Inside Florida’s New Wave Pool, On Par with the World’s Biggest

Adrian “Ace” Buchan and Glenn “Micro” Hall – two of the greatest competitive surfing minds, turned surf coaches, to come out of Australia ever – recently found themselves in a seemingly suspect location: Northern Florida.

Sure, Florida has waves. But nothing compared to the two former Championship Tour surfers’ homeland of New South Wales, Australia. Let alone anywhere else on earth with world-class waves, which would be more apropos for these Aussie surf legends.

The reason for the Florida trip? A scouting mission for their latest venture – a massive wave pool, helmed by the surf park enterprise Aventuur, coming to Jacksonville. The project, dubbed eTown, recently received unanimous approval from the city council. So, that meant, full steam ahead in bringing manmade perfection to the surf starved region.

Right? Not quite.

You see, the folks at Aventuur like to do things a little differently. Rather than a pure business opportunity, their surf parks strive to assimilate and accentuate pre-existing surf communities. So, Ace and Micro were on the ground getting a feel for the place, the people; that way, they can better cater the coming wave pool to reflect and enhance what’s already there.

And now, with the pool fully approved, we got on the horn with Ace, along with Aventuur’s Chief Revenue Officer Rupert Partridge, to hear more about the project.

SURFER: First off, what’s your take on the whole wave pool revolution?

Ace: I’ve gotten to surf in most of ‘em, and compete in some of them. You hear a lot of talk. The industry is like any industry. There’s quite a few people who talk a big game, but nothing ends up happening. There’s, like, a new surf park announced every week. For us, we’re trying to do things that are a little more tangible. We want to build connections and authenticity within these communities where we’re working. That makes it a lot more fun.

Let’s dive into Aventuur. What’s the concept, the ethos, or mission statement?

Ace: Aventuur’s mission is to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of the community’s that we work with. We want to be additive to surf culture. In my opinion, that’s something that hasn’t been fully realized by the surf park industry.

Speaking to that “additive” element of surf parks, how have you seen these projects enhance surfers’ abilities and access to waves?

Ace: We try to focus on markets where there’s a large surf popilation – both core and aspirational – but where there’s poor access to consistent, quality surf. Jacksonville is a great example of that. They have great surf history, and they’re really engaged. But there’s a lot of frustrated surfers there. Then there’s the surfing ability access. Having that same canvas over and over does wonders for your surfing. I was with Molly [Picklum] at URBNSurf in Sydney two weeks before she went to Fiji [for the 2025 WSL Finals]. She was there getting used to riding backhand tubes. That speaks to the opportunity of having a repeatable wave.

Let’s talk about the Florida project. Congrats on the approval. What’s the status now?

Rupert: It’s been a big year for our Jacksonville project. At the start of the year, we purchased our location in eTown. Right now, we’re in the depths of detailed design. We’re shaping what the Jacksonville surf park will become. The reason for Ace and Micro’s recent trip to Florida was for them to really understand the surf culture there, so that the park can reflect and enhance that.

The plan is to start construction in mid 2026, then open in 2028. Still a bit more to do there, but we’re really excited with our group on the ground there, all longtime locals.

How about the wave? Let’s talk about what we can expect.

Rupert: We’re planning on delivering a 62-module WaveGarden Cove, so equal largest in the world with Beyond the Club in Brazil. We’ve seen how incredible that wave is. And it’s also about delivering the highest quality wave possible.

Why WaveGarden?

Rupert: The founders looked at all the options on the market, and after a deep analysis, they made that choice. When you combine the quality of the surfing experience, the unit economics, the diversity of wave offerings…all of that contributed to the decision. The fact that you can customize the waves to suit all skill levels, the fact that it’s very energy efficient, and the surfing experience. That WaveGarden team goes to work every day, trying to provide the best waves possible.

Ace: All the techs out there are producing great waves. But WaveGarden does a great job on all the other aspects, like Rupert mentioned. And they’re surfers themselves. So, they know what they’re doing in making quality waves. You can talk to them about highly specific adjustments, like the curvature of the tube, and they’ll know what you’re talking about. They’re passionate surfers.

What about the whole real estate aspect of wave pools? Lots of projects are moving in that direction, and I’ve been told that’s going to be a central element going forward.

Rupert: It’s a crucial part, for sure. Our first goal was finding the best wave for these projects. That’s the most important part. But then, when you have over 1,000 surfers coming through the door each day – plus their families and friends – it means that the real estate ecosystem can be supported. For us, if you can have this incredible surf lagoon with 80-to-90 surfers per hour, it means that you can enrich the surfing experience in other ways.

Anything else we can expect?

Ace: Look, I go to the beach even if I’m not going to surf. One factor that these surf parks have forgot about is that carpark aspect of surfing. That takes a bit of care to get right. That’s the goal for us. Nothing will replace running down to the beach with your mates when the waves are pumping. But our hope is to complement that feeling.