Shaun Hutchinson attended the Surf Park Summit for the first time and was surprised that the summit’s focus was on capital management and construction. “The surf park industry is still so new that operators are currently a minority of the summit. However, there are enough operators throughout the world that safety should be a collaborative effort.” And thus, the Surf Park Minimum Safety Standards (SPMSS) document was born.
Today, 12 surf parks have signed the document: Alaïa Bay, Lost Shore, Aquarabia, Skudinsurf AD, Virginia Beach, Revel Surf Parks, SRF TLV, The Wave, Surfland Brazil, URBNSURF (Melbourne & Sydney), and SURFTOWN MUC. You can view the full document at the bottom of this story.
Commitments from roughly one-third of the world’s 33 operating facilities might not sound like much, but it’s a start—and surely more facilities will follow. Shaun sees the win here as more wave pools coming on board. Beyond it just being the right thing to do, the project helps ensure guest safety. The knock-on effect is lower insurance rates and a badge of proof to show local councils that the surf park cares about safety.
The document itself includes a list of 13 safety points, such as reaction times in the event of an emergency and making surf helmets available for all guests.
WavePoolMag spoke with project architect Shaun Hutchinson, Jenn Vandekreeke of URBNSURF, and Wess Long of Starguard Elite to find out why this matters.
Why Create the Surf Park Minimum Safety Standards Document?
Jennifer Vandekreeke, CEO of URBNSURF: The idea was to start setting some base rules or guidelines for the entire industry that we could all share. It gives us all a level of confidence. If we look at the biggest existential threats to the surf park industry—parks going under and catastrophic injuries—either one can have a huge ripple effect. Coming from the cruise industry, where we had a few major incidents, I’ve seen how that impacts reputation, insurance, and regulation. We asked: What can we do to protect the industry? We’re all dealing with large amounts of moving water and potential for serious injury. We’ve been doing this for six years now.
Shaun Hutchinson, General Manager, URBNSURF Sydney: At a basic level, I hope to achieve general safety awareness in the industry—this is a starting point. It took us years of reviewing safety data to improve our operation. Now, every new operator has 13 safety points to focus on. Whatever their basin is, these points give them a standard to move forward with. It’s really going to help the industry.
Wess Long, StarGuard ELITE: With more facilities coming online, the collective development of operational standards and best practices is a natural progression. It’s important that owner/operators take the lead, or else regulators—who may not understand the nuances—will do it for them.
How Did the Surf Park Minimum Safety Standards Come to Life?
Jennifer Vandekreeke: I borrowed from international and industry associations—something surf parks don’t really have yet. But safety shouldn’t be a competitive advantage. With how fast we’re growing, not enough developers are asking about safety.
Shaun Hutchinson: The surf park standards came to life as operators all seem to be independently working out their own safety procedures. This takes time to develop. Surf parks that have been operating for a couple of years have vital information that they can share and guide the newer operators. If the operators work together to ensure safety, it will further promote the growth of the surf industry.
Jennifer Vandekreeke: And we were there too. It’s incredibly hard to get one of these parks running. But once they’re up, they have to be ready to ensure the safety of guests and crew.
What Is the Document and What Does It Achieve?
Shaun Hutchinson: I visited several surf parks before the Summit, and it was insightful to see how each operator put their own spin on surf safety. Seeing other facilities aided in the upcoming conversations at the summit. I went to Lost Shore and The Wave, and then James (Miles) and I stopped at Palm Springs, had a sneak peek over the fence at DSRT SURF, then went to Revel. At Surf Park Summit, we had a room and closed the door with 13 global surf park operators. There were also several operators online where information and stories were shared.
This was the first time I was part of honest conversations with other operators. URBNSURF has had experience in medical episodes, but in discussions, other operators shared their own stories. It was great to just have that open conversation with people on what happened, what was the outcome, and how have they learned, improved and applied changes from there.
Creating new ways to rescue people and get them out of the water as quickly as possible. SPMSS is broad enough that you can adapt it to your own surf park.
– Shaun Hutchinson
How SPMSS Differs from ASTM
Shaun Hutchinson: So, at full transparency, these are guidelines that every operator should aspire to meet at a minimum. Facilities will not be audited to ensure that they comply with the 13 standards. ASTM is an official standard. You can call ours an operator’s guideline for the time being. For ASTM, Tom Lochtefeld and Marsh Myrman slogged their butts off for 3–5 years to get that standard across the line. It’s a great starting point and both technology providers and operators are encouraged to continue to contribute to the standard.
Making SPMSS Work Across Wave Pool Brands
Shaun Hutchinson: One of the dot points that got over the line is that complementary helmets must be visible, accessible, and available for all surfers. Each operator has a different viewpoint on the benefits and drawbacks of helmets. The pros and cons of this point were passionately debated between the operators. This is a new industry, so what works for URBNSURF may not be a priority for other facilities that operate with a different goal in mind.
