When most of us think about surfing, we picture coastal cities and the benefits of living close to the ocean. We don't think of it as something you can enjoy if you live in a city that's nowhere near the ocean.
However, a little research reveals that lake and river surfing exist in certain places. However, in the absence of any of these, the next best option is a surf park. Surf parks simulate ocean waves, and because they blend so well into the environment, they draw many people to the activity. As you shop for your next residence, a development with a surf park may be a great option to consider.
Even if you don't think of yourself as a surfer, surf parks add a certain aesthetic to a development, and they're a chance to discover a hobby that gives you a great workout while you have fun. Aventuur is a leader in the business of building surf parks. The company uses the Wavegarden Cove wave-generating technology to build its parks, which are integrated into new residential developments. We caught up with the company's CEO, Nicholas Edelman, to get his take on the benefits of these parks and blue health in general.
How are the principles of Blue Health influencing the design of Aventuur’s public spaces?
For our team, we have all drawn a huge inspiration from the ocean and the coastal communities that have formed around the beach lifestyle. There is a deep link between blue health and these coastal communities whether people are looking out at the blue expanse, doing their daily ocean swim or catching waves with friends.
Growing up near Bondi Beach in Sydney, I experienced firsthand how the water becomes a natural gathering point. People come to surf or swim, but they also come to exercise, meet friends, have a coffee or simply spend time outdoors. That relationship between activity, nature and community is something we think about a lot when designing our destinations and bringing a slice of coastal culture to inland environments.
The Wavegarden Cove is the anchor, but we’re equally intentional about the spaces and landscaping around it. We want people to arrive early and have a coffee with friends, spend time outside after a surf, have a meal or simply enjoy the landscape. There should be a natural rhythm between high energy of the surf activity and the relaxed, calm experience we provide afterwards.
Importantly, that will look different in every market. We consider the local climate, natural surroundings and culture so each destination feels of place rather than like a collection of amenities that could have been placed anywhere.
What signs suggest that surf parks could offer meaningful wellness, community, and commercial value?
I would say the existing surf parks have already proven they are powerful community and wellbeing drivers by offering powerful experiences whether that's a group surf lesson, a music festival or coffee with friends looking at the Wavegarden. We believe people are increasingly looking for experiences that help them get outside, off their phones and the opportunity to spend quality time with friends and family.
We’re spending more of our lives online, and I think that only makes those real-world experiences more valuable (and important!). Surfing naturally delivers that. You’re outdoors, you’re moving, you’re completely present, and when everything comes together, you get that incredible feeling of flow. Surfing also becomes as much about that waves as your pre and post surf rituals and we want to cater to this at our destinations.
There’s also a huge group of people who are drawn to surfing but have been limited by access to quality waves (or waves at all). There are more than 28 million surf enthusiasts in the U.S., but only about 10% are active surfers. To me, that says the interest is already there and the Wavegarden provides access to experience the sport. The opportunity is to make surfing more accessible and give people a progression pathway, whether that’s standing up for the first time or working on your bottom and top turns with a coach.
How does Aventuur plan to make its destinations welcoming and relevant to people who have never surfed before?
We believe it’s important for the people delivering the experience to have “salt in the veins” and at Aventuur, the quality and authenticity of the surf experience will always be incredibly important to us.
For a beginner, the first point is to match the wave type to the experience of the guest, which is hard to do with Mother Nature. Wavegarden Cove technology allows us to create consistent waves for a wide range of abilities, so someone can learn in gentle conditions, build confidence and progress at their own pace.
Secondly, providing coaching and instruction to make sure people feel safe, understand the technique and then have a good day regardless of how well they did in the water. While the ocean will always be number one in our eyes, first time experiences can be variable and even dangerous. The Wavegarden changes that and we can help people get the skills so they can enjoy the sport in the wild.
But you don’t have to surf to feel part of the place. You might come with friends who are surfing, have a coffee or a meal, work out, spend time outdoors or bring your kids for the day for lessons and enjoy some time to yourselves. We want people to feel the energy of the surf lifestyle and enjoy being around the water, whether they ever get on a board or not.
How does the company determine which U.S. markets are best suited for surf-anchored destinations?
We start with the data and then move to get a deep understanding of the community we are in. We’ve built a proprietary market analytics platform that helps us understand where the demand exists, looking at demographics, consumer behavior, site characteristics, drive times, land economics and the broader real estate opportunity.
But the numbers only tell you part of the story. We spend a lot of time understanding the community itself. Is there an active outdoor culture? Are people invested in health and wellness? How do they spend their leisure time? And ultimately, can we create something that feels like it genuinely belongs there?
