Whether it be clean and seemingly endless barrels, a heavy shore break with big air sections, or even a mellow and slower wave with big open faces, every surfer dreams of taking their favourite quiver from their board bag, paddling through the break, and taking off on that elusive “perfect wave”. But what if there was a location where you could find all of these types of waves and more, breaking perfectly every day? With the advancements in man made waves a real “Surfers Paradise” might be closer than you think, but how will “perfection on demand” shape the future of surfing?

With popular breaks around the world becoming more and more crowded, surf rage and accidental collisions are becoming all too common. In popular surfing destination the Gold Coast, council are searching for a solution.

Along with the recent extension to Kirra big groyne (aimed at resurrecting the iconic point break), the Gold Coast City Council is considering proposals designed to ease congestion on the southern beaches including the building of several man made surf breaks proposed for Gold Coast beaches north of Burleigh Heads. Gold Coast Surf Council co-chairman Brad Farmer explains “Snapper Rocks and the other Superbank locations have become world famous and iconic but Kelly Slater is right when he’s called it the most crowded break in the world,” he said.

“We need the best quality waves and many more of them and we think science and surfing can come together with the strategic dumping of sand in locations along the coastline to create new breaks and reduce the number of people crowded at the major sites.”

There is little doubt that altering the coastline to make man made breaks can make up part of the solution, however with different conditions (wind and swell directions) suiting different locations it is also likely that the crowd will simply be mobilised. Northern beaches would be just as likely to attract surfers on mass when conditions have blown out the southern points. And what about those dreaded flat spells where the Gold Coast beaches turns into Lake Pacific?

Man made wave pools generate their own swell and are becoming a real option for reducing crowding on popular beaches. The Wavegarden in Spain (perhaps the longest man made wave) produces small but perfect 2-3 foot waves with surfers able to link together multiple turns before the ride ends. The Wavegarden is not on the coast, instead waves are generated in a lake, and is arguably the benchmark for producing quality man made waves.

New designs and concepts being proposed aim to replicate all types of breaks found in nature, but one design in particular promises to offer surfers a wave which cannot be found anywhere in nature, an endless wave.

The oval or circular shaped wave pool would consist of a wave endlessly wrapping around a centre island. Rumours have surfaced that Kelly Slater is looking to launch this revolutionary design in Austalia.

(IMAGE/Kelly Slater Wave Co.) This image, taken from the Kelly Slater Wave Company website, shows an artist’s rendering of a doughnut-shaped “endless wave pool” for surfing, envisioned by the Cocoa Beach native Slater as the center of a resort-type experience.

With technology’s growing ability to replicate and even improve on nature the future of surfing is unpredictable. Will man made wave pools and surf resorts be the future of surfing? Are planned communities and resorts based around man made surfing facilities feasible? Is it possible for somewhere like Dubai to become a popular surfing destination, or even hold WCT events? Or will surfers always crave the challenges and unpredictability that can only be found in nature.