Man there's been a lot of talk lately about wavepools. From Kelly Slater vs. Greg Webber's competing technologies, to clips of pros in wavepools coming out weekly, to the Surf Park Summit last month; it's making me seasick. Basically we're at a tipping point where surfers want to surf a real one, the surf industry wants them built so can they sell more clothes, and investors actually see a slight return on investment. So the question is now, who has the best technology? I thought you should decide with today's post on the North County Surf blog.
First up is the original wavepool- and still the worst- Big Surf in Tempe, AZ. A knee high gutless wave that is more like riding a mini tsunami then actually surfing. On that note, I didn't want to show you a video of it. I know you have better things to do right now and your time is valuable. Same goes for the Mandalay Bay wavepool. What a complete waste of money. In a town that wastes a lot of money, that says a lot.
As we continue to move up the wavepool hierarchy, we head to Mission Beach and Waveloch's Flowrider. This is definitely one of the more, let's say interesting, entries. Jets of water shoot into a curved bottom and a 6' wave makes a continuous barrel. The dilemma here is that the jets don't shoot a deep stream of water so the bottom is only about 6" deep- not deep enough for a real board with fins. And if you go over the falls, you dislocate your shoulder. I think I'll pass.
Just a few weeks ago, a new pool was unveiled by a company called Surf Lagoon. It's actually portable and they had a demonstration in the Munich airport in Germany. Shane Beschen surfed it (i.e. Kelly's kryptonite before Andy), Kalani Robb, and some German river monster (trust me- watch the video- look for the hairy balding guy wearing boardshorts and booties. So sick). Basically they improved on Flowrider's water depth- but made the wave mushier in the process. So no winner yet on this one.
The Rip Curl team (i.e. Mick Fanning, Owen Wright, and Matt Wilkinson) headed to Malaysia's Sunway Lagoon a few years ago and tested out the waters. Seems as though the pool doesn't make much of a peak- more of a wall- and the boys had to be towed in. The pool's pretty to look at- but the surf isn't. So this isn't making the top of my list. Ok- now we're getting somewhere. Next up is Disney's Typhoon Lagoon. From the company that gave us Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and the Matterhorn, leave it to Walt to make an actual wavepool you can surf. Granted it's only chest high at best, and not a lot of power, but the Florida guys like Evan Geiselman, Kelly Slater, and Cory Lopez make it look like Lowers. I went to a pseudo contest there years ago and watched Beschen, Machado, and Kalani tear the place apart. It was 9 o'clock at night, I had a beer in my hand, music was blaring, and humid as heck in the warm September night. Pretty rad actually. I want to go back.
Now we're getting somewhere- except they closed down this place about 10 years ago in Japan so it's nowhere now. Make sense? Anyway, it was the Miyazaki Ocean Dome which incredibly was one of the better wave pools ever built. And considering how surf crazy the Japanese are AND how technologically savvy they are AND having one of the higher household incomes in the world, I don't know why this thing didn't survive. Maybe it just wasn't energy efficient and cost an arm and a leg to run.
By now you've probably seen Dion Agius' shred sesh a hundred times in the Dubai desert. Built by Surf Park Central, the wave is pretty legit. I think we have a winner here: a shoulder high wedge pushes you into an oncoming corner and you LAUNCH. Not me of course- I'm talking Dion here. But you get the idea. Supposedly it takes a lot of energy to run this thing- but when you're full of cash and oil in Dubai- money's not a problem. Lack of surfers are of course the problem in the Middle East so I'm not sure how long this place will stick around. As far as wavepools go- this is pretty much a tie with the wave below...
And the wave that's on par with the Dubai wedge is Spain's Wavegarden. The Dubai wave is slightly bigger and more powerful- but it pales in comparison to the length of the Wavegarden's ride. Check out the clip of Dane Reynolds above. Only a stomach high wall- but he gets like 10 turns in. And there's a mirror left on the other side of his wave- dual waves in 1 pool. Killer. Just make it 6' and I'll pay the country club membership.
