Bristol native Adam Warmington runs an Emmy Award winning production company out of San Francisco, California. He vaguely remembers the area around The Wave in Easter Compton, having only ventured there as a kid to play the odd cricket match. In July he returned home to see family, reconnect with old friends and take his kids to the The Wave. Adam contacted us, fresh with the realization there’s surf in his old hometown and sent a fresh set of images from the trip along with the news that his 11-year-old son had gotten barreled.

What’s it like coming home and finding a wave pool ?

I started surfing in 1993 and if 15 year old me could have imagined a wave pool on a farm in my home town of Bristol, it would have been like flying into outer space. But it’s great now. We visit from California, get to come home, visit my parents and old school friends, and go surf almost every day for $60 a pop – which is incredible. It’s such a rad little scene. The entry sign is lost in the bushes in the middle of nowhere. I can be on the street that I grew up on, drive 20 minutes and be getting barreled in a field.

What’s your take on wave pools?

There’s the ability to democratize surfing in some ways because it’s always been a coastal privilege for people with access to the beach and ample leisure time. (Granted, there’s a bit of a counterbalance happening right now in places like Brazil). Wave pools aren’t free, but still, will just grant more access to more people ultimately. I hope programs emerge that subsidize entry for folks, especially kids who can’t afford it.

And you brought your son to surf with you.

Watching Dylan progress day after day was remarkable. He’s 11 and has been surfing for 4 or 5 years. Watching him during the first intermediate sessions was amazing as he just kind of found his feet, worked on his top turn – bottom turn stuff. Then moved up to the advanced setting, started turning it more on rail and lastly started looking for little cover ups. He got his first proper barrel and is obsessed. The thing about wave pools in general is the repeatability and the predictability. It’s like having the top section of Rincon to yourself, no battling locals, no backwash from something weird… over…and over again. Dylan is actually in a local surf competition this weekend and I honestly think his handful of sessions at The Wave progressed him months forward. So it’ll be cool to see how he puts all of that to work in the ocean.  

Dylan, what did you think of the experience?

On the intermediate setting It’s just like perfect, perfect peeling, almost like a point. And you can just pretty much just predict what it will do. It was almost like a faster version of Dylan’s local spot. You can’t really get barreled on the intermediate because it’s not very big, but it’s good for turns. The advanced wave is my favorite. It’s just really fun.

What was the difference between the intermediate and the advanced?

Dylan: Advanced was probably a foot bigger. And just a bit more of everything. Like a bit faster, a bit heavier. I think it’s better for turns than the intermediate. You can get barreled on it if you’re small enough.

Adam (to Dylan): I could see that as soon as you realized it could barrel, you were stalling out and cutting back and then trying to stall on every wave. Were you just HUNTING in the tube? 

Dylan: Yeah.

Adam: So is it kind of surreal? Like you go back and visit Grandma and Pops in England, and then almost every day, we drive to this cow pasture. Does it feel crazy to you or not?

Dylan: Yeah. It does. It’s crazy.

Dylan, give us your impression of the settings

There’s the advanced plus which is probably six inches bigger than the normal advanced and a bit heavier. They have expert turns which doesn’t barrel as much as the expert barrel. There is a little barrel section on the inside of expert turns and it looks pretty fun. Expert barrels is probably the best. It’s pretty heavy like a mini slab. Almost like a chip-in and take off. You take off on a really crumbly whitewash. And then you can do a small cutback and then you stall and it walls up and barrels. And below the advanced setting there’s intermediate and the Waikiki wave and beginner. Beginner wave is what you’d want to do if you’ve never surfed before or have had a go only once or twice. Waikiki is good for practicing getting to your feet and going down the line. Intermediate is good for learning how to do turns. 

Adam: Do you think you’ll do expert barrels next time you go?

Dylan: Yeah for sure!

Adam Warmington received a fellowship at the royal photographic society (FRPS) and has published images in n LFI, Nat Geo, Surfers Journal. You can follow his Instagram account here.