Travel Log: WavePoolMag visits the surf parks that opened in 2024
In 2024 WavePoolMag visited half a dozen surf parks to get a feel for each facility’s uniqueness and character. We know from past trips that waves, prices, management, surfing level and most importantly, X Factor/Vibe are all different at each location. Which is something we never really expected when we set out on documenting this space so many years ago.
As the surf park industry grows and scrambles for stick-on business models, we are inundated with statements like “70% of surf park visitors are newbies.” From our time in the field we’ve discovered this percentage can run anywhere from 50-90%. What we’re getting at is that the many layers of operating each facility depend on a variety of factors and local demographics. In short, take those fast-industry statistics with a grain of salt.
Sure we can sling press releases and tepid LinkedIn posts with the best of them, but there is no substitute for that visceral, first-hand experience. Does it smell like sunblock, chlorine, french fries – or a weird melange of all three poolside? Is there jet noise from a nearby airport? What is the local surf scene like? On-site, you get to feel out stoke level, organization and learn about all the bumps and bruises suffered during the surf park journey – this is the content that never makes it into the press releases.
Newly opened wave pools we had the honor of visiting in 2024 include the AllWaves demo facility in Belgium, O2 Surftown MUC, URBNSURF Sydney, Palm Springs Surf Club, Revel Surf in Mesa Arizona and the Lost Shore Surf Resort in Edinburgh. The below notes are designed to bring you on site and into the pool in a way a pie chart or bar graph cannot.
URBNSURF Sydney
The first thing you notice at URBNSURF Sydney is the permanence of the buildings. While Melbourne can appear like an exercise in shipping container architecture, the Sydney facility is sleek, modern and takes full advantage of the views surrounding the pool. The buildings here house two restaurants, the upscale Raffi’s on the upper deck and the poolside Sandy’s. There is an addition of dedicated conference spaces, which will be utilized for everything from yoga classes to corporate events. Visually, the addition of a new liner system makes the water a brilliant blue color, on par with Alaia Bay in Switzerland.
URBNSURF Sydney features a Flowstate AI camera system to record all your waves. Surfers can download their video clips and photos from the Flowstate website for a small fee. Those clips are then ready to save to your device and share in different formats across any number of social media channels. The poolside restaurant Sandy’s has a TV screen to playback after each session. It’s become a fun, post-surf ritual to enjoy a beverage or meal and watch yourself or your mates. If you want to go next-level, you can personalize your Flowstate clips using free video editing software on your computer, adjusting elements like color and speed to create unique and engaging content.
Sydney is an amazing city with great public transportation. You can stay in the hip gruffness of Newtown and take a train and bus transfer out to urban surf. Although the area around the wave pool is more car friendly, urban surf is serviced by the 526 bus line, which will drop you off right in front of the pool. When you visit, be sure to venture beyond the city of Sydney. To the west are the Blue Mountains, a truly unique and beautiful area worthy of a day trip.
The wave pool technology is the same here as in Melbourne. It’s a 46 module Wavegarden Cove, but the waves are set up differently. Sydney chose to run waves at eight second intervals in five wave sets. It’s a change from Melbourne’s 10 to 12 waves per set. The new pace still allows for surfers to catch the same number of waves per session around 10 to 12, but also allows surfers to catch a quick break between waves. Urban surf has had four years to perfect the wave offerings in Melbourne. They’ve taken the same sessions and simply plugged them into Sydney.
Try the barbecued pork or vegetarian bowl at Sandy’s. If it’s chilly out, the restaurant will fire up outdoor heating. Night surfing is in full swing, with stadium lights blaring and a fairly decent soundtrack playing. Talk to the staff if you have any questions. They are friendly and knowledgeable and there to help.
Session prices vary from $30 to $159 AUD depending on the level. The grounds include a massive event space next to the lagoon, which can host 2000 people for live events including music, unique sporting events, and more. Other amenities include a Surf Academy, Cabanas for private use, a 20m leisure pool and 8m kids pool, playground, surf-skate pad, retail store, a high-performance center, a multifunction room and a health and wellness studio.
