A Kelly Slater wave pool will soon open to the public in Abu Dhabi. The state-owned developer of the project, Modon Properties, touts it as the world’s largest man-made pool, the longest barrel, and the longest ride. They say it will be the most advanced surf park in the world. Kelly Slater and a slew of pro surfers recently tested it out and it definitely looks fun. Modon is plopping a perfect wave into an affluent, largely surf-deprived country. How will this mold the burgeoning surf culture that already exists in the United Arab Emirates? It all depends on how they price it.
The Kelly Slater pool built in the central California farm town of Lemoore has arguably had the biggest impact on global surfing in the last decade. It made surfers completely reimagine what’s possible in a pool and, regardless of mixed public opinions on the topic, it became an integral part of winning a world title. However, its impact on the surf culture of California has been negligible. Aside from pro surfers, the wealthy, and those who are well connected, the vast majority of California surfers haven’t surfed it and will never surf it due to the exorbitant price. The per day cost is around USD $5,000 to $7,000 per person.
If Modon prices the Abu Dhabi pool similarly as the Lemoore pool, the U.A.E. surf scene likely will experience much of the same as the Californians. But if they bring down their price point to make it more accessible to the average Joe and the local surfers, they have the potential to greatly alter surfing in the U.A.E.
When reached for comment the WSL deferred to Modon as far as their pricing model. At the time of publication, no response from Modon had been received.
Dubai native and Founder/CEO of Surf House Dubai, Scott Chambers, is curiously waiting to hear how the pool will be priced. According to Chambers, there are roughly 1,500 surfers who call Dubai home, yet they only get about 80-90 days of surf per year. A pool priced at accessible levels could have an enormous impact.
“Regardless of the price, I think every surfer in Dubai will pull together the money to try the pool at least once,” said Chambers. “The question is how frequently they will go.”
Despite how many people end up surfing the park, the arrival of the pool in the U.A.E. is already starting to impact the surf industry. Surf House Dubai has been selected via a tender process to supply the pool with accessories such as fins, leashes, and wax. And Chambers is fairly certain that the pool is going to be stocked with Firewire surfboards given that Slater is a majority stakeholder of the company.
As a first-mover into the region, the Kelly Slater pool has also piqued the interest of other wave pool technologies who want a piece of the pie. The greater Middle East region as a whole, including U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, has been looking to diversify their primarily oil-backed economies in recent years. One large area of investment has been sport, as seen with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Saudi Arabia paying exorbitant sums to lure top soccer players like Cristiano Ronaldo, and now, the construction of a surf park in Abu Dhabi. Chambers, who was privy to the initial conversations back in 2019 to build the Abu Dhabi pool, says that Surf Lakes, Wavegarden, American Wave Machines, and Endless Surf, among others, have engaged him to various degrees about bringing a pool of their own to the U.A.E.
“There’s been a little bit of first-mover hesitation to build a pool (in the U.A.E.),” said Chambers. “But I think now that one’s done that will remove some of that hesitation. I don’t think it’ll be long before there’s a pool in Dubai, too. Certainly in terms of location, commercially it makes a lot more sense to have (a pool in Dubai) just because of the throughput of the airport.”
Chambers says his friends from around the world are asking to stay at his place to visit the pool when it opens. And while he insists that it will never replace ocean surfing in Dubai, which sits on the Persian Gulf, it will act as a complement that he’s eager to try out himself. The pool will certainly attract visitors domestically and abroad. It has started to impact the national surf industry and culture. Still, the question remains: To what extent? When the pricing is revealed, we’ll know.
