NLand Wave Park in Austin Re-Opens Friday

Good info yank. I've been wondering aboot whether or not to make the drive over there. Looks like we'll be heading that way in the fall for a wedding, if so I'll probably swing by. I'm sure by then I'll be jonesing for a wave if this summer is anything like last. Probably end up flying/renting a board as I don't see the value of driving 11hrs one way to bring a board for that wave. Thanks for the info

 

I saw a couple recent vids from a couple pros that went there and it was less than impressive. So I was wondering your first hand account. And it seems right about what I was thinking. I don't really get the point of a wave pool that doesn't provide waves you can practice maneuvering on. I would think that would be the point since it is actually the same wave over and over and over. So I guess Kelly really does have the wave pool game on lock

 

What a joke. Tell me how this is better than typhoon lagoon? At least that's an actual wave. I didn't need a first hand account to tell me what a joke this place was. I could tell just by looking at it on YouTube from users. The review did tell me though that there's also a ton of paddling involved which is absolutely ridiculous since the main points of having a recreational wave pool equals having an easy paddle out/user friendly. Its like having a ski hill where you have no lifts and you charge people to walk up. Just a pain in the ass.

At 90 bucks an hour, it's 720 dollars for an 8 hour ticket! And people thought skiing was expensive! All this to ride waist high mush that's not an actual wave, but a wake with difficult/annoying paddle out conditions, waits between your waves, can't carve, and a drop in that doesn't even resemble the ocean? Yeah count me out.

It's a question if they can get enough dumb yuppies with cash to burn to come to that place to make a profit. Once the novelty wears off that wave pool is going to get boring real quick. A wave pool should be user friendly with an easy paddle out and should be priced so a normal person can hit it up a few times a week for a few hours per session. At 3 hours per session 3 times a week that equals 800 bucks a week, which is totally outrageous. Their new wave cove tech looks way better than this, but we'll see once it's actually in action. It's coming to ny.

An average "close out" beach break that's normally FREE is way better since how often to do you get a parking ticket for 58 bucks? Do you spend 800 bucks a week on parking tickets?

 

So, tell us how you really feel.

Yeah I think it sucks too

 

Good review Yank. Sounds like it may be fun with low expectations but at that price I won't be wasting my money. I've never even tried the one at Typhoon Lagoon and I have lived in FL my entire life. I would go if invited but to me it's not surfing. Plus I hate crowds, lines, waiting, loud kids, etc.

 

Thanks for the write-up. It helps to read what the actual experience is like from somebody that did it.

I didn't know anything about this park until I read this thread, so after reading your experience I looked it up on YouTube. I see what you mean about the difficulty catching the wave, and riding it. It's one thing to see some pro ripping it up, but when you see some average joe surfers on it, what you're describing makes perfect sense.

 

got a ticket for backing up? I'm confused Z, please explain!

 

I fail to see why any real surfers would even think of going to a surf park; sounds illogical.

 

Nice review Yankee-
Barry has his own POOL

 

Thank you Mr. Spock lol

 

I'd totally hit up a surf park if it was reasonably priced and a descent wave, UNLIKE "NLAND". During the numerous miserable long flat spells during the warm summer, if a wave like typhoon lagoon existed in the boston or ri area, it seems like a really fun way to break the flat spell blues and have some fun. I guess I'm not "cool".

In a place that gets waves with consistency like southern CA I don't see much of a point to a wave pool, but on the east coast it makes sense. Even Kelly's wave, while it may look good in professional shooting in very controlled conditions, if it's still a foil then you are basically going straight instead of across the wave. Foil waves are not complete waves. They are a wake. The best artificial waves I've seen are actually decades old tech that exist in Dubai/Florida. Hopefully this new cove tech by wave garden is as good as those and if NYC is successful, maybe they can build another one outside Boston. Would really make summer more bearable especially if they could get the wave to chest high. Maybe even make a sandbar bottom wave where you could change the angle of the wave to avoid closeouts. If they could make it as good as a descent somewhat shallow and hollow beach break like many EC beach breaks then it would be a hoot.

 

You have zero idea what surfing is about.
Take up extreme knitting--you can do that in Boston as well.....

 

Barry,
I suspect any logic will be lost on you, but here goes:

I would definitely surf a wave pool if, for example, I was on a Disney holiday with the family, say 5 days, and wanted to ensure a surf day in the middle. I could hit Typhoon while the family did Epcot or something.

Or, a day with the family at Typhoon that we planned anyway, and the wife and I are sipping margaritas, and I get an hour to go surf while she holds down the fort.

Or, most unlikely, for some reason I'm passing through Texas, and NLand is within say 2 hours of driving distance for whatever reason, and for $90 I can get a few waves and exprerience the novelty of a few waves in the middle of ****ing nowhere. Of course, board and wetsuit are extra, so plan ahead.

You guys seem to think this will somehow supplant regular surfing. I see it as a Magic Mountain experience. Even Typhoon has its place. Not for us, normally. But if you're on a Florida vacation anyway, and have to be there anyway, and can then throw a hundred clams for a few waves, why not? Damn, man, sometimes one off the top feels like a victory if its been flat enough. A surf session on a Disney vacation almost feels as cheating as a happy ending massage...maybe moreso actually.

 

What hurt me about this thread, and why Yankee's experience is so valuable, is that I just assumed it was like a wave every 30 seconds, so if you're out there for 50 minutes and fit you're getting like 30-50 waves. 4 Waves is not what I had in mind; that cash to wave ratio doesn't work unless I know those 4 waves are going to be Pipe-memorable, or Scam-memorable. Sometimes, getting a wave when you shouldn't carries some extra value, you know what I mean if you've done it.

 

New Smyrna and Cocoa Beach are both within 45 minutes - 1hr from Orlando. Maybe $20 in gas, a real wave, in a real ocean, none of the BS of being at an "amusement" park. Take the $70 you save and go get a nice dinner and drinks, maybe even a cheap hooker or a bag of dope, whatever you're into. Disney is the gayest place on Earth.

 

This is a comment on surfline about a new mega wave pool. I will post the link

"Since noone in surf media has the balls to print the facts, let me share a couple of key issues: PRICING-unless your prices invite a large percentage of repeat customers, you are doomed. SAFETY- opening day of NLand there was a spinal injury, the wave was made smaller ever since. You simply cannot produce "huge barrels" without the inherent safety risk to the public and liability. This fact alone is the reason Kelly's pool or anything better will never succeed."

Will lawyers stop wave pools in 1st world countries? I guess 3rd world countries will always have the best waves


http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/a...po-theres-a-new-wavepool-on-the-block_147615/