A decade ago, most surfers would scoff at the thought of a machine making waves.
A place away from the beach and Mother Nature, artificial waves instead of swells — it all seemed so … unnatural.
Fast forward to this week’s Newport Beach City Council meeting, and it was apparent the tide has turned. Hundreds of surfers packed City Hall to support a wave pool in their backyard, just 15 minutes and a few miles from the beach.
Surf coaches and surf clubs, surf shop owners and everyday wave riders showed up to voice their support for the Snug Harbor Surf Park, which will build Orange County’s first wave pool – a milestone moment in the region’s rich surf history.
No swell? Tide too high or too low? Water too cold? Wind too choppy? Ocean polluted? Sharks?
Snug Harbor will have epic surf — all day every day.
But it comes at a price.
The wave pool will be built on a section of the Newport Beach Golf Course, where three holes, the driving range, the Original Pizza restaurant and a pro shop will be replaced. The City Council approved on Tuesday the general plan changes, conditional use permit and other necessary findings for the project to move ahead.
“My heart is broken, a little bit, watching this crowd,” said Frog House Surf Shop owner TK Brimer, looking out at a sea of different colored hats — black and blue to support the wave park, green for the golfers.
Nearly 50 people spoke at the meeting, a split group that either supported the wave pool or opposed the losses to the golf course.
The golf course has been around for decades and is one of the more affordable places to play, the golf community argued, calling it a Newport Beach staple where generations of golfers have taken their first swings. Its 55-year land lease is up and the owner has been exploring other options for the property.
The county-owned land north of Irvine Avenue, where holes 10-18 sit, would remain unchanged by the project. A third parcel with holes 3-8, south of Mesa Drive would also remain, with a golf cart path planned to connect the back nine with the front six.
“I see this project as a great compromise and a jewel in Newport Beach, a beautiful city we love and we are proud of,” said Brimer. “Fifteen holes of golf is not 18, but at the same time, be thankful for 15 holes. There will still be golf … no matter how the vote goes, still love your neighbor.”
Kevin Fitzgerald, director of public affairs for the Southern California Golf Association, said he understands the pressure on land and recreational space, and is glad the county is committed to keeping golf on its parcel, but added he’s concerned because “we haven’t seen anything that solidifies the future of golf.”
“At the end of the day, I think we’re looking at a funeral for golf, longer term,” he said, noting the group hopes to be involved in conversations about the sport’s future at the site. “That’s what it appears to be. That’s sad, it’s something that has been important in the community here.”
City councilmembers said they were swayed by the rights of private property owners, so long as they go through the proper permits and approvals, which the surf park developers did, they argued.
“This is a very complex project, this is a project we have to get right,” said Mayor Joe Stapleton. “I also think we can protect the charm, scale and coastal characteristics that make us Newport Beach and why we are such a unique city … I think this project strikes a balance.”
He sees the wave pool creating the opportunity for people to get off a plane at John Wayne Airport and surf just down the street.
“I don’t get out in the ocean to surf,” he added, “but maybe this will give me the opportunity to do that, in the confines of a wave park.”
Newport Beach surfer Adam Cleary, founder of development group Back Bay Barrels, called the council’s decision “a vote of confidence in Newport Beach’s future.”
“It was awesome to see the surfer army come together and just show up from all corners of Southern California,” Cleary, also a surf coach at Pacifica Christian High School, said a day after the city’s approval.
Cleary, who got into commercial real estate 23 years ago and sells title insurance, compared wave pools to the invention of the ski lift, which gave people easier access to the slopes, allowing them to get more reps in, rather than spend the day hiking up the hill.
“It took you a long time to get good – that’s the exact same thing with surfers,” he said. “And when you try it, you can’t help but smile, it’s so fun. It gives you that joy, that amazing feeling we all know.”
Newport Beach rarely produces elite surfers because of its poor wave quality, Cleary said. San Clemente has developed several high-level surfers because they can train at nearby Lower Trestles, considered the best wave on the mainland.
“Not anymore,” he said. “We have a better wave, breaking left and right, any shape. It’s a game changer not just for Newport, but the surf community of Southern California.”
Shawna Schaffner, project manager for Back Bay Barrels, talked about a vision for a “family gathering place” where beginners to experts can ride waves, a place where kids camps and junior lifeguard training can happen, where high school sports teams can practice in a controlled environment.
“Everyone lives here because of the water,” Cleary said. “We do everything water here — boats, fishing, paddling, all of it. It’s all centered around water. This is just another extension of the love we all have for water.”
