Kelly Slater is very happy with how Surf Abu Dhabi turned out. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Surf Abu Dhabi, the newest and biggest wave pool on the planet, is officially open. Back in 2019, when crews first broke ground in the UAE for the Kelly Slater-back project, the idea of a finished product seemed impossibly far away. But now the doors are finally open.
“The past five years have been of incessant devotion, work, study, and pure wave craftsmanship,” the team at Surf Abu Dhabi wrote, “Fine-tuning this place to what we have now.”
It is, however, a bit of a sore subject for many people at the moment. It was just included on the roster of waves surfers will compete at on the WSL Tour, and given the UAE’s dismal human rights track record, a whole lot of folks have a whole lot of questions for the WSL. So far, they’ve not been answered.
Mikey Wright, brother to Tour surfer Tyler Wright, did not mince his words, saying that the schedule should be “re-thought” and that the WSL have “no business putting on an event at a location where (his) sister can be sentenced by law with the death penalty.”
He didn’t stop there, though. “So much for equality and equal rights, only when it’s convenient to WSL,” Wright continued. “You have supported the LGBTQ flag on her shoulder but now you want to strip it and be hush hush to get her to a location that she’s at risk of this punishment. You have the responsibility to protect your athletes. Interested to see how you think you can protect her against the law.”
According Surf Abu Dhabi’s website, there are four waves on tap for those who’re willing to open their pocket book. An open surf session, which allows a surfer to share the pool with no more than three other surfers and presumably catch 20-24 waves, runs at $3,500 AED, which is about $1,000 USD. There are a few other options, including renting the whole place out, but that last one doesn’t have a price listed.
Now that it’s open, though, it’ll be interesting to see whether a new crop of wealthy Emiratis will spring up.
