[video]https://youtu.be/gyJTCjYgZKs[/video]
Looks like some engineering project but bloody great all the same

Had a nose at it the other day as we were passing. The place isn’t 100% complete, but is up and running. The consistency and size of the waves is (for a non surfer) bloody impressive.

I’d love a go but I’m sure I read somewhere itl’ll be £90 for a session.

I wonder what they’ll do in winter as the lake will be a lot colder than the sea.

Probably heat it using wave generated power 😆

jam bo – Member
I’d love a go but I’m sure I read somewhere itl’ll be £90 for a session.

Depends on what you mean by session http://www.surfsnowdonia.co.uk/prices/

Ok. £79 for 2 hrs. I wasn’t far off

It works out about £3/ wave.
Kinda expensive

For apparently guaranteed perfect waves, whenever you go? Personally I don’t think its bad value.
The cost of putting it all together must have been quite something. They’re a company, there to make money. They financed, designed, built and now operate it. How much would you charge?
According to my mate who went there, its great.

I’ll probably book a session next time I’m up with the in-laws.

There is one on the cards for Bristol as well.

Or I could just drive 30mins to bude…

I think this is amazing – and 80 quid for a couple of hours isn’t too bad, particularly as the waves are consistently “perfect” and you don’t have to paddle out against the tide/current.

Half the fun of surfing is trying to read the waves and you’ll never beat the relaxation of sitting on your board at sea waiting for the next set to roll in. It all seems a bit clinical to me, but I suppose I enjoy BPW as much as all the natural trails we ride, so horses for courses.
£80 seems a bit steep though. I’m staying at Croyde for four days for less than that.

Sadly at that sort of money it’ll be a visitors only attraction. North Wales isn’t exactly renown for sloshing around with cash and very few could afford to develop a regular habit at that sort of money. 5 hours surfing a month would not be unreasonable if surfing was your ‘thing’ but few could justify £190 a month.

A brilliant place to go to learn to surf though – guaranteed waves of the correct size and shape – with a range of sizes as you develop – perfect for your first few hours.

They financed, designed, built and now operate it. How much would you charge?
According to my mate who went there, its great.

Maybe its because im spoilt as i already live in Pembrokeshire.. 2 miles from a decent surf break

It’ll become part of the fake outdoor activity circuit in snowdonia, a day doing zipline, bounce below and then learn to surf.

I don’t think the price is too bad seeing as in 2 hours you can probably get 3 days worth of waves at the beach. It lacks the soulful thing of being at the coast though.

To be fair its a good way for people to learn to surf/ improve their skills in a safe location ( a bit like a bike park ). As for cost, well you could argue that traveling to the coast and not being guaranteed good waves is expensive. There are quite a few places in North Wales now which offer fairly decent outdoor activity centres so I’m assuming that they are viable and as I’m at most and hour and a half away from them the more the merrier !.

Thinking about it again, if it’s not careful the launch footage might be the first and only time you see that many people who can actually surf there at the same time unless they manage it properly. The place will need some aspiration for the learners and ‘activity tourists’ to get attracted by. I suspect there’ll be some local ‘sponsored’ guys or kids that work there a few hours a week to gain access to make the place look a little busier with vaguely competent surfers.

Amazing that this has happened to North Wales, wish them all the luck in the world.

It works out about £3/ wave.
Kinda expensive

Really? I paid £45 for my session and they reacon 20 waves during that time, so that’s just £2.25 per wave. Bet you’d think nothing of pissing £45 up against the wall in town on a Saturday night? Plus my regular surf sessions at the moment involve driving best part of 100+ miles to the coast, maybe getting 3-4 really good waves if I’m lucky and then driving 100+ miles back again. Fuel alone must be £45, for far less waves.

Great location, great idea, great pastime if you are in the area for any lengh of time, great if you want to learn surfing and get instruction before you go play in the Sea, great if you are bored one day and fancy doing something else, great for swallowing gallons of rain water instead of Seawater.

I like it.

I won’t use it.

Looks fun but probably wouldn’t use it. With the wake behind the wave reminds me of tanker surfing they do over in Texas.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWZ3QuccLpI[/video]

the fake outdoor activity circuit in snowdonia, a day doing zipline, bounce below

Riding Antur Stiniog not on your list?

I think its brilliant. Cost wise its pretty decent value for money and as £45 in peak season and about £30 off season mean you get a fair few waves compared to the time and money spent trying to find that on the beaches of north wales in summer!

This kind of thing will only encourage people to surf in the sea. I think comparisons to trail centres and bike parks are justified but I do not see that as a bad thing! I love trails centres and bike parks. I also love surfing in the sea but given how inconsistent it is in North Wales and working full time so cannot drop everything when there is a wave, this is a tremendous option. I am sure it will get a lot of use and rightly so. I read a lot of negative comments on magic seaweed about how its bad and its not real surfing and how its missing the point. Well I don’t think it misses the point. It will be a lot of fun, people will get a lot out of it, how is that missing the point?

