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After all the hype in the press, I made it last week - I found it a bit trickier than I expected for some reason getting into the waves, but fun waves when I caught them. Lots of talk about them being a bit slack and small, but they seemed great to me when they got to the inside section (for someone who used to be an average surfer 10 years ago!).
When I go to the beach, I make 90% of takeoffs and am fine in head high, but for some reason it freaked me out a bit having 15 people watch your every paddle stroke.
Think I need to take a board with more volume next time, rather than my old 6'0" fibreglass hybrid fish (boards seem to have changed....).
anyone else been?
thinking about it, but probably in the summer flat spell when they've ironed out a few of the kinks. they reckon it'll be 25degC. boardies time.
but then i live 25 mins from the south coast of devon/cornwall and 45 mins from the north coast of cornwall.
and it is super cold now - about 6 degrees. Being so shallow, it will get really cold when the weather dips. Good move - there were some people there from the SW but mainly who were passing by. Its like a fun waist to chest high surf, so probably not worth the drive if you live that close to the surf anyway
I looked but could only book beginner lessons. Couldn't just surf.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/whats-on/surf-sessions-wave-been-cancelled-3556520
Ah, that might explain it.
and it is super cold now – about 6 degrees.
ouch. **** that. for £25 million you would have thought they could have heated it...
A couple of mates went about 3-4 weeks ago. They enjoyed it, I might give it a go...
do they let SUP's in... 😉
no SUPS yet as I think it would get a bit crowded in the queue, which does work well, but its a bit odd queueing for waves!
I think the water is essentially the same temperature as the air, so its going to get really cold! Its still fully booked up though
Mates there today, said it was bloody cold 6c water and 9c air so you’re gonna need a decent suit/gloves and booottteeesss...
They were surfing, haven’t mentioned SUPs yet.
If they’re banned, that’s me out and plenty of others too i suspect..
I've been over there a couple of times..
With the wave settings they are running on at the moment, it's like a 2ft French beach break, an hour session is a good workout! Great for a tuneup if you going away and can't get in the real waves. No SUP's at the moment, I guess that may change when the initial curiosity dies down and visitor numbers start to drop.
Proud Dad - gratuitous pic of daughter surfing there.
Where’s the bloody “LIKE” button!
Looks like they need the green-screen the walls to make it easy for photographers to add the background of their choice.
I'm thinking of booking a lesson in the new year, at first £55 seemed to be a bit steep, but weighing up travelling from Malvern to the beach reliant on the surf forecast it seems like a good idea to get some practice in before booking a week away.
Just been for a ride with a mate, his bro has been up a few times. They rate it, both v keen surfers. The temp of the water didn’t seem to bother them, you are getting such a work out, getting lots of waves no waiting that you would warm up pretty quick. A session only lasts a relatively short time so as a workout and a tune up it would seem to work.
Andywnpt fancy meeting you here 😂😂😂 great shot of E
Hey Andy, yep, mostly lurking here to be honest 🙂 Are you doing 24/12 this year?
I’ve been twice, it’s great fun. They’ve turned it up slightly since they opened and it was more fun the second time as a result. Takeoff is probably shoulder high now but the wave gets smaller as it peels off down the pool. Water is already around 6 degrees which is about 5 degrees colder than the sea at the moment. Not sure many will fancy it any colder than that so not sure how busy it will be in January! It’s shallow so it should warm up quickly in the spring sunshine and suspect it might be warm enough for no wetsuit in midsummer.
The wave is good fun. It’s fat in places and quite peaky. For a full size adult it’s better on a board with a bit of foam or it’s easy to bog a turn. It’s not a longboard wave though.
It’s worth going for the experience. It’s a pretty mad piece of engineering and the staff and site itself are really well organised and well put together.
They still have to sort out an intermediate wave. At the moment there’s a big jump in ability needed betweeen the “advanced” wave and be8ng a beginner in the white water. Both my sessions had “advanced” surfers falling on the take off frequently. I think they will end up running some intermediate sessions on the main peak with it turned down as their original plan of running them where the wave reforms hasn’t really worked out.
nice looking board. yours or a rental?
Most definitely mine! It’s a 6’10 Howard Special Mini Takayama egg. Went well there. Enough foam to make it over the fat spots, Whippy enough to fit the wave shape.
First session there I rode a 9’4 log for three waves ( it’s not a longboard wave!) then switched to a 5’4 quad Simmons thing (mandala superchunk) which worked well there too.
They have a fair selection of rental stuff that’s included in the cost though. Skindog mid lengths and longer, some lost shortboards as well
i was after one of them a while back. ended up with a 6'8" FCD heuvo rancheros instead. Although bought a longboard (karma 9'2") this summer and have barely touched it since.
Where was the FCD from? Didn’t think they were available in the uk? I think the FCD is similar to the tak. Howard designed the huevo as well or at least had a big hand in it. Think the widepoint is slightly further froward on the tak so it surfs slightly more cruisey. I might be tempted if you ever sell!
Imported by downtheline originally but I picked it up s/h from a guy in Porth. This one isn’t for selling...
after confidently stating I wouldnt go until the summer, looks like I'm going on sunday now.
all to pick up another FCD board...
best find my gloves.
