STATUS: After years of promotion, unknown
WAVES: One of the few wave pool designs chasing the circular wave pool dream
LOCATION: Southwest France
This system is not a wave pool, but a floating wave atoll deployed in lakes, bays and any calm body of water. Based on a spinning motor that directs waves outward along a spiral reef foundation, waves wrap along the spiral for 30-second rides. Max setting produces waves of 6-feet-high and a pier allows spectators to get close to the action. The system generates one wave every 15 seconds. The design was tested on a scale model in the Aquitaine region of Southwest France at a secret location.
Originally set to open its first location near Futuroscope in 2020, with others to follow shortly at other locations in France, we’ve yet to see an Okahina wave pool. In 2024 the company reached out to French news agencies with a story about the bureaucratic run-around delaying things. Quite a plausible excuse in the labyrinths of French government. To date, several years after their launch, there are no Okahina wave pools in France or elsewhere.
Developers say that once deployed the new aquatic reef anchoring the system will attract sea life including mollusks, fish and anything else that feeds on smaller prey that hangs out on reefs. Although the company insists that while it encourages aquatic diversity, it will also provide a natural barrier to jellyfish and sharks. The wave action has the added bonus of oxygenating stagnant bodies of water.