Thing is you have to book it and it could be howling onshore winds (bad for surfing) when your turn is. Anyone know which way it faces, hopefully into the prevailing sw’erly. I’m ambivalent about the idea, I’ll give it a crack if I’m in the area but not massively fussed either way. A few friends are going up soon but I’m working. I wonder how much different buoyancy will be given that its fresh water?

One of my mates just surfed there and reckoned he got 15 waves / hour.. and thats someone whose pretty good. He said it was good fun though and just like the sea… the wind can easily effect it

it’ll be bloody great for learning on.

(learning to surf involves a huge amount of thrashing around uselessly in waves that are much too big and fast to gain any meaningful experience)

i’ll probably go.

i wonder if they can adjust the wave size for beginner/intermediate/advanced sessions?

learning to surf involves a huge amount of thrashing around uselessly in waves that are much too big and fast to gain any meaningful experience

and/or a huge amount of thrashing around uselessly in waves that are much too small and mushy to gain any meaningful experience.

If the waves face the wind they get bigger 8)

Beginner, intermediate and advanced surfers can all use the same wave I think. It just depends which bit of it you line up on. Well thats my understanding….

beginner/intermediate/advanced sessions

It’s on the film – tiddlers on the outside and bigguns in the middle.

makes sense, nice.

(watched it with the sound off)

nedrapier – Member

learning to surf involves a huge amount of thrashing around uselessly in waves that are much too big and fast to gain any meaningful experience

and/or a huge amount of thrashing around uselessly in waves that are much too small and mushy to gain any meaningful experience.

which is how you get fit, develop ocean awareness, learn to read waves, sets, line-ups, learn to duck-dive etc etc. I wonder whether in a few years, if they spread throughout the country, we’ll have a bunch of ‘sufers’ who rip in pool waves but can’t surf wonky cross-shore beach breaks for toffee.

we’ll have a bunch of ‘sufers’ who rip in pool waves but can’t surf wonky cross-shore beach breaks for toffee

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Jy9hvrfOU[/video]

It’s the trail centre vs. bridleway debate for MSW to chew on, instant gratification vs. working for your fun. Both have their place.
I’d give it a go if in the area, but I’d rather live near an inconsistent beach or have a weekend on the coast than go specifically.

which is how you get fit, develop ocean awareness, learn to read waves, sets, line-ups, learn to duck-dive etc etc. I wonder whether in a few years, if they spread throughout the country, we’ll have a bunch of ‘sufers’ who rip in pool waves but can’t surf wonky cross-shore beach breaks for toffee.

Maybe, but for those of us who already surf in the sea and sre trying to improve this will be a real asset, allowing us to perfect take offs, turning, cutting back etc on a consistent wave, so that when you get out to the real ocean, you’ll not go through the long process of paddling out, positioning, timing, wave selection etc, only to then be let down by patchy basic skills when you do actually get on a good wave.

The only thing it misses is sitting out back chatting to mates waiting for the waves, still fancy a go.

ferrals – Member

which is how you get fit, develop ocean awareness, learn to read waves, sets, line-ups, learn to duck-dive etc etc. I wonder whether in a few years, if they spread throughout the country, we’ll have a bunch of ‘sufers’ who rip in pool waves but can’t surf wonky cross-shore beach breaks for toffee.

considering the price, i’m fairly sure most people will use this facility for focussed sessions of practise. They’ll still spend hours at Cayton/Hell’s Mouth/Broughton/wherever, getting rinsed all over the place.

with their increased skills, they’ll have more fun when they do get in the ocean.

I wonder whether in a few years, if they spread throughout the country, we’ll have a bunch of ‘mountainbikers’ who shred at trail centres but can’t ride steep muddy rooty bridleways for toffee?
The jury is still out 😉

In my view, surf Snowdonia offers ‘wave riding’ but does not offer ‘surfing’ as many of the elements that make up surfing have been removed.

I imagine there will be an increase in bank robberies in North Wales…

as many of the elements that make up surfing have been removed.

What the changing into a cold damp wetsuit in a windswept November carpark, driving for 2/3/4/5 hours only to find that the surf forcast was not accurate and then spending the day paddling round in wind chop waiting for waves that never materialise or drinking coffee instead, battling through the hoards of beginners on foam boards clogging up the South Wests best beaches, swallowing a mouthful of suspect water and having to drink a can of coke afterwards to prevent a tummy bug, getting onto the perfect wave only to find some vocal local giving you the evil eye, having the same said vocal locals bagging almost all the waves and not giving you a look in, leaving you with scraps because they know the spot better than you and have a right to do that because they live there? 😉

/\ that is surfing.The standing up bit is a bonus.