News & Guides
The latest surf park news, guides, and reviews
GuidesSurf Parks in Germany: Every Open Wave, What It Costs, and What Is Coming
Germany has seven open surf parks, more than any country except the United States. Six of them are standing waves you ride in place, and one is a lagoon you paddle into. Here is every venue, what a session actually costs, and the three big projects due after this.
NewsKoa Bay's Surf Park Is Off. The Site Is Now a Data Center Proposal.
Koa Bay was going to be a $595 million Wavegarden community in Fort Pierce, Florida. The developer could not raise the money, and the 203-acre site now has a rezoning application in front of the city to build an AI data center instead. It goes to hearing on Sept. 17.
NewsEndless Surf's New AI Gives Everyone in a Group a Different Wave
Endless Surf and Flowstate's Mixtape lets each surfer in a group pick their own wave, with no wearables or tags. It arrives as The Point opens in Florida.
NewsSurfLoch Challenged Alameda's No-Bid Surf Pool Deal. Nothing's Been Said Since.
A $50 million surf pool proposed for Alameda Point has been negotiated with a single developer since October 2025, no competing bids allowed. In July, SurfLoch's founder publicly asked the city to open it up. The city council met behind closed doors a few days later, and there's been no public word on it since.
GuidesBest Surf Parks in Asia: The 2026 Guide
South Korea, Japan, and China each have one open surf lagoon, and they couldn't be more different: a mainstream leisure destination outside Seoul, an Olympic-pedigree pool that's struggled commercially, and an affordable resort backed by China's national surf federation. Real prices for all three.
GuidesBest Surf Parks in the Middle East: The 2026 Guide
Three surf parks are open across the Gulf and Israel, and a fourth is under construction in Bahrain. Real prices, what each one actually costs to ride, and which is worth planning a trip around.
NewsGilbert, Arizona's Surf Park Just Lost Its Third Developer
Cactus Surf Park has been seven years and three different developers in the making, and never broken ground. The town of Gilbert and WhiteWater West ended their lease in May without saying so publicly; local reporting only surfaced it this week, and the site's future may not include a wave at all.
GuidesBest Surf Parks in Australia: The 2026 Guide
Australia has two Wavegarden Coves open right now, one under construction, and three more announced across four states. Real prices for the two you can book, plus honest status on everything still coming.
NewsNewport Beach Approved a 66-Module Wave Pool, Then Took It Back
Snug Harbor Surf Park won City Council approval for a 5-acre Wavegarden Cove on a Newport Beach golf course in November 2025. A resident petition drive forced the council to rescind it two months later. It is now in court, and a real estate analysis of the site says housing, not surfing, is the more likely outcome.
NewsSurf Farm Will Bring a 62-Module Wavegarden Cove to Queensland's Sunshine Coast
Surf Farm, a planned $60 million wave park on a former pineapple farm at the Glass House Mountains, has locked in Wavegarden as its technology partner and switched from pneumatic to electromechanical wave-making. It's Queensland's first Wavegarden Cove and Australia's sixth wave park.
GuidesSurf Parks in Brazil: Every Wave Pool, and the One You Can Actually Book
Brazil has as many open surf lagoons as the United States, and six of its seven pools are private clubs. Here is every one of them, what each wave is like, and the single park a visiting surfer can book a session at.
GuidesSurf Parks in Florida: Every Wave Pool Open and On the Way in 2026
Florida gave surfing Kelly Slater and Sebastian Inlet, and somehow never had a surf lagoon. That changes in 2026. Here is every Florida wave pool, from the standing wave you can ride today near Tampa to the first peeling lagoon opening this fall in Fellsmere.
GuidesHow Much Does It Cost to Build a Wave Pool?
A commercial wave pool runs from about 30 million dollars for a standalone lagoon to well over 100 million for a full resort. Here is where the money actually goes, what the wave machine itself costs, and why the biggest expense is not the wave.
GuidesEvery Wave Pool Technology, Compared: The 2026 Guide
Thirteen different machines are making waves across the 58 parks in our directory, and the one a park chose determines your ride length, how many waves you get, what it costs, and whether you will ever see a barrel. Here is how each system works and where to ride it.
GuidesBuying a Home at a Surf Park: What It Actually Costs in 2026
Fourteen surf-anchored communities are now selling or building homes around a private wave, from $1.6 million residences in Waco to apartments in Draper. Here is what is on the market, how the access models differ, and the recurring costs nobody puts in the brochure.
NewsPHX Surf Plans a 40-Acre Wave Pool Resort South of Phoenix
PHX Surf would put a 137,000 square foot Endless Surf lagoon, a spa, and 100 3D-printed bungalows on 40 acres in Maricopa, Arizona. The design is finished and a March 2026 groundbreaking was announced, though there is still no public confirmation that construction has started.
NewsThe Money Behind the Waves: Notes From the First Surf Park Real Estate Conference
Bisnow ran the industry's first Surf Park Real Estate Conference in Orange County on July 23, and 380 people registered. The panels were about land, insurance, and financing rather than wave quality, and they explain a lot about why surf parks keep arriving attached to housing.
GuidesBest Surf Parks in the USA: The 2026 Guide
Eleven surf parks are open in the United States right now, and nine of them will actually sell you a session. Real prices from $40 to $250, which ones make peeling waves and which ones do not, and what the real catch is at every single one.