Resident Jeff Roberts told councilmembers surfing in a wave pool is “one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever done in my life.” A group of his friends regularly flies from Orange County to Texas, on a pilgrimage to Waco Surf, a wave pool that has swelled in popularity in recent years.
“This city deserves to have the first wave park here in Orange County, representing the beauty of Southern California,” he said. “It will bring years of joy to all of us residents. If you have not been in a wave pool, you have something to experience here.”
Repetitions and training that can be done in a wave pool will be a game changer for athletes, said Chris Moreno, founder of West Coast Boardriders and the US Boardriders Club, the largest club surfing organization in the United States.
A typical wave in Newport Beach might last just a few seconds, enough to do a couple of maneuvers, he said.
“That’s only when waves are breaking. We are at the mercy of tides, swell, wind — there are many days we can’t surf at all,” he said. “That’s why the wave pool, Snug Harbor, is such an incredible opportunity. It creates perfect conditions every time — no waiting on the ocean, no waiting for days.”
A wave pool can have 20-second waves, where surfers have more time on the wave to improve their skills. And they can repeat the moves over and over again.
“The level of progression that can come from that kind of repetition is game-changing. One of our main goals is to develop and nurture the next generation of surf champions,” Moreno said. “This project will not only strengthen our surf community, it will help Newport Beach and the United States stay competitive on the world surfing stage.”
The Snug Harbor project is expected to take 18 months, putting its completion ahead of the LA28 Olympics, with hopes that some of the athletes will stay and use the controllable wave for training.
“Surfing is a cornerstone of California culture, and Newport Beach is about to take that legacy to the next level,” said Vipe Desai, executive director of the Surf Industry Members Association. “A wave pool will not only fuel surf progression, but also boost local business, tourism and community engagement.”
Surfer Chris Brown, owner of Campsurf in Manhattan Beach, drove from the South Bay to show his support.
“I believe this will be an incredible project for Newport,” he said. “It’s also worth noting most cities would kill for this type of thing in their neighborhoods. It’s hard to think of anything else that would be as strong of an economic driver as a world-class wave pool, which will be a regional draw.”
While prices have not been announced, Cleary said surfing at Snug Harbor will be “affordable.” The Palm Springs Surf Club, which opened last year, charges $200 an hour.
The wave pool is expected to use the latest Wave Garden technology, said to produce 1,000 waves an hour, with waves on demand that can be ordered by the flip of a switch.
The project plans a three-story, 50-foot-tall building for a surf academy, shop and restaurant, with a second floor for fitness and yoga, with locker rooms and a lounge, and a third floor dedicated to office space and a VIP music recording studio.
The basement would have golf cart and surfboard storage. Another 40-foot, 2-story building would have short-term accommodations for athletes with 20 rooms.
Parking would offer 351 spots, including for the golf course.
The surfing lagoon, which is designed to fit up to 72 surfers, would have two 5.1 million-gallon basins, which would be drained twice a year, officials said, with water captured into the county recycling and reuse program.
The wave pool would be expected to use 28 million gallons of water annually, 15 million to be returned to the Orange County Water District supply via groundwater replenishment system.
Solar panels are expected to generate nearly half the energy required for wave making and circulation, officials said.
Several wave pools are in the works in the region. Palm Springs Surf Club is already making waves, while DSRT Surf in Palm Desert is under construction, as is another wave pool in Oceanside.
It wasn’t until 11-time world champion Kelly Slater in 2015 unveiled Surf Ranch in Lemoore, near Fresno, that the surf world started warming to the idea of waves away from the beach. The first public surf event was held in 2018.
Then, the pandemic hit, beaches closed and surfers were limited on travel – so many sought out the man-made waves in Waco, Texas. Word quickly spread in the surf world about the consistency of machine-operated surf.
Another wave pool, Atlantic Park Surf, just opened a few months ago in Virginia Beach with the backing of music mogul Pharrell Williams.
Surf lineups have become more crowded than ever in recent years, and the wave pool gives an opportunity to surf in a safe, controlled environment, said longtime Newport Beach surfer Tim Burnham.
“And here in California, conditions are rarely good – it’s either too windy, too small, or too crowded. This facility eliminates all of those issues entirely,” he said. “Those against the project argue that since we have the ocean so close we don’t need it. But if that’s the case, why are so many surfers getting behind it?”
This project opens up surfing to all skill levels with no crowds, no hazards, he said.
“And most importantly … no sharks.”