Kelly Slater says Palm Beach County wave park will open in 2019

Great summary of ALL Kelly's accomplishments...

 

“In a zoning application, Slater laid out a proposal that would allow pro surfers to train at the facility and the possibility of an occasional contest. However, Slater has been quiet about who else might be allowed to use the pool, and how much wave time would cost.”

I guess it’s not open to the public?

 

Hmmmmmm.....

 

True story:
I got a buddy in manhattan who's dad is a real estate developer (mucho $).
They own Mangos nightclub in Orlando and now hes building the worlds tallest roller coaster in Orlando.
What does this have to do with surfing?
He's also building a wave pool next to the roller coaster that will open in Summer 2018 (hopefully)

 

idk why they never put those things somewhere inland.putting a wavepool in a state that has the ocean doesn't really make sense,atleast to me.why would I pay to go surf when I can actually go surf in the ocean lol.


probably wont even be open to the public

 

There’s a zillion surfers in Florida and about 17 in Iowa. So, on days the waves are poor, maybe people line up at the wave pool?

 

"On days the waves are poor" i.e. 350 days a year here in south FL

 

Why would he build it here if it is just for training pros? Why not just have them come out to the one out west. Or there are places in more northern parts of FL where the land is half price.

The spot he picked to build it makes it obvious to me it will be open to the public. I live in Jupiter so it better be open to the GD public!

 

Jupiter is the northernmost tip of the "Greatr Miami" area. (Dade/Broward/PBC).
It's the 5th biggest media market in the country.
Millions of people live there, and tens of millions of people visit there annually.
Tourons WILL drive up from Miami to surf it.
Watch the traffic in northern PBC get outta control.
It will be open to the public FER SURE.

 

This touron will drive there from SC to surf it.

 

If it's open to the public....guaranteed...a middle income person could not afford to get in the line up.

 

Makes things easy for my wife. No need wondering what I want for the bday or xmas every year!

 

I zoning applications down there are anything like zoning applications are here in Maryland, it goes something like this:

Step 1: apply for project that is small, and less of a stretch of existing zoning matters (i.e. its a closed training facility not an amusement park)

Step 2: Build the "training" facility open it up for the limited use proposed, but allow the public in for a few "special occasions" give the local surfers a taste especially well connected kids whose parents are on the county council / zoning board.

Step 3: Push the envelope, apply to allow the public to use it, and complain that jobs will be lost if the business isn't allowed to expand.

 

Aren't the KS wave pools like $75 for 2 or 3 waves? What if you blow it on your first wave, do you get a rebate for another?

 

hahaha

 

I smell sellout.......

 

Prices like that are why I gave up snowboarding.

If I get a free-of-charge invite I may try it, until then i'll be surfing real waves.

 

It will be interesting to watch as a business model. I would imagine the initial investment will be quite large between preparing the site and purchasing/licensing the actual wave making technology. Then you'll have ongoing costs for engineers to run and maintain it. Insurance, safety personnel and equipment could be expensive too. Everything about this operation will be incredibly specialized. All of that and you get a limited amount of waves every day that you can charge people to ride, depending on how much down time there is. Assuming this isn't a charity, they'll need to make a profit too. I'm sure it'll be incredibly expensive until the technology becomes more widespread and the initial demand for a man made wave eventually reaches its long term level. I'm sure there will be thousands of people ready to fork their money over to try it for at least a few years. I wonder how long it will take to turn a profit. This has trust fund investor written all over it if WSL doesn't build the facilities itself.