Surf Lakes are just a couple moons away from completing its first full-scale demonstration facility in Queensland, Australia. However, the doors will not be open to the public just yet. The working class, however, will still have to wait outside the castle walls for a little longer whilst the elite get the first taste of this multiple wave peak riding eyeball-shaped water park.
“We are in the final stages of the installation and expect to start filling the lagoon by the end of September. Once full – and this takes about five days – a one-month testing and commissioning period will commence,” explains Reuben Buchanan, executive director of Surf Lakes.
So come October, the Australian-based company will no doubt shake up the interwebs when they drop the first videos and photos of their full-sized waves, sending social media into a frenzy. Or not, I guess time will tell.
“We will create five different levels of waves using reef bathymetry – four on the outer breaks, plus the beginner wave. By mimicking how ocean waves work, we believe that surfing our wave will feel very similar to surfing a perfect reef break in the ocean”
The pool will create eight breaks, where each ‘reef’ will boast a very specific design in order to create waves of varying difficulty. The facility will cater for surfers of all abilities – even first-timers – where ‘customers’ will be able to progress from beginner style waves, through to hollow barrels.
Another bummer if you happen to have set up show next to this wave spa is that it is a private demonstration facility, where surfing will be strictly limited to staff, shareholders, potential licensees and via directors invitation. Surf Lakes are still looking into the regulatory and council requirements to open it to the general public.
“Our motto is ‘everyone gets a break,’ and our long-term vision is to build a surf lake in every major city in the world. As such, we have received over 150 inquiries from more than 20 countries from groups who are interested in bringing Surf Lakes to their area“, notes the executive director of Surf Lakes.
At this stage, the frontrunners for the first commercial sites are USA (California, Florida, and Arizona), United Kingdom, Dubai, Fiji, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan.
“The hydraulic cylinder is the central part of the mechanism. The piston will go down into this. It will be where the pressure surrounds the piston and drive the whole mechanism out of the water.” Aaron Trevis, founder, and CEO of Surf Lakes. Mark Occhilupo, the company’s ambassador, hopes to be the first to ride the beauty.
“Our wave is going to be unique. It’s going to jack up real big, taper off perfectly. But we’ve got four different waves. Actually, eight waves with lefts and rights. And I’m going to backdoor that thing, take my hat off, and say: ‘thank you very much,‘” jokes Occy
According to the developers, Surf Lakes will be able to pump out 2,400 concentric waves per hour that can reach 2.4m.
