Most surf parks promise at least 10-12 waves per hour-long session, with the exception being Kelly’s wave pool, which only runs one wave every four minutes. Technology companies boast waves-per-hour that aren’t always in line with operational metrics. But let’s face it, “one million waves per hour” does sound impressive.
“Realistically, most parks with new surf technology will operate with 200-600 wave impulses per hour,” said Skip Taylor of Surf Park Management. “But that can also then be factored across several surf zones in some cases (The main wave and a secondary reform or a split peak) and that helps boost ROI for the operators.”
But how many waves can you catch in an hour in a wave pool? Well, it depends on how many other people are in the session and, well, how much you can paddle.
Scott Aston lives near Lost Shore Surf Resort, where he regularly surfs with his wife. He began surfing at university and has maintained a consistent connection to the sport for nearly three decades. Scott runs a tour boat operation where seasonality, just like at wave pools, is a thing. He’s supported Lost Shore since the beginning, purchasing pre-opening session passes and continuing to surf regularly, but usually through the cooler months before his business kicks in for the season. In his best effort to maximize session value, the local found himself virtually alone on March 22nd of this year and caught as many waves as he possibly could. Which was 31. The kicker? Each ride was captured by the surf park’s Flowstate AI camera system.
Can you tell me about your surfing background?
I started surfing when I was at university, which was when I was about twenty years old, and now I am forty-eight. I have surfed a bit. I lived up in Aberdeen, north of here, for a few years and did quite a bit of surfing up there. There are some nice waves up there. Then I moved back down here. My wife surfs as well. When the kids came along, that reduced how much I surfed. I also got into windsurfing, and I do some kayaking as well. Surfing has always been the sport I enjoy most.
How did you first hear about this surf park?
I heard about this place getting built and they had been talking about it for a long time. It is ten minutes from my door, so we were waiting for it to open. When it did open, it was fantastic.
Did you buy passes before it opened?
We bought some early bird passes before it opened. They were about half price. It was a bit of a gamble because we did not know if the place would get finished, but we decided to go for it. I used those up, and then they offered a fifty-session pass. My wife and I bought that, thinking it would last us a year with twenty-five sessions each. We tried not to use them too quickly, but the opposite happened. Life got in the way, and about a month ago, we realized we still had twenty-five sessions left. So it has been a busy few weeks trying to use them up before the deadline.
How does fitness affect your sessions?
Your fitness drops quickly, and when you come back, you cannot catch as many waves because your paddling is slower. But after just three or four sessions, the paddle fitness improves again.
You mentioned you caught thirty-one waves in one session. How did that happen?
It was a random Sunday night. Because I live locally, I could book at short notice. I saw that nobody else had booked, so I took the session. Usually, a few others show up, but I arrived and was told I had the session to myself. I went out and kept catching waves continuously. The maneuver setting sends waves quickly, so every time I got back, another wave was ready. You can choose which wave to take because you are alone. At the end, I thought I had caught more waves than usual. Normally, it is twenty to twenty-five. When I checked Flowstate later, it showed thirty-one waves. I wiped out on two but still caught thirty-one in an hour.
After you use your remaining sessions, will you buy more?
Yes. They have a surf club membership where you can buy smaller packages instead of a fifty-session pass. We will likely buy the membership and then smaller blocks. They also have good midweek deals, which work better for me. Because I live nearby, I can go early in the morning or in the evening, depending on my schedule.
What was it like waiting for the surf park to be built?
They had been talking about it for around ten years. I used to cycle and run past when it was still a quarry. Every so often, I would look in. One day, I saw workers doing groundworks and asked what they were doing. They said they were starting work on the wave pool. That was the first real sign. Before that, it was just an abandoned quarry. Seeing the first diggers was significant. After that, I kept coming back to check the progress. Eventually, they filled the pool.
What were the conditions like in the early days?
The first winter was cold. The coldest session I had was with water at 3 Celcius (37 Fahrenheit), and there was ice along the top of the walls.
How do you use Flowstate?
I had not heard of Flowstate until they installed it here. Now I check it after sessions. It shows your best wave and other clips. I do not fully understand how it works or if there is a membership. Recently, I had a session where I got a good barrel. The sun was shining through, there was a slight offshore wind, and the wave looked good on video. I obviously bought that clip because it was so beautiful, a great moment.
