Kelly Slater. In a pool.
The buzz of a new wavepool proposal in South Florida has had the surf world anxious for Kelly Slater Wave Co’s first (likely) commercial surf park. No doubt, putting Kelly’s wave on offer for the common surfer will be the biggest news in manmade waves since…well, ever. Wavegarden has opened two surf parks to the public in the past two years with confirmed plans to build several more in the future, but there’s no denying the general surf public has been much more excited about KSWC’s barreling perfection since getting our first glimpse in 2015.
The 22-page zoning application, submitted by the West Palm Beach firm Urban Design Kilday Studios, is requesting to build “Surf Ranch Florida” on an area of land that UDKStudios says has been available for development for the past ten years. “The Surf Ranch would be comprised of a man-made surfing lake and support facilities intended for public recreational and competition purposes, which may include larger events requiring separate approvals for Special Events,” the application reads. The “concrete lake” is going to cover 13 acres, measuring 2,000 feet long by 185 feet wide. Building the first competition arena for a WSL event seems to be the most intriguing possibility that’s been discussed since the news broke.
There are two mentions of KSWC in the application and of course, the use of the name “Surf Ranch” is a pretty good hint that this is Kelly’s wave. Just a week ago Slater dropped a hint on Instagram that there are “some exciting projects in the works,” including some good news for goofyfooters. But other than that, the proposal never explicitly says Kelly Slater Wave Company is Urban Kilday Design Studios’ client, and neither UDKS or the WSL responded to confirm by email or phone that “Surf Ranch Florida” is, in fact, a KSWC project.
So while every common assumption tells us this new South Florida surf park is going to be the world’s first chance to flock to Kelly’s wave, it looks like we’ll all have to wait just a bit longer to know if the dream becomes a reality. It was just last summer a similar proposal was made to give San Diego’s Seaport Village a makeover, complete with fancy things like an Equinox and a Kelly Slater Wave Co. pool. That plan was never approved. So, onto the next, I suppose. This could be more of the same, or maybe this time it’s going happen. People will keep holding their breath either way.