Think I might go tomorrow, as the air temperature hasn't been as cold just recently and hoping the water will not be quite so cold. They've upped the settings slightly after the first 15 minutes.
I think the trick on the take off is to treat it like a reef, with the water drawing off it. I had a much better 2nd surf with this approach. Had a brilliant surf then 🙂
Enjoy, my wife has bought me a session for my xmas present, think I'll wait till springtime when it starts to warm up. My mate went and enjoyed it, but he said you have to wear boots from an H&S perspective so mid-summer could be a bit annoying!
Sounds like they've set it up as a nice day out with viewing platform and good cafe etc.
At the cost I'm more likely to surf as much as possible in the sea as a tune-up for the wave rather than go to the wave for a tune-up for elsewhere 🙂
It’s not a longboard wave though.
bit worried about this as I'm picking up a longer mid-length (8'0") there and had planned to surf that.
1pm, sunday...
8 ft would be "ok" as long as you can surf it off the tail. It will feel like quite a lot of board though
My idea of longboarding involves 1 fin, footwork and dangling toes over. Its not a wave for lateral lines or trimming as the shoulder is too short, its geared towards a more vertical approach
Id say take your huevo as well. You can leave it on the side of the pool and swap mid session really easily without missing a set if you time it well and paddle fast. The huevo will fly there IMHO
I’ve got a couple of sessions booked coming up soon...excited!
I’ll take my 7’0 golden nugget and 6’6” Fourth Reload... good plan?
I’ve heard there’s so much paddling the cold isn’t a factor!
How much does the wind affect it? Some pics look like it has a bit of a ruffle to it. Guess it's so small an area it can't make loads of difference? Just thinking about booking in advance etc.
I don’t think it’s big enough to be that wind effected. I guess an ‘offshore’ blowing up the lake might hold the waves up a little longer, you’d hope they aligned it for the dominant sw’lys.
I think it’s more likely that the pool starts sloshing a bit as they drive more waves down it, and I doubt they leave it long enough to settle down between sets.
So first session of the day is probably the cleanest one.
Good place for a beginner to learn, do we think? Or would I be better of doing it the old-fashioned way in The Sea?
@mikeartroid. Good plan I think! The wave is perfectly shortboardable if you're a decent shortboarder but a bit if extra fgoam makes the experience lots more forgiving of ability and mistakes!
The wind affects it a little but not as much as the sea and theres some effect from the water sloshing around as mentioned above. Even with whats technically an onshore strong wind it just gives chops on the surface but doesn't stop it peeling cleanly like it would on a beach break . Kinda similar to wind on an actual reef I guess. There's dawn patrol glass for sure.
Beginners wise.
If you're a total beginner its probably a good place for a lesson to get to the point of catching white water and standing up on a foamy. Its a huge step up from doing that to catching the advanced wave and making the drop. You wont make that step without a fair amount of time in the sea.
I last went mid November and they weren't running intermediate sessions then as theyd found the intermediate wave wasn't really breaking properly. They were talking about running the advanced wave at a low setting for intermediate sessions instead but I don't know if that's happening. They need to do something because when I saw it, you couldn't progress from beginner to surfing advanced wave there without spending a decent chunk of time in the ocean and their original plan was that you could totally learn to surf from noob to pro just at the pool.
Tidy, cheers - Operation Spontaneous-Mid-Life-Learn-To-Surf-Crisis may use their beginner wave to get started then head to South Wales. Ta! 🙂
i think the fact you get everything, instruction, suit, board etc for £50 is great for an absolute beginner to see if you like it but I can see you'd burn through a chunk of cash pretty quick trying to advance.
I went again yesterday and there was one person out at 9am - and only 6 of us in the next slot. The water was warmer too. they adjust the sets to the numbers out. When we first paddled out, they were 20 wave sets, so I could get 2 waves a set if I didn't take it all the way right in, but my arms were getting f$@ked! They went back down to 9 wave or so a set and that was great.
It was sunny, light winds, ace!
The time before was "onshore" and windy, but still fine and definitely not like beach onshore, because the wave is created from scratch about 5 metres away from you 🙂
What I love about it there is its really friendly, chatty line ups. Everyone's in a queue and everyone gets loads of waves.
They planning to start the soft barrels in the spring probably. The issue is it breaks in about knee deep water and its an issue if people land awkwardly. Although its concrete I don't think its much different to compacted sand. You just can't sue the sea, but people could sue Bristol, so health and safety is a big issue - particularly when people seem to over estimate their surfing ability (me included after seeing the photos post surf!!!)
Don’t think it’ll be that quiet on Sunday. Looks like there are four slots left in my session.
Still, found my gloves. Which is a bonus.
@ceepers cheers! The 6’6” has stacks of volume so it isn’t a short board in the true sense... the 7’0” is like a mini Mal in terms of volume 😎
@jambo It'll still be fine even if its full. The first time I went I think there were about 16 of us, and my arms were still worn out. I got 15 waves then (stuffed 2 take offs though).
Well that was certainly interesting. Had a shocking start, blew my first five waves before I got the measure of the takeoff and a new board.
I definitely prefer the sea, but no sand was a bonus, I hate the bloody stuff...
It definitely isn't the sea... But good fun for someone who lives 19 mins away, realising how much I've missