SurfPoel indoor wave pool will offer 3-to-4-foot rights and lefts in The Hague, Netherlands

Europe’s first indoor wave pool designed for surfing is on track to open early next year. The new wave pool in the Netherlands follows a “hull” wave generating design similar to Wavegarden’s Lagoon tech and the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch. The new facility will pump out 149 waves per hour.

The Dutch wave pool project dubbed SurfPoel can produce surf in the 3-to-4-foot range with length of ride averaging around nine seconds. By comparison, the lefts and rights at the BSR Surf Resort are 8-10 seconds.

The hull design, dreamed of and implemented by Australian Steven Schmied over the past 10 years, can be adjusted to produce waves for varying skill levels.

The indoor wave pool is currently under construction in The Hague, just a stone’s throw from the Dutch surfing capital of Scheveningen.

The orange “boat” is the hull which generates the waves at the Surf Poel, Netherlands

Why Indoors?

In a country blasted by the full winter fury of the North Sea, a raised platform indoor surf pool will offer protection from the elements. North Sea water temps can be as low as 5 degrees celsius (40 fahrenheit) in February.

“We are still calculating the possibilities regarding heating the pool,” said Jeroen den Otter managing director at 24/7Waves. “We aim for water temp of around 12-15 degrees celcius (55-60 fahrenheit).”

The pool itself will be 72m long (230 feet) and 18m (60 feet) in width with a max depth of 2,5m (8 feet). The building housing the pool is a massive 2400 square meters (7,800 square feet) and will use shipping containers and a timber beach in construction. As a result, developers boast that this pool is the only one that requires no digging and is fully transportable.

“When searching for a suitable location for the SurfPoel,” continued den Otter, “there were a number of requirements on the list: sufficient surface area, the area around The Hague, good accessibility for both public transport and cars and a dynamic, entrepreneurial environment. All these elements came together in the former Reparco hall at the Saturnusstraat on the Binckhorst in The Hague.”

The surf at nearby Scheveningen: Image by Osvaldo Gago

Wave Pools as urban renewal

Much like the Wavegarden Cove planned for the Paris suburbs, the Binckhorst Pool is part of an area renovation project. The wave pool will sit next to the popular Kompaan beer brewery and the art hot spot Pollux Studios.”
The location and development came about in a collaboration with local real estate group BPD.

“The SurfPoel perfectly fits with our ambition to transform this former industrial park to an attractive area for new and diverse target groups,” said Rosalie de Boer, development manager at BPD.

24/7Waves is still running a crowd funding campaign where supporters can purchase surf hours.