Wavegarden, a leading manufacturer of artificial wave-generating systems, is celebrating the opening of Surfland Brasil in Garopaba, which features the firm’s seventh Wavegarden Cove surfing lagoon.
Acclaimed professional surfers Yago Dora, Matt Herdy, Joao Chumbinho, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Jess Mendes, Luana Silva, and elite skateboarders Pedro Barros and Keegan Palmer have worked with Wavegarden’s fluid dynamic experts to create the largest Wave Menu on the planet.
Innovative format
The resort’s soft launch on 17 November represented a key landmark for Wavegarden, as the firm’s second facility in Brazil and seventh worldwide. The condominium is open to the public and includes a 78-bed hotel. Tickets for the surfing lagoon cost between €75 and €90 per session, and are available to buy on the Surfland Brasil website.
André Giesta of Giesta Enterprises designed the Surfland Brasil development, which includes the wave pool and an extensive range of customer facilities. With fractional apartment ownership, the project employs an innovative product and commercial format similar to the shared economy trend exemplified by platforms such as Airbnb, Uber, and Bike Share.
The development’s 278 apartments are priced at €30,000 to €40,000 and range in size from 60 to 100 square metres. Owners collaborate to share assets and divide costs, embracing a model in which everyone benefits.
Giesta, appointed CEO of the complex, says: “Surfland Brasil is more than a resort; it’s a condominium, a hotel, a surf park, and much more. We added a 78-bed hotel to allow
visitors to enjoy the waves and now this destination is a paradise for anyone who loves the
outdoors and wants to pass their vacations in one of the most alluring surf spots in the
world.”
The goal of Surfland Brasil is to serve a wide spectrum of visitors, from novices to pros, with an emphasis on the family market. Giesta selected a Wavegarden Cove with 52 modules, which enables the formation of over 20 different waves and establishes the optimum balance between wave length and variation while providing ideal conditions for surfers of all experience levels.
With excellent surfing conditions accessible just 35% of the year in the adjacent ocean, Surfland will provide world-class waves 100% of the time in order to attract surf tourism and nurture a solid economy for the local population.
Josema Odriozola, CEO of Wavegarden, says: “It’s great to be in Garopaba. This surf town on the south coast of Santa Catarina, with its beautiful beaches and ideal weather, is now even more alluring with the addition of our Wavegarden Cove.
“Working hand-in-hand with some of the country’s top surfers to program our Wave menu prior to the soft opening this week is a real privilege. The lagoon was filled with water just days before we arrived and unfortunately had high levels of iron in it. Nonetheless, over the coming weeks our Water Treatment System will transform its color from brown to crystal clear.”
Perfect training ground
Tatiana Weston-Webb, project ambassador and WSL# 8, has been surfing the beaches near Garopaba for all of her life and recognises the benefits this will bring to the local community and Brazilian surfers overall.
“Surf parks like Wavegarden are the future of surfing and the town has already started to explode. The benefits for the local community are already noticeable. I have spent almost 4 hours in the water over the past few days and I’m really impressed with the Turn and Barrel waves. I have been able to do anywhere from 4-6 turns per wave and I’ve been getting some really good barrels,” she says.
Mateus Herdy, WSL Challenger Series #12, adds: “The sessions we have had over the past few days have been awesome, it’s the perfect training ground. The surf community in Brazil is really excited about Surfland Brasil, it is great to have another surf pool in the South of the Country.”
Brazilian professional surfer Jesse Mendes spent a few days at Surfland, and comments: “In terms of surfing wave pools, I definitely got the longest barrel of my life at Surfland, it was crazy. The waves are long and forgiving, and I think this place will be an important place to surfers, including myself, to train and get better.”
Following the opening of the surfing lagoon, the resort will progressively offer facilities for different sports like a skatepark designed by Olympic medalist and eight times world champion Pedro Barros, swimming pools, restaurants, a jogging track, a gym, a yoga shala, a spa, and kid-friendly play spaces.
The site’s infrastructure includes native plants, solar panels, rainwater collection, prefabricated buildings with green roofs, and native vegetation, all of which have been thoughtfully designed to have the least negative environmental impact possible. Surfland Brasil has been recognised with an international landscaping award for its dedication to excellence in design and environmental integration.
In addition to Surfland in Garopaba, Wavegarden continues to be the market leader in this industry and will soon be launching new facilities in Sydney, Australia; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Virginia Beach, on the East Coast of the US.
Wavegarden recently launched CheckMySurf, a new tool that provides surf park operators and guests with unprecedented video capture, replay, editing and distribution. Using state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) technology, such as facial recognition, the totally automated system offers a broad range of new functions for the surf park industry.
