My First Wave Pool Experience At URBNSURF Melbourne

The thoughts that go through your head, when for the first time you surf a man made wave is of mixed emotions.

What will it be like?
Will it be like the real thing?
Is this cheating?
Am i going to kook it infront of everyone?

The anticipation is unreal as you hit the domestic terminal for a short 1 hour flight with your boardbag in tow. How funny is taking a board bag for an hour flight..?

The 5 minute taxi to the wave pool is still too long and you froth out to get there and see this wave that you have heard so much about.

When you arrive you’re greeted by the URBNSURF perimeter of black shipping containers. As soon as you pass through the entrance the view is of this massive majestic, sheet glass aqua blue paradise.

The butterflies really start to fly as you give and get welcoming nods to the other surfers you’ll be sharing the next 4 hours of fun with.

You are directed to your own private daybed area built into the shipping containers, to set up camp and start your preparation, getting boards out, fins on and waxed up. With wetsuit on you start some stretching as you begin to hear the sound of machines turning on as everyone starts to smile and yew as we all know we are about to see the first waves come through the pool.

When the first waves come through, everyone is just frothing!!
OMG!!
Check that sh!t out.
This is going to be sick!!

Time for a briefing by the surf guides! We’re told the waves have two main types, Intermediate & Advanced, with 12 settings between them and we’re going to start on Intermediate 6. What the heaviest we ask? That would be the beast! OMG!

We’re happy to start on intermediate and build up to “The Beast,” so the group takes off into the pool, half going left and half going right. As we paddle up the inside wall we are pleasantly surprised to feel a rip dragging us up to the point, “That will come in handy over 4 hours of surfing”, somebody says.

We were told there will be 12 waves per set with a short one half minutes break in between sets. I’m on the right and stoked to see only 12 surfers in the water waiting, so everyone will get a wave per set. Yewww.

Everyone is in position and anxiously awaiting our first URBNSURF wave. As the machine roars back into life we can see the water surge and out comes the first wave. Wow, what an easy take off and you set for your first turn and realise you have more time than you expected to draw your bottom turn. You hit the lip anyway and the next section opens up and this time you’ll hold that bottom turn for a bit longer, but this time the section runs off a bit faster and you have to give a small pump down before you can hit your second turn. Boom! The second turn is more vertical and you come out just to see the wave ending and you get one more turn at the end section before it’s over.

With a smile from ear to ear you want more and paddle back up the line up to do it all again. The crew have faces lit up like christmas trees and are all eyes wide open like a pack possesed, hollering and howling!! How good is this!!!!

One of the best parts of the wave pool is the priority rule. As you are in a single file line you just wait your turn and everyone gets a wave per set. After a while you work out wave 2-6 have the most power and you look to be in these positions when the oppourtunity arises.

After an hour of Intermediate setting the call is to go to Advanced and move towards The Beast (setting 12) for the 3rd hour. Advanced is a barrel ride, and where do you get the change to practice barrel riding in a perfect 3ft mechanical wave? Not every wave is the same, but they are similar enough to be able to work out how to get shacked pretty fast.

After take off you just draw out the bottom turn and small stall before the bottom of waves drops out and the lip throws. Get super low and get your hand in the wall to slow down as you pick up speed and were in, slotted. Only a surfer knows the feeling and you just relish the view, before coming firing out to the channel. Yes please, can we do that again and again and again. Yewwwwww…

4 hrs later we are dusted and although exhausted, there is nothing quite like the feeling of being surfed out! There is only one way to make this day any better. We crack an ice cold beer and recap the last 4 hours.

The only question now is when can we come back and do it all again.