RiF010, Rotterdam
Rotterdam is not wood shoes and tulips. The architecture is modern, bold, and occasionally ostentatious – a big middle finger of reconstruction to the Nazis who leveled it during World War II. This city likes to set itself apart from The Hague and Amsterdam by boasting about its industriousness. We heard this frequently through a few colloquial phrases.
One Dutch saying is that in Rotterdam you can only buy shirts with sleeves already rolled up and ready for work. Another saying, “Do maar normaal, dan doe je al gek genoeg,” translates to “Behave normal, that’s crazy enough.” And we get it. For Rotterdam, normal, daily work is keeping the entire North Sea at bay through a series of painstakingly constructed canals.
The stereotype of pragmatic, measured, often stoic, assessment of situations is balanced by the wild-hearted cheese of Smartlappen music (see clip below), Holland’s Queen Beatrice who rides a bike to work every day amongst the public, and then there’s the lively pursuit of something as frivolous as surfing.
We found the Dutch surfers in the lineup at RiF010 were very friendly and super keen to chat. Growing up in Holland means you speak a few languages with a focus on English. While Rotterdam has a nearby break that the crew swore got really good on occasion (doesn’t every surf location?), they were all really stoked with the soft rights of the wave pool.
The wave settings are listed in a typically Dutch way. There are no ambiguous “cruiser” or “radical” classifications for sessions, instead, each setting is named by height (from 1.3 meters to 1.6 meters.) You can expect anywhere from 10-14 waves per session. After your ride, you have to wait in the bay until the set of waves is finished because paddling back out through the whitewater means you will cross paths with someone coming in on a wave. The wave interval, like in the North Sea, is short.
The cost for a surf session at RiF010 in downtown Rotterdam has two price levels, 50€ ($53US) for the 1.2 meter (4 foot) wave and 60€ ($65US) for the 1.5 meter (5 foot) wave. Beginner waves in their bay will be priced at 35€. All sessions include a soft board with Libtech surfboards available for rental.
Waves break right and only right. As Tom Lochtefeld told us, there wasn’t room to make a split peak or the option for a left due to bathymetry constraints. But the strangest thing about surfing at RiF010 is the sense that you are in a fish bowl. Three sides of the pool are packed with spectators cheering or jeering your performance. On the fourth side is the restaurant backed up against an outdoor shopping mall. As such the ambience of a session is a Euro top 40 soundtrack and the heavy smell of french fries.
Oh, and take the train. The distance traveled from one end of this country to the other is less than the entire length of the 405 freeway (50 miles vs 72 respectively) in Southern California. So from Amsterdam to Rotterdam takes only 30 minutes and will set you back 20€. And, yes of course, the train will run on time.
O2 SURFTOWN MUC
There’s a reason David Bowie and Iggy Pop chose Berlin and not Munich when they went on a drug-fueled creative binge – the angst of Berlin lends itself to art more than the lederhosened festive sensibilities found in Bavaria’s capital Munich. The Bahaus and Kraftwerk aesthetic of Berlin might as well be another country entirely.
The reason this pool exists dates back to the city’s roots in surf culture. There are an estimated 420,000 active surfers in Germany with 2.5 million Germans who say they have tried surfing. That number is about to go way up thanks to this Endless Surf-powered wave pool at 02 SURFTOWN MUC.
The pool is out by the airport, so it’s got a Euro-industrial park vibe in the surrounding environs. The park itself is an oasis with a beautiful, flowing main building made of wood – a welcome respite from the prefab concrete of the surrounding area.
There’s a certain gravitas to the sessions here. Many of the surfers are strategically working their way up the skill level accreditations. O2 SURFTOWN MUC has the most categories of surf level that we’ve seen at any wave pool – seven in total (most pools settle on three to four and call it a day.) Along that seven-layer surf journey from debutant to pro is an impressive infrastructure of coaches, equipment, tutorials and many other pieces to help surfers advance. The only oddity is a faint whiff of seriousness, as some of the surfers seem to be “at work” as they climb the rungs of surf proficiency.
o2 SURFTOWN MUC features two distinct modes for wave generation via their Endless Surf wave pool: A-Frame mode and Point Break mode.