NewsA Wave Pool Will Host a World Surfing Title for the First Time
The ISA World Para Surfing Championship moves to DSRT Surf in Palm Desert from November 19 to 22, putting 140 athletes from 24 nations in a Wavegarden lagoon. It is the first ISA world title event ever held in an artificial wave, and for para surfing the reasons go well beyond novelty.
NewsCanada's First Full-Size Surf Park Files Its Permits, With Waves Promised for 2029
A development permit application for the South Britannia surf park and its Hub building landed at the regional district in July. It covers a seven-acre Wavegarden pool on Howe Sound, halfway between Vancouver and Whistler, and the developer is now pointing at 2029 for first waves.
NewsBahrain Is Building the Middle East's First Wavegarden, and the Gulf Is Just Getting Started
Construction is underway on Bahrain Surf Park, the MENA region's first Wavegarden Cove. It joins Surf Abu Dhabi, the largest wave pool of its kind on Earth, to make the Gulf one of the most aggressive wave pool markets anywhere. Here is what is being built and why the region keeps betting on artificial waves.
NewsThe Wave in Bristol Is Adding Overnight Camping, and It Changes What an Inland Surf Trip Can Be
The Wave opened The Field, an on-site campground, on July 1. Pitches start at 30 pounds a night and bell tents at 80, which turns Britain's original public wave pool from a day trip into a weekend. It lands alongside a full summer program of live music, demo days, and a new surf academy.
GuidesYour First Wave Pool Session: A Complete Beginner's Guide
Never surfed before? A wave pool is the best place on Earth to start. What to book, what to bring, what actually happens in a beginner session, and the mistakes everyone makes the first time.
GuidesHow Much It Costs to Surf a Wave Pool: The 2026 Price Guide
Session prices for all 37 open wave pools that publish a rate, split into standing waves and surf lagoons, because the two are different products at different prices. Converted to US dollars and checked 10 September 2026.
NewsTampa Is Getting a Surf Park, and It Uses a Wave Machine Nobody Else in America Has
Peak Surf Park cleared a key approval in Pasco County this month. It would be Tampa Bay's first wave pool and one of the first commercial builds of Surf Lakes, the Australian tech where a 1,400-ton plunger sends waves out in every direction at once.
NewsCompetitive Surfing Gets Its First Wave-Pool-Only Tour, Starting in the Swiss Alps
The new Wavepool Surf Tour skips the ocean entirely. You book a normal session, upload your two best waves, and a panel judges the footage. The first event ran at Alaia Bay from August 1, and entry starts at 30 dollars. Updated September 2026 with the tour's expanded plans.
GuidesBest Surf Parks in Europe: The 2026 Guide
Five surf lagoons are open across Europe right now, from a Scottish barrel machine to a canal in the middle of Rotterdam. Real prices, honest catches, and which one is worth the flight.
NewsKelly Slater's Surf Ranch Has New Owners, and the WSL Might Be Next
The World Surf League sold its stake in the Kelly Slater Wave Company earlier this year with no announcement. Here is who bought it, what it means for the pool in Lemoore, and why the League itself may be next.
GuidesEvery Surf Park Under Construction Right Now: The 2026 to 2028 Tracker
Twenty-nine wave pools are announced, in development, or under construction worldwide. Here are the twenty-three targeting a 2026 to 2028 opening, sorted by date, with an honest read on which dates will hold.
NewsVirginia Beach Is About to Have the Busiest Two Weeks in Surf Park History
Between August 23 and September 7, the same stretch of Virginia Beach oceanfront hosts a 64-year-old surf contest, the surf park industry's biggest conference, and a brand-new women's festival. Here is the full lineup.
NewsPerth Gets Its Turn: Construction Underway on One of the World's Biggest Wave Pools
Aventuur has broken ground on Perth Surf Park in Jandakot, a 62-module Wavegarden Cove tied for the largest in the world. First waves are expected in late 2027.
NewsFlorida Finally Gets a Surf Park: The Point Is Weeks From Opening in Fellsmere
America's first Endless Surf lagoon is nearly finished in Fellsmere, twenty minutes from Sebastian Inlet, with an early September opening in its sights. What the wave can do and what is still unknown.
NewsA Wave Pool Is Coming to Draper, and I Still Can't Quite Believe It
Draper just approved an 8.8-acre surf park at the point of the mountain, and USA Surfing picked it as their Olympic training center. A landlocked Utah surfer takes a deep breath.
NewsDSRT Surf Is Finished and Waiting on a Date, and the Desert Just Got a Second Wave
North America's largest Wavegarden lagoon is built and full in Palm Desert, with DSRT now pointing at late summer for public sessions. What is open at launch, what it costs, and how to not melt in the desert.
GuidesHow Do Wave Pools Work? A Beginner's Guide
A plain explanation of how a machine makes a surfable wave, what the difference between a surf lagoon and a standing wave means for your session, and what an hour actually costs. Start here, then go deeper.
GuidesBest Surf Parks in California: 2026 Complete Guide
California's surf-park boom is happening inland, in the desert. A complete guide to Palm Springs Surf Club, Kelly Slater's Surf Ranch, and the brand-new DSRT Surf, with wave tech, pricing, and trip tips.
GuidesBest Surf Parks in Texas: 2026 Complete Guide
Texas surfing runs through Waco, home of the PerfectSwell wave pool you may know as BSR Surf Resort, now Waco Surf. A complete guide to the wave, pricing, what's coming next, and how to plan your trip.