Wave Pool Mag

Jess Ponting relates his early days in Fiji and then working his way around the Pacific to San Diego. He ended up there for life becoming an Associate Professor at San Diego State University and is the Founder/Director of Center for Surf Research. He has an impressive resume: Dr. Jess Ponting is considered the leading academic and consultant in sustainable surf tourism. He holds the world’s first Masters and PhD degrees to focus specifically on this topic and is the world’s most published researcher in the field with 14 scholarly journal articles, 2 books, 2 book chapters, and 21 conference presentations. He is an Associate Professor in sustainable tourism at San Diego State University where he founded the Center for Surf Research in 2011 – the world’s first research center to focus specifically on sustainable surf tourism. He also co-founded Groundswell Educational Travel, a company that facilitates university students studying sustainable surf tourism in world class surfing destinations; STOKE, the world’s first certification program to focus specifically on surf and snow sport tourism; and SurfCredits, a program to raise money for non-profit organizations in surf tourism destinations. Dr. Ponting sits on the board of many surf related organizations including World Surfing Reserves, National Surfing Reserves, and Sustainable Surf. He has provided sustainable tourism consulting services in 11 countries and has advised the governments of several countries on the regulation and management of surf tourism.

Nick Hounsfield had a background in healthcare and is the chairman of Surfing England, having long been involved in the governing body. His dream to build a wave pool in a field outside Bristol has captured the attention of thousands, if not millions of people around the UK and the world. He chats with us about the highs and the lows, not just of the inception period but also about ongoing operations and the plans that The Wave has for the future. Exciting stuff!

I can picture Daniel teaching volleyball on Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro and wondering how these guys can fly in from Norway and enjoy such an amazing quality of life. So, being a man full of initiative he figured it out, jumped on a plane and moved to Norway to study. He had no choice but to work hard and get his degree, which he did. It was an incredible challenge, but he overcame it and is now a thriving member of Norwegian society and has embarked on another major challenge: creating the first wave pool in Norway.Listening to the challenges he has set himself and is overcoming them, I couldn't help but be hugely inspired. I know you will be too. Listen to the end, it wasn't planned but he has an amazing story about a world champion surfer.Check out Sunnnfjord Waves https://www.sunnfjordwaves.com/Daniel referenced this film about cold water surfing in Iceland: http://www.underanarcticsky.com/Hoddevik Surfing Beach https://goo.gl/maps/yAqitm3oDinCWmXn6

Catching up with Wavegarden is an exciting conversation. We discuss the traditional diamond shaped "Cove" and how it could be modified to fit different locations and topographies. We talk energy and how the Wavegarden is more efficient than any of it's competitors. We talk about some of the key projects that they're working on around the world and Séan lists the "next to market" contenders. It's definitely an exciting company to be working for!One point that really stood out for me was when Séan outlined some details of the Fazenda do Grama project in Brazil. Fascinating!

Scott Bass hails from San Diego and runs his own surf show: "The Boardroom Show" Check it out over here https://boardroomshow.com/ It's a solid surfing podcast and an excellent show where Scott brings people together around the stoke of surfing.We get to chat about his experiences in the following pools:Kelly Slater's Surf RanchTyphoon Lagoon in Disney WorldNLand in Texas (now closed)BSR in Waco, TexasIt's a great chat and he's an incredible personality. Thanks Scott!

Mark has built a brand around making waves. It's called https://www.waveprizm.com/ , however he is not about to compete with the major players at this stage. In this long conversation Mark recounts how his life led up to his current experimentation with wave machines and discusses his claim that he can make bigger waves that are currently on the market.It's a long chat, that gets very technical in places and some great stories are told in others. I'd love to hear your opinion, but podcasts don't really have a space for comments :(Keep listening, this episode was late due to some technical glitches but we'll be back with Scott Bass this Thursday!

We have an amazing page on our website over on www.wavepoolmag.com called the surf planner. It details all the projects in the space that we've written about and there are potentially quite a few others under wraps. In this chat Bryan and I head through all the projects we're aware of and proceed from the point of view of the companies who provide the technology:Kelly Slater Wave Co.WavegardenAmerican Wave MachinesSurf LakesSurf LochWhite WaterWe also mention the other smaller companies like: Wave Prizm, Swellspot, Swell MFG, Wave SEG, Ola wave pool, Webber Pools, Okahina. Additionally we discuss sheet waves vs RAPID waves (TM - just kidding) and the companies involved in that space. It's the perfect primer on wave pools for 2021!

Andrew Thatcher grew up surfing in the warm waters off Durban, South Africa and came to live in my home town, much further south before leaving for the USA back in 2000.The happiest coincidence occurred when a family connection to Tom Lochtefeld landed him a job at the legendary wave maker's Surf Loch and Wave Loch company. Tom had created the Flowrider and Andrew helped to spread the piece of joy all around the world. Flowriders are in a wide range of places, from cruise liners, to restaurants, to water parks and as stand alone venues. We talk a lot about Endless Surf, White Water's "new" product. It's essentially not new as they have been making waves for over 30 years when they built Typhoon Lagoon in Disney World and more than 400 other pools around the world.It's a fascinating company, with equally absorbing products. You'll enjoy this one.Cheers,Nick

Ryder Thomas is a fun, engaging character, and while he was sitting in a cold grey day in New York, I jumped on a call with him from my base down here in Portugal.We had a long and super interesting conversation all about the inception story of his company Pegasus Lodges, his relation to the Paris wave pool project and then his project down in the Caribbean at Punta Cana. Get this, it has not one but TWO pools to surf.We talk about how Swell International evolved out of this and another exciting project which is going down in the Azores, Portugal. Listen up, it's a good one!-Nick

Adam Bonvin had a dream a long time ago and worked diligently to create it. His story is an inspiring one, where someone with a completely different background to that of a big time property developer and armed with a passion for the sport envisaged a completely new tourism offer. He is on the road to opening that dream in April 2021 and not even Covid can stop him! Good luck for the launch Adam, it was very motivating to hear your story.Nick