In A-Frame mode (69€-89€ per session), waves break from the center of the pool, creating simultaneous rights and lefts. The waves can be adjusted to various levels accommodating both debutant and experienced surfers. Point Break mode (around €139) allows waves to run along the entire length of the pool by the wave generator. This mode enables rides of up to 18 seconds in the largest setting and provides different sections suitable for turns, barrels, and airs. Additionally, Point Break mode can be adjusted to produce more relaxed, long waves suitable for cruising or longboarding.
Worth it: Visit central Munich to see the Eisbach and other river waves. During the 16 hours of summer daylight try biking through the Marienplatz part of town to enjoy real Old World Europe.
Allwaves (not public)
Bruges is a 15-minute drive from Knokke-Heist, where AllWaves in headquartered. The company put on a meet and greet and welcomed us in the medieval city – one of Belgium’s top tourist destinations next to Ghent.
Having surfed several technologies around the world, we were impressed with this wave-generation tech’s creativity. The waves are generated in concentric circles, similar to Surf Lakes but inverted to the giant plunger. As they spread across the artificial lake, they interact with the bathymetry to create left and right waves, along with a pop-up peak at the pool’s foot.
We believe the AllWaves demo facility is too small to showcase the technology’s full potential. While they maximized the available space, it limited our ability to see the waves’ capabilities. With a larger area, the waves could be bigger and longer. But this is understandable in the wave tech world. Wavegarden’s initial Cove demo was also smaller, with only 28 modules, while most Coves today have double that number of modules.
The wave production is nearly constant, generating a wave every seven seconds—around 500 waves per hour. Each swell can accommodate four surfers: one on the left, one on the right, and two sharing the peak. AllWaves claims this results in 2000 rides per hour.
The hydraulic power system is in a dedicated room outside of the pool and can be maintained without submersion. AllWaves says that there are just a few moving parts under the membrane used to manipulate the textile. Additionally, AllWaves collaborated with the University of Ghent on their unique bathymetry, allowing for quick water subsidence after each set, minimizing downtime.
We also had Blair Conklin in tow for this pool visit.
“AllWaves is known for their pillow technology, an underwater fabric that moves up and down as well as laterally to produce waves,” said Blair. “It is a soft structure without grids, nets, ropes, or other components – the membrane can be best compared to a bouncy castle but filled with water. Each section of the membrane can be adjusted to pull or push water. It’s these actions that create swell at the water’s surface.”
Palm Springs Surf Club
So there’s this thing that’s totally accepted as normal but I can’t wrap my head around. In hot weather locations people will pay to sit in a shaded cabana or on a chair under a parasol. When they get too warm, they saunter over to the pool (it’s almost certainly always a saunter) and cool off in the water. Then, exit the water, heat up, and repeat. This can be done with or without alcoholic beverages which might make it slightly less strange. Personally, I’d rather sit in a cool, air-conditioned room with a coffee maker and amenities – and, OK, my introvertedness is showing here. I don’t understand it, but to each their own.
I do understand pumping surf though. And there’s no shortage of YouTube content on the Palm Springs Surf Club with every pro and bro vlogging about their experience since water filled the pool two years ago. SoCal surfers frothed at the sight of aqua barrels peeling off against a backdrop of construction ephemera.
But like a Greek drama the Palm Springs Surf Club came to life. What started as a 50 million dollar endeavor to bring waves to SoCal’s favorite weekend getaway destination got sidelined by COVID, Inflation, construction price increases, and finally, just plain bad luck.
There’s a certain comfort in a session here. Like a master chef, Cheyne Magnusson has calibrated, calculated tested, and tested every wave setting for your enjoyment. While there are some surf park developments out there that can feel like the surf equivalent of dining at a Chile’s or Olive Garden, PSSC is haute cuisine with a heavy dose of artisan wave programming.
And the high-end surf quality is reflected in the pricing and overall experience. The grounds are meticulous with many amenities for non-surf partners, lazy river, cabanas, a lux restaurant and even water slides. All of which make the grounds fertile for sauntering around with, or without a drink in hand, checking out the action in the pool.
