Surf Lakes announced today that they are within weeks of completing their first full-scale demonstration facility on the Capricorn Coast of Queensland.

“Although it will not initially be open to the public, it will be the first proper surf park in Australia,” the company said in a statement.

Surf Lakes noted that there are several “stationary” waves in Australia and also numerous wave pools. But globally there are only a handful of large-scale facilities with moving “ocean-like” waves.

“We are in the final stages of the installation and expect to start filling the lagoon by the end of September,” said Surf Lakes. “Once full (this takes about 5 days), a one-month testing and commissioning period will commence. So in October, we should be able to send you videos and photos of our full sized waves.”

The new facility will create five different waves simultaneously as a central hub “wave-maker” pushes out swell in 360 degrees – like a stone dropped in a pond.

Tech specs for Full-scale Demo site

Lake Size:                                          200m long x 150m wide
Maximum Depth:                            10m (33ft) at core
Water Volume:                                 60ml to 75ml
Number of Outer Breaks:               8 (4 lefts and 4 rights)
Number of Learner Breaks:           3
Maximum Wave Height:                 2.4m (face height)
Water type:                                        Freshwater

Bathymetry

The machine made waves will fan out and then meet the pool’s various breaks courtesy of the company’s man-made bathymetry which has been meticulously detailed to create points, reefs, slabs, beginner waves and more.

“There will be four levels of difficulty, from an easy wave to a pitching slab that you will have to backdoor to get into,” said Director Reuben Buchanan.

“The compression of the wave energy from deep to shallow water is what makes the wave throw out and that’s how we’ll get these beautiful waves,” added Buchanan from the construction site. “We believe that surfing our wave will feel very similar to surfing a perfect reef break in the ocean.”

As the project moves forward Surf Lakes reiterated that this is a private demonstration facility and surfing will be strictly limited to staff, shareholders, potential licensees and via the director’s invitation.

“We are looking into the regulatory and council requirements to open it to the general public and will keep you informed. Our long term vision is to build a Surf Lake in every major city in the world.”

They say they have received more than 150 enquiries from more than 20 countries from groups who are interested in using the technology.

A shopping list of potential sites include California, Florida, Arizona, the UK, Dubai, Fiji, New Zealand, Brisbane, Perth, New South Wales, Singapore and Japan.

Surf Lakes will continue to post images, updates and videos as the project launches. We here at Wave Pool Magazine hope to have some clips by Halloween.