Stephanie Gilmore is the a living legend. The nice thing about Steph, though, is that she doesn’t act like a living legend. Despite her fame and all the accolades and adoring fans, she manages to maintain an air of normalcy about her. She is one the best surfers to ever live, yes, but she’s also just Steph. And Steph recently headed to the newest version of the Surf Ranch, the wave at Surf Abu Dhabi.
“When we opened the first wave, the mystery it created and excitement that ensued was something I’m not sure many have experienced,” said Kelly Slater in the World Surf League’s press release about Surf Abu Dhabi. “Surfing reaches people in all corners of the globe and I’m always surprised with who gravitates towards this world. Having a KSWC wave in Abu Dhabi is something I’ve never dreamt would happen but here it is. Unbelievable. While not many would have predicted the location for the project there are great synergies with Abu Dhabi, and like KSWC, they are always innovating and ahead of the curve. This is gonna be a lot of fun for so many people.”
Surf Abu Dhabi is, as the name implies, in Abu Dhabi. Hudayriyat Island, to be precise. The pool was announced in a WSL press release in June of 2023, and uses Kelly Slater Wave Company technology, the same tech that creates the waves at the Surf Ranch in Lemoore. This pool, however, is far bigger.
For her part, Gilmore certainly appears to have had that fun that Kelly was talking about. “What a trip!” she wrote afterwards. “Thank you @kellyslater @kswaveco and @surfabudhabi for the invite to Abu Dhabi. A world class wave in the UAE! Thank you for making us feel incredibly welcome and congratulations for bringing the project to life.”
