We’ll admit it. Sometimes we get too deep in the weeds on machinery, evaporation, bureaucratic legislation and more. But that’s just our nerdy-ness coming out as we dive into this new surf park wavescape.
To help understand wave pools and the commissioning process in clear, simple terms, WavePoolMag hosted a panel with pro surfer/skimboarder Blair Conklin and Endless Surf’s Tanner Wilson at the Boardroom surfboard show in San Diego. The discussion helped demystify and explore in simple terms how to alter and tune a wave machine to produce high-quality, often bespoke, waves.
Munich
When Endless Surf launched its first full-scale wave pool in Munich, Germany, it marked a milestone in artificial wave commissioning. The site has remained in continuous operation since opening and sees high demand year-round, despite the occasional winter snowstorm. o2Surftown MUC was designed to accommodate multiple types of surfers simultaneously, including advanced riders and beginners.
“The energy from what we call the peak, which is the main wave along the caisson wall, breaks and rolls shoreward where it is recycled in the shore zone,” explained Tanner Wilson of Endless Surf. “You can have beginners surfing near shore at the same time as a pro surfer experiencing expert waves a little further away.”
According to Wilson, the commissioning and creation of the diverse wave library in Munich can be easily adapted to suit new projects and pool sizes worldwide. The time taken to fine-tune the Bavarian wave pool means that all projects benefit in the future, and vice versa for Munich.
Endless Surf Capabilities
Endless Surf’s system relies on a series of pneumatic chambers to create and shape the wave. There are 34 caissons and each one can be fired individually or in sequence, allowing for highly customizable wave shapes, directions, and intensities – all controllable in real time.
“I describe it a lot as it’s like keys on a piano,” Wilson said. “It’s how you’re playing each key in sequence. You fire some ahead of it and there’s a lag on some, or you can customize all these little things. You could fire them all at once to create a closeout if you wanted to.”
Unlike systems that use fixed reefs, Endless Surf uses a simple, consistent slope. All customization comes from the software-controlled timing of the caissons.
“The engineer can change that with a press of a button right then and there,” added Blair Conklin. “They were able to make a wave that I could run into and skim, but then after I ran into it, it got bigger down the line and then it had an air section at the end.”
This adjustment capability allowed for quick adaptation based on user input, and suited everything from skimboarding to traditional shortboarding. During the commissioning, Conklin was joined by professional surfer Leon Glatzer, who focused on aerials using a thruster.
With feedback from both athletes, the engineers were able to test and optimize various wave formats, including barrel sections, turn waves, and beginner-friendly reforms. The system’s flexibility proved central to its functionality and appeal.
“Leon approaches waves differently than I do,” Conklin said. “He’s looking for a wave that he can go really fast down the line on, and then hit an air section and fly as far as he can. I was looking for a few different surf scenarios.”
Tanner Wilson said that once a wave baseline is established and creates a reference point, then athletes and engineers can expand, kind of like adding different ingredients to a recipe.
“It doesn’t come out perfect the first try,” Wilson said. “But once you do have that baseline, you can continue to elevate and push the limits of what’s possible when it comes to designing waves.”
Talking to the Engineers
During the commissioning process at Endless Surf Munich, direct communication between athletes and engineers was central to refining wave performance. Blair described how his understanding of the wave-making system evolved through on-site interactions.
“At first I didn’t understand how they were making waves,” he said. “When I got a better understanding of how the technology actually works and how the pneumatic system is bending waves and shooting waves at each other, then I was able to give more of a description of how I wanted the wave to be changed.”
Conklin grew increasingly interested in the mechanics of the system, including the precise timing required to generate specific wave types.
“I became super fascinated in understanding how they’re firing chambers off in sequence and how just the split-second interval in between each chamber changes the wave so much,” he said. “You’re also using some chambers on one side of the pool to fire waves the other way. And simultaneously, if you do that, you’re basically making waves collide. And that’s what makes each wave so customizable and so different.”
