Surf Snowdonia has officially entered a flat spell that will last into 2016.
Things seem to be getting worse by the day for Wavegarden and Surf Snowdonia. A day after it was announced Surf Snowdonia was shutting down due to a mechanical fault for the third time in its existence, the park is now saying its doors are closed for good this year. Surf Snowdonia was scheduled to close for the winter in the next 60 days, but the early closure forced the company to terminate the seasonal contracts of 60 seasonal employees. Making matters more difficult, another eight permanent staff members were laid off.
In an August temporary closure, Wavegarden engineers drained the 6 million gallon main lagoon and fixed the wave generating machinery in just over a week. In September a tear in the lagoon liner halted business for another five days. Now, another major breakdown of the wave generating machinery has engineers calling for a minimum three months of repairs. That will mean a flat spell that could easily spill into 2016, when the park turns its attention toward a Spring 2016 re opening.
A statement on the park’s website says “During the winter closure period we will be making further investment in order to improve our surf lagoon and broaden our offer. By spring of 2016 we hope to open for our first full season with an improved offer. We also hope to re-employ many of the excellent people who have worked with us this season.”
What those improvements will be remains to be seen, but by that point Wales won’t be the only destination in the world with a commercial Wavegarden facility. Another park is scheduled to open in Austin, Texas in the spring of 2016 with plans for more parks around the globe as well.
