Without fail, each week we get an inquiry via Instagram or after our Newsletter send out “What’s happening with the Florida project?” Our answer is always a question “which Florida project do you mean?”

This week we learned that the Fort Pierce wave pool project in Florida is pushing ahead. A new website for Koa Bay shows artist renderings for a new community branded as “built for surfing, good times and good vibes.”

Koa Bay will offer 1,000 residential units as well as a hotel and dining and retail spaces. And one of the largest Wavegarden Cove wave pools in North America. The Fort Pierce project is planning a 56-module Cove that will offer rides of up to 16-seconds.

Koa Bay describes the project as aimed for “Passionate surfers who want to be near the excitement will have an opportunity to join a 1,000-unit residential community while two hotels will provide visitors with a convenient and desirable location from which to explore this burgeoning region.”

The project was given the green light last year when the city rezoned the property on the northwest corner of Interstate 95.

“The site is at an Interstate 95 interchange that was too far south of Fort Pierce and a bit too far north of booming Port St. Lucie to have any development, not even a gas station,” resident Dave Martin told WavePoolMag. “Fort Pierce remains a depressed area, no big new housing projects, unlike Port St. Lucie and Vero Beach. So it’s really a northern Port St. Lucie project, one exit north of a busy shopping and business district.”

Fort Pierce was recently named one of Reader’s Digest’s top 20 most beautiful main streets in America and some site the city as one of South Florida’s last remaining beach towns with affordable homes.

Koa Bay notes the surrounding major developments include an Amazon fulfillment center, Tropicana distribution center and two new mixed-use projects at King’s Landing and Fisherman’s Wharf.

The project was originally a Surfworks, American Surf Parks deal but that changed last year. Devcon Enterprises is the current developer. More on this project as it evolves.

The Lowdown: This new development will feature a massive 56 module Wavegarden Cove in the simultaneously surf-stoked and surf-starved state of Florida. The wave pool will be the center piece of a half billion dollar development designed to bring economic development to Fort Pierce Florida. The only other 56 module Cove at the moment is in South Korea at the massive Turtle Island development.

WavePool Construction Progress: Not yet built.

Wave Generating Technology: Wavegarden Cove Technology.

Type of wave(s): The cove produces everything from gentle knee-high rollers to head-high slabs via their top-secret machinery.

Wave’s Technical Information: Wave height: 2-7 ft, Both left and right breaks on either side of the Cove design. South Korea, also a 56-module design offers length of ride at 15-20 seconds on the Malibu setting.

Hours of operation/Seasonal Hours: Unavailable, but we’ll keep you posted. Will most likely be year-round to accomodate tourists and Florida’s core surfers.

Price Breakdown: None yet.

Waves per hour: 900-1,000 waves per hour possible, but most Cove facilities like Urbnsurf push out between 400-500 waves per hour. 

Buzz intenstifies as Fort Pierce furthers Florida’s latest wave pool dream