Real-time adjustments were made based on this input. Endless Surf’s engineers, Axel Terradillos and Ander Wynne-Edwards, were stationed on site to respond directly to surfers’ observations.
“Just a simple question to Axel like, ‘Hey, I would like to speed the wave up here,’ or ‘Maybe make a little bubble in it here,’ and Axel could change that with a press of a button right then and there,” Conklin said.
Bubble and speed are pretty general terms. Blair noted that his early feedback relied heavily on gestures before he fully understood the system’s inner workings.
“There was definitely a lot of talking with your hands,” he said. “That’s kind of a language for the engineers. They know what you’re talking about if you explain it like that, because you can’t say ‘change this sidepulse 20 degrees or whatever. We also had enough time to discuss because they didn’t have all the blowers in yet to cool the equipment, so we’d wait for things to cool down, which gave me time to talk to Axel.”
Wilson explained that initial wave settings at a new wave pool are rarely perfect out of the gate and require iteration. He emphasized the importance of surfer-engineer collaboration during commissioning in bringing it all together.
“It doesn’t come out perfect the first try,” Wilson said. “So you do have to go in and tweak stuff and make minor changes. And it’s always evolving. It’s really good to get that feedback from the surfer. That’s obviously super important because that’s your end user. Whether it’s a beginner or a pro, it’s nice to know we can create waves for everyone.”
Skimboarding
It’s important to note, in addition to his surfing prowess, that Blair won three world skimboarding championships. Munich’s configuration was the first that met his needs as both a skimboarder and crossover surfer.
“There’s basically a point in the middle of the pool, and right away it kind of looked like the ideal skimboard setup,” he said. “Without even seeing a wave break in the pool, I could tell that there was a lot of potential to do a lot of different things.”
Unlike other facilities, Munich allowed him to run directly into the wave.
“You could literally almost not touch the water, run in from the side of the pool, and catch a wave and ride it half the length of the pool,” Conklin said.
Forecasting Wave Pool Business Trends
As the global surf park market expands, both athletes and developers see wave pools playing a transformative role in the future of surfing. Blair and Tanner offered perspectives on how the business and culture are shifting as more facilities come online. And Conklin believes wave pools will reshape who gets to participate in surfing.
“I think that wave pools are going to bring a lot to surfing,” he said. “It’s going to probably change the demographic that can access surf. A lot of these places are being built in landlocked parts of the country, and some people are learning how to surf who have never seen the ocean before.”
He noted that projects like Waco, Texas, are already demonstrating this change, and that he also anticipates further growth in industry-specific equipment.
Wilson added that the rise of cultures around individual pools will continue to expand. Citing the unique Munich surf scene, Wilson echoed that the future of surf parks will depend on building a thriving community and incorporating the localized scene.
“I think the events that happen are pretty special, and it just amplifies surf culture in a new place,” he said. “Each location has its own unique surf culture. So you go to Munich and it’s a little bit different than the culture that you see at Bristol or in South Korea or Saudi Arabia. Every spot’s going to be authentic to surfing, but they’ll have these little nuances that make them stand out.”
“There’s just gonna be a whole new clientele for surfing because of this new access to waves and this very beginner-friendly surfing environment.”
Endless Surf is a pneumatic wave system that generates surf by sequentially pushing air through caissons (chambers). The number of caissons at the deep end of its heart-shaped pool determines the wave system’s size. For example, the Endless Surf 18 features 18 caissons. An Endless Surf 48 measures 282m (925.2ft) x 84.5m (277.2ft). The system can produce 32-second rides on a single peak setting that spans the pool’s length, with average wave heights of 2-3 ft, reaching up to 7 ft for both lefts and rights. Rides in the smaller Endless Surf pool typically range from 30-60 yards/meters, while the largest pool can accommodate rides up to 200 meters. o2 SURFTOWN MUC is an ES34 facility. The system can generate 400-700 waves per hour.