Pricing for advanced A-Frames is $212 per hour while the Instagramable magic of the slab setting will set you back $265.
Revel Surf, Mesa Arizona
The Phoenix sprawl covers miles of what was once flat, open Arizona desert. On the periphery of metropolitan Phoenix and the surrounding communities lies the mythic landscape familiar to fans of the Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons. Revel Surf sits within the Cannon Beach development, a retail & entertainment complex and it has earned the distinction of being the first facility in the world to have two surf tanks on site – a Swell MFG wave pool and a Unit rapid wave tank.
The Swell MFG technology uses 21 levers or “wave-boards” sequenced and adjusted to operate at different speeds. The timing and power of each board can be controlled individually to create a variety of waves.
These waves are offered in four different Levels. LEVEL I is the Learn to surf/ whitewater level. LEVEL 2 is slower, peeling waves while LEVEL 3 offers Performance waves with more size, and power. LEVEL 4 is all those specialty waves – wedges, slabs, airs, and anything Instagramable by vloggers like Jacob Szekely and friends. The private sessions allow surfers to choose their own settings which include air sections and bigger barrels. These private sessions are offered in increments of 1-2 hours, half-day and full-day bookings.
Public prices start at $119 dollars per hour for beginners, with the advanced sessions running $129 – $139 dollars per hour. The Unit standing wave is $75 per hour. Special “Members Only” discounts are available and reduce the cost of sessions by 10%.
All public sessions here feature a split peak with 16 surfers in the water, eight on each side. Revel says that surfers can expect about 12 waves per session. Guests can also session the skate park or find supplies at the fully stocked surf shop. The surf park is also using the Flowstate AI Video system so you can share clips of your session.
Mesa airport is next door to the surf park with flights by Allegiant and Sun Country Airlines. Phoenix International airport is half an hour away by car with service by most major carriers. There are plenty of lodging options in the area to suit all budgets and tastes.
June, July August the temperatures in Mesa average above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 Celcius while deep winter highs hover around 70 Fahrenheit. But it is the desert and with no cloud cover to keep in all that leftover heat, the nights are cold this time of year.
Lost Shore Surf Resort, Edinburgh
Scotland’s a unique mix – there’s a long history of engineering brilliance and nerdiness, from indoor toilet patents to Dolly the cloned sheep. But there’s also rich pub culture, art and the celebration of musical heroes like Annie Lennox, Shoegaze superstars the Jesus and Mary Chain and ’80s novelty act Big Country. And then there’s film contributions like, well, Trainspotting.
But the truth is that the city of Edingurgh is such a cultural jackpot that surf or no surf it’s totally worth a visit. Enjoy the beautiful architecture where black ironwork adorns centuries-old stone buildings and take in the castle and enjoy the hiltop views of this city rich in history. Shops abound on the many old-world streets which get busy on the weekend with both locals and tourists alike.
Surf sessions are 60 minutes long, during which you should be able to catch around 10-15 waves. Prices vary by season and discount packs are available. Sessions start at £55 for beginner, intermediate and advanced and go up to £65 for the barrels setting. The barrel setting is well worth it, especially since this wave basin offers a longer tube section than some of the other Wavegarden Coves. A bonus is that gear hire is complimentary with each session purchase and you can buy sessions in bundles to save money as well.
The water comes from a nearby canal and is pumped through an elaborate filtration system. It’s clean, but maintains its unique Scottish Peat bog color. The water is also cold, 4 degrees Celsius (39 Farenheit) when we visited in November). The wetsuits included with your session are top-of-the-line Yulex from UK brand Gul. The surf shop is one of the first to break the Rip Curl stranglehold and offers several brands both local and international. The crew here is frothing and stoked and happy to help.
There’s a lot of food options. Lost Shore is very proud of its Canteen concept, a general dining area with three rotating restaurants that offer everything from surf park staples like pizza and tacos, to eurocentric dishes like Mussels in white wine. The bar also offers several select whiskeys – it is Scotland after all.
