave pool

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Livingstone Shire council has pushed everyone's favorite steam punk pool a step closer to opening up for the public. The local council approved the plunger's plan and initiation of Stage 1 which includes accommodations and a renewable energy facility. Other amenities on the list include a tourist park, cabins, camping and a skate park. “The Surf Lakes project has continually

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January 17, 2022  |  News

The Wave and Wavegarden sign UK & Ireland deal

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The Wave announced an exclusive partnership agreement with Wavegarden to deliver six (possibly more) developments across the UK and Ireland. The surf park first opened in Bristol in 2019 and is currently working on a second site in London while also exploring the other potential sites. The six sites represent an investment of more than £200million ($275million US). The Wave says

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January 12, 2022  |  News

Florida enters race to build a Surf Lakes wave pool

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A new proposal was announced this week for a Tampa Bay surf tank. Peak Surf Park would cover 30 acres and include a wave pool along with a handful of other amenities like a cafe, restaurant, and shops. The company website says they will also include skate, bike and climbing facilities as well as lessons, coaching and competitions. Surf Lakes

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January 7, 2022  |  News

How Alaia Bay made their smaller footprint work

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Alaia Bay is a game changer. Yes it’s a wave pool in the middle of the Swiss Alps but it's also unique because it refined the concept of a successful smaller footprint surf tank. Typically for a surf park to stay profitable, it needs to get as many butts into the pool as possible. Simply put, the more paying customers

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January 5, 2022  |  News

Surfing gets a new kind of kick with door & coffin-shaped boards

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Our favorite on-again-off-again Instagram chat of late has been with an entity known as Perfect Designs. We’re not really sure what it is they do beyond their band Bad Pelican’s sleeper hit “Too Cool For The Wave Pool” but we totally dig that they are floating something new and creative and have chosen to tether it to surfing - however

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January 5, 2022  |  News

From Bets to Barrels: Sardinian city’s race track joins Italian pool project list

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Will Sardinia be home to Italy’s first wave pool? And more precisely will the capital of Cagliari transform itself from a cruise ship step off to a surf tourism hot spot? In recent weeks the island’s warm climate and old-world charm became the backdrop for another wave pool proposal. Italy’s last surf park hope was way to the north in

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January 5, 2022  |  News

Need help building your wave pool? We spoke to 3 experts in the field

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We pull back the curtain to discover what it is exactly that wave pool consultants do. With surf parks being such a new space the title for this job rol e has yet to be set in cement. We've seen such perfunctory gems as "planner," "manager," "advisor" and "administrator" - all of which are quite acurate. For now, we’ll call

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