That’s part of what makes the U.S. opportunity so interesting. We have exclusive Wavegarden rights across eight markets that include both coastal cities with established surf communities and inland markets like Dallas, where there’s enthusiasm for surfing but no consistent access to quality waves. The markets can look very different, but the goal is the same: understand what people want from their community and build a destination that responds to it.
Beyond surfing, which hospitality, fitness, and wellness components are most important to the success of these destinations?
Surfing is the anchor, but we spend a lot of time thinking about everything that happens before and after someone gets in the water. Some of the best parts of a day at the beach are having a coffee with friends before a surf, grabbing a meal afterwards, recovering, exercising, cruising in the surf shop or simply spending time outside.
That’s the kind of experience we want to recreate around the Cove. Depending on the destination, that can include recovery facilities (ice/sauna/massage), fitness studios (pilates/yoga/boxing), restaurants and cafes, beach clubs, retail and spaces for families and the broader community to spend time together.
For me, it’s less about having a long list of amenities and more about how they work together. The best destinations have a natural rhythm to them and programming will drive expereince. You might come for a surf and stay for lunch, or come to work out and end up watching the waves with friends. When people have multiple reasons to be there, the destination becomes part of their routine rather than somewhere they visit once.
What is the vision for Aventuur’s inaugural Jacksonville development, and what experiences and amenities will the 45-acre site include?
Our vision has always been to create something that is “By Jacksonville, For Jacksonville.” Jacksonville has a really passionate surf community and a strong outdoor coastal lifestyle, so we want the destination to feel authentic to North Florida and become a place the broader community is proud to call its own.
At the heart of the development will be the Wavegarden Cove, creating consistent, high-quality waves for everyone from someone surfing for the first time through to elite athletes. Around that, we’re creating a broader surf, leisure and wellbeing destination with a high-performance surf academy, health and wellness facilities, food and beverage, retail, event and community spaces, with the masterplan also allowing for future residential uses.
We’re also drawing inspiration from Jacksonville itself, from the local surf culture to the natural landscape and surf breaks like Poles. The goal is to create something that feels connected to its surroundings, with greenery and natural elements throughout, while creating new opportunities for people to surf, get outside and spend time together.
How does Wavegarden’s Cove technology support a year-round surf experience for different skill levels?
What excites me about the Wavegarden Cove is the consistency and the progression pathway it creates. It can produce up to 1,000 ocean-like waves per hour, with different waves for different abilities, so someone can be getting to their feet for the first time while an experienced surfer is working on perfecting airs, barrel riding or turns.
For a beginner, you can start on a gentle Waikiki wave, build confidence and progress at your own pace. For an experienced or elite surfer, you can surf the same wave repeatedly and really work on your technique. As a surfer, that ability to get repetition and see yourself improving is incredibly compelling and is hard to do in the ocean alone.
We also care a lot about how efficiently we can deliver that experience. Wavegarden Cove is the most energy-efficient wave-generation technology available globally, which was an important consideration for us as we looked at how to create these destinations responsibly and at scale.
And we’ve always been clear that this complements the ocean; it doesn’t replace it. Mother Nature is always number one. The Cove simply gives people another opportunity to surf when the ocean is flat, the conditions aren’t right, or when they want that consistency to work on their surfing.
What are developers and investors looking for when evaluating the long-term financial and community value of a surf park?
One of the biggest changes is that there’s much more evidence behind the category today. When we started Aventuur, there was still a lot of hypotheses around the surf park model. Today, there are 11 Wavegarden Cove facilities operating globally and years of data around surf session purchases, memberships, capex and operating costs. Investors can now look at real operating history and understand the unit economics in a way they simply couldn’t before.
For us, surfing is the anchor, but the opportunity extends well beyond the Cove. Hospitality, wellness, food and beverage, retail and community programming broaden the commercial opportunity, while the surf park can also create value across the surrounding real estate. Golf courses and ski resorts have demonstrated that relationship between sport, experience and real estate for decades, and surf is proving it has the potential to do something similar.
We’re also seeing institutional capital become more comfortable with the category. Our A$140 // US$100million Perth Surf Park, for example, attracted investment from insurance company, RAC alongside the Wyllie Group family office. I think that kind of backing speaks to how far the industry has come and the growing confidence in the model.
Ultimately, investors want to know you have the right market, the right product and a team that can execute. We spend a huge amount of time understanding demographics, consumer demand, drive times, land economics and the broader market before we move forward. Unit economics are only part of it; the experience and emotion of the place will directly correlate to the strength of earnings. If you create somewhere people genuinely want to be and that community is proud of, the economics tend to follow.
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