Ribbon cutting ceremony kicks off Edgewater Florida pool project
A month after Hurricane Ian tore across Florida, US, the sun shined on the Edgewater project in Florida. Last week, developers, surfers, and the mayor gathered to commence the development of PerfectSwell Edgewater.
The surf will be powered by American Wave Machines’ PerfectSwell tech. The project got off the ground through the work of the company’s Senior Vice President Mike Lopez.
“I happened to be at Eric’s [Geiselman] house and looked at his monitor, and he said, ‘Check this out … that’s a man-made wave,’” said Lopez. “And it started from there. Are we going to replace Mother Nature and what she provides as far as a wave? Never. But I have to tell you, this is so close.”
Lopez said the pool will be capable of delivering anywhere from 6 to 8 waves in four-second intervals, and described them as “clean like you never seen.”
“This is going to be not only for the top-notch surfers, this is going to be for the three-year-old, the 90-year-old and guys like me who have to learn how to balance on a one-foot reform wave.”
The Mayor of Edgewater, Michael Thomas, shared his enthusiasm for the project with gathered media and local personalities.
“We [the city of Edgewater] don’t have a beach, but we can create a beach. I just cannot say enough about how excited I am about this project.”
American Wave Machines presented a PerfectSwell x Orion surfboard shaped by Florida legend Greg Geiselman to Mayor Thomas at the ceremony in honor of the city’s partnership.
Mike Lopez hinted at an Eric Geilselman Training Facility amongst other ancillary and amenity features like a restaurant, retail shop, locker room, and lounge overlooking the surf park.
While the timeline may be fluid, like all surf park projects, Lopez is optimistic it will happen fast.
“I’m targeting for the last quarter [2023], probably in December, to get in that water and have the mayor surf his first wave.”
The Edgewater site is currently in the civil, structural, and aquatic engineering stages, with hopes of shovels hitting the ground by late March/early April 2023.
The Lowdown: Initially, the project was envisioned as a New Smyrna Beach development but was relocated four miles south to a location close to the I-95 corridor in the City of Edgewater. The company said the move was to accommodate a larger building footprint. The 161-acre mixed-use highway commercial property that Hawks Gate Development is creating includes the 15-acre PerfectSwell Edgewater project. The pool will be similar in scope to the recent Boa Vista project in Brazil.
WavePool Construction Progress: Breaking ground Spring 2023.
Accessibility: Facility hopes to be open to the public, All-ages, Beginning surfer, Intermediate surfer, Advanced surfer.
Wave Generating Technology: American Wave Machines Perfect Swell.
Wave’s Technical Information: Both Left and Right Breaks, Length of Wave: 30-60 yards/meters, Semi-hollow to hollow and performance-oriented. 120 -160 waves per hour come in three-wave sets at between 1:10-1:30 apart. Waves are waist to head-high.
Hours of operation/Seasonal Hours: Should be year-round.
Price Breakdown: None yet.
Waves per hour: 120-160.
Atmosphere: This will be interesting, they will either go luxury resort or turnstile access for the everyday surfer.
Apparel: Mostly boardshorts and bikinis. 3/2 spring suits for winter.
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