Welsh Waves on tap!

It seems like every travelling surfer that comes to Europe knows about the Wavegarden concept in the north of Spain. The facility is at a secret location about an hour's drive from San Sebastian in the Basque region of Spain and is not accessible to the general public. It is a prototype designed to show off the potential of delivering a man-made, barrelling wave miles from the sea. There have been rumours that the wave height, speed and shape can be changed to suit the level of surfer.

Have a look at the clip below of Taj Burrows and Gabriel Medina ripping apart the Spanish prototype and tell me you don’t want to have a go.

Imagine my surprise when the first European country that has bought into and started construction of their own Wavegarden project was Wales...yes Wales.

Surf Snowdonia is now in the 16th week of construction and has a completion date of July this year. You can check their progress online as they release videos detailing how its going and what parts are completed. All seems to be going well and the man in charge, Steve Davies, is still calling for July completion date.

The fully lined main lagoon will be solely for surfers and will be a whopping 300 meters long and 113 meters wide. The powers that be claim that you could expect up to a 2 metre barrelling wave which does sound pretty fun. They also say that they will be open all year round, hmmmm, well I know what time of year I would prefer.

The other facilities will include; accommodation pods, camp site, restaurant, surf and rental shop.

It seems clear to me that the company are mainly targeting lessons and beginners which is fine because that is where the money is and they are spending a massive 7.7 million British pounds to get it up and running.

The company behind the project are recruiting for lifeguards, retail managers, chefs etc currently, so if you live near the site, it sounds like it could be pretty fun especially if you get the chance of a dawnie before all the punters get in.

For some reason I still have it in my head that the waves will be better there in Autumn like most of Europe's many surf spots but the reality is quite exciting that you can just go and get it whenever you have some time, like a round of golf. I will, however, be going in the warmer months of the year.