On site, there are surf pods and modular units surrounding the pool while on the ridge top above the surf park stand multi-person cabins with an amazing view. The waterfront pods are ideal for singles or couples and offer a king-sized bed, underfloor heating and smart technology features. Plus they look pretty cool. The larger units offer a master bedroom with a super king-sized bed and a separate bunk room that sleeps 2. For additional guests, there is a sofa bed in the lounge area. Hilltop units offer three and four bedrooms set in a luxury lodge.
The Wave, Bristol
Yes they opened in 2019, but each year The Wave evolves, further refining their public offering. So many advancements in 2024 that we had to include England’s favorite pool.
Under the guidance of CEO Hazel Geary, the Wave achieved B Corp status, added a Flowstate camera system, lights for night surfing as well as more attractions. All of these milestones have worked in conjunction to make it a destination beyond just the core surf set.
We were on hand for The Wave’s 5-year anniversary, a momentous occasion with a Rip Curl air-comps, night surfing, bands and generally good cheer. Vibe-wise we like to think of the Wave Bristol as a British version of Rob Machado: Mellow, friendly, solar-powered and pretty chill. Oh, and polite, The Wave will always ask you if you have any food allergies before serving up a hummus plate.
The Wave has 6 levels, Beginner, Waikiki, Intermediate, Advanced, Advanced Plus and Expert. A beginner lesson for younger children aged 4-12 to learn how to surf is £60 and includes child and adult. Beginner Lessons Suitable for beginners aged 6+ are £55 (£45 child). Waikiki is the next step up from Beginner and it is priced at £50 to start. After that is the Intermediate setting, also priced starting at £50.
Advanced setting offers more of a push than the intermediate setting and boasts a steeper takeoff for £50. Advanced plus setting offers bigger, longer waves than the advanced setting but still starts at £50. The Expert level comes in either Barrels or Turns. An hour of pure barrels on the Expert Barrels setting with only 12 other surfers begins at £50 (£40 child). Capacity for the Expert Turns session is locked at 14 and also begins at £50. NOTE: After three sessions, surfers can sign up for The Wave community, which offers deep discounts on same-day second-session purchases (50%) as well as other perks.
The Camp at The Wave hosts 25 safari tents, making it one of, if not the, closest accommodation to a surf break anywhere in the world. Starting at $146 per night, the tents sleep up to 8 people and are equipped with proper beds, a cooking stove, running water, a log burner and camping toilet. The Camp also has hot showers and a toilet block.
The Clubhouse at The Wave has a café/bar that provides breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks, as well as a lake viewing balcony to enjoy sunset drinks with mates. In the Clubhouse you will also find a great surf shop.
Surf Abu Dhabi
Unfortunately, Surf Abu Dhabi didn’t grant us the access needed to do a thorough report. As such, and to keep this list complete, here is some previously posted information about Surf Abu Dhabi.
Compared to Kelly’s wave in Lemoore, once you factor in flight, hotel and sessions, it is a better deal than trying to get into the OG Kelly wave pool. Flights from LAX or New York to Abu Dhabi run between $500-$1,200 for economy – depending on how skilled a shopper you are. If you’re flying from London, you can find rock-bottom prices as some flights are listed at just £100.
Wave Settings on offer at Surf Abu Dhabi are Beginner, Cocoa Beach and Kelly’s Wave. All settings are available for both Open and Private sessions. The Open group is limited to 4 surfers and will deliver 20-24 waves during either a 60-minute or 90-minute session.
The Open Surf Advanced sessions are ideal for single surfers or those with just a friend or two, as you don’t need a full 6-person count to hire out a private session. Price and wave count for Open Surf Advanced translates to 5-6 waves per surfer. The cost is 3,500AED or nearly $950 per surfer which works out to $172 per wave.
The rate is the same for Open Surf Intermediate as the above-listed Open Surf Advanced setting. So, it’s $172 per wave whether you are double-arm dragging through square barrels on the Advanced setting or taking this more slopey, easier Intermediate setting.
As WavePoolMag reported last year, the facility has added a unique W shaped reef to offer more broken up waves for more users at a time. These sessions start at 1,800AED or $490. The wave on offer for Open Surf Beginners is the Cocoa Beach setting. For 60 minutes learners can expect between 6-8 waves, or about $70 per wave. All gear is included including a life jacket option.
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