Regional Differences in Implementation
Shaun Hutchinson: Each operator shared their viewpoints regarding helmets. URBNSURF has placed a high importance on helmets to ensure all surfers remain safe and is hoping the surfers take a similar path to ski fields. URBNSURF has worked closely with Australian regulators to ensure that surfers are given every opportunity to ensure they have a safe surf.
There are so many layers to surf park safety that include information on the website, safety videos, safety signage, safety briefings, and helmets are just one piece to the overall safety puzzle. Having helmets visible and available helps guests decide if they want to take that additional step to ensure they have a safe session. Helmets sparked a good discussion on what everyone is doing and what they’re willing to do in the name of safety.
Some operators have never stocked helmets in their facility, so we are hoping all signed operators will implement helmets by 1 November 2026, when this guideline goes live.
Industry Acceptance
Shaun Hutchinson: People are focused on proactive safety, preventative safety, and tracking their data better, to learn from their own incidents. At the operators’ meeting, sharing data helped operators track trends across facilities and discuss tactics on how to reduce incidents. Hearing that other operators have similar issues helped create a bond between the group.
Between speeches at Surf Park Summit, most conversations and interests were focused on capital raise and development. It seems in the current surf park lifecycle, most of the industry considers a shovel in the ground the finish point. However, the day your surf basin is filled with water, you have only just crossed the start line, and it is the first day you could have a critical incident. By having operators share data, insights and stories, it will allow future operators to benefit from this and adapt a higher safety level quicker.
Insurance
Wess Long: The reception has been very positive so far, and I’m sure we’ll see these standards evolve and expand. It’s great to see the industry take proactive steps. Hopefully, this gives insurers confidence—resulting in lower insurance costs.
Shaun Hutchinson: This will help facilities when they show it to insurers—and it should absolutely help their bottom line. Trampoline parks are a good example. Some have signed up to ISO, the highest standard, and some haven’t. When there’s a major injury, the first question is, “Are they ISO certified?”
Where Does the Industry Go From Here?
Jennifer Vandekreeke: Eventually, could this become an ISO standard? Possibly—which would be great. But for now, this is the best thing we can do to protect the exponential growth of the surf park business. And it’s just the right thing to do. Sharing this information and protecting the health and welfare of guests and crews is the most important thing.
Shaun Hutchinson: These are not 13 secret points. We want the industry to know them and follow them from day one. It’s not gray anymore—it’s black and white. Thirteen points that are easy to understand and follow. Before their grand opening, every park should have nailed these.
Wess Long: These are minimum standards. There’s always more that can be done to build as many layers of risk prevention into operations as possible.
Surf Park Minimum Safety Standards Agreement
1. Purpose of this Agreement
This agreement confirms that each participating organisation acknowledges, accepts, and commits to implementing the shared Minimum Safety Standards outlined in section 5 “Minimum Surf Park Safety Standards”.
2. Scope
This agreement applies to all participating surf park operators listed below. Each organisation agrees to uphold the defined safety standards across operations, staffing, equipment, training and incident management.
3. Commitment
By signing this agreement, each organisation confirms that:
• They have reviewed the Minimum Safety Standards in full.
• They agree to implement, maintain, and periodically review the standards.
• They will work collaboratively with other signatory organisations to support consistency and continuous improvement across the industry.
4. Implementation Date
Organisations signing this agreement acknowledge that the below minimum safety standards will be implemented no later than 1 November 2026.
5. Minimum Surf Park Safety Standards
• Each surfer must have a valid, signed waiver and informed consent form in place prior to participating in surfing activities (parent / guardian sign for a child).
• All onsite incidents must be recorded and include the following details:
o the individual’s details,
o Injury classification
o how the injury occurred,
o the injury sustained.
• Before a person enters the water, at least 2 Lifeguards must be positioned for surveillance of the entire basin and meet jurisdictional requirements, while an additional staff member trained in first aid and CPR must be contactable and present onsite
• Each surfer must attend an in-person safety briefing before surfing.
• Safety signage must be clearly visible before entering the water.
• Complimentary helmets must be visible, accessible, and available for surfers.• All operators will implement and adhere to an emergency action plan, and facilities will carry a minimum of one AED, spine board, first aid kit, and advanced bleeding kit. Prior to each day of operation, safety inspections will be completed of the basin, lifesaving equipment, and any additional jurisdictional requirements.
• Recognition and response are highly dependent upon each basin but must never require more than 3.5 minutes from the time the guest is in distress to the time the guest is on dry land with team care provided. General guidelines are the following:
o any person in distress is recognized within 10-20 seconds,
o reached within an additional 30-60 seconds,
o and extricated in less than an additional 120 seconds.
• Lifeguard pre-service training must review and confirm all zones of surveillance and basin specific variables. Each lifeguard will confirm the deployment zones being used prior to active assignment.
• Operators must implement a responsible service of alcohol policy as per jurisdictional requirements.
• Operators must adopt jurisdictional water quality standards.
