Last year the North County Surf blog talked about the wavepool wars heating up between iconic Australian shaper Greg Webber and 12 time (ooops), I mean 11 time soon to be 12 time world champ Kelly Slater's competing wavepool technology companies. They are promising 10' barrelling surf that runs in a circular pool to simulate looooong pointbreak type rides. Until it happens, I ain't buyin' it. So I thought it would be good to look at the current technology out there and show everyone there's some fun darn waves to ride if you have the money or means.
First up is the Dubai Double Up you may have seen this week on the world wide web. The crew from Globe hooked up with an arab sheik and his skate park in the middle of the desert. Seriously. It's a cool set up (cool being a relative term since it's 115 degrees in Dubai this time of year). The cool part I speak of is the wedge off the wall you sling shot into, get a quick hit in, then wait for the wave to come together at the end in the launch section. Long story short- it's only a couple turns, but the end section is just begging to be hit. And if this thing was in Palm Springs- I'd be there every weekend.
And there's Typhoon Lagoon in Orlando- probably the most famous and photographed wave pool in the world. Everyone from Slater to Kolohe has surfed this thing. Not the best wave, but it's close to the Surf Industry East, it's in the middle of Disney World, and since Florida goes flat months at a time, it's a relief to the surfers who have the key to the Magic Kingdom.
Unfortunately, one of the best wave pools ever was the Ocean Dome in Miyazaki, Japan and it is now defunct. It had a shoulder high barrel and plenty of punch to launch. And if the weather was bad, just close the retractable roof and crank up the AC. Not a bad set up. Well actually it was bad; it didn't stay in business. Anyway, Owen Wright and Julian Wilson were one of the last to ride it and the clip above showed the potential of wavepools.
Hopefully someone figures out how to make wavepools with real waves AND cost effective so we can do something on flat days besides play golf!
