UrbnSurf Sydney

By Ben Stephens.

Wave Pools. They used to be pieces of machinery that just made awful slices of energy and chopped the water up. Then in December 2015, Mr 44-year-old-11-world-title-holder Kelly Slater drops a video. The clip shows an emotional Slater, seeing 10 years of hard work and mad technology coming together to create a man-made wave, so shred-able that it made him literally jump up and down. Check out the clip below, it will make you feel things.

Now, the realisation that we live in a post-slater wave pool world is hitting home, really close to home. The wave pool designer dudes at UrbnSurf recently blew the lid off their next project – to build Australia’s first wave pool that isn’t, for lack of a better word, sh*t. Sadly, as the news hit that Sydney was not the chosen spot and that Melbourne was going to have something that we didn’t have, the vibes started a little down turn.

That was until two weeks later when the UrbnSurf team dropped the news that they are about to spend 26.5 million dollarydoos on creating what will be the top spot to grab a wave west of Bondi. Reportedly a giant ‘Yeeeew!” (beach slang for ‘awesome’) could be heard across the state, as surfers and wannabe watermen collectively rejoiced.

The UrbnSurf Wave Pool will run north-south, making the best of the wind conditions and the park will be fitted with under water lighting, making it completely cool for you to shred all night long. The park will be built at Sydney Olympic Park, just 13 sweet kilometres from the CBD, and doesn’t officially open until 2018, so there’s plenty of time to wax that stick.

According to government statistics, there are 200,000 surfers in Sydney. It feels more like 10x that amount when you’re out there battling for waves these days. So it is with open arms that the city welcomes a gnarly spot for beginners to get to their feet and even for pro’s to hone their skills.

The waves can pump as low as 0.6 of a metre, producing a nice bit rolling white water to push you along. Then once you have covered the small stuff, the pool can then also ramp it up to a solid 1.7 meter wall of water to rip some mad cut backs on and even work your aerial game.

UrbnSurf Sydney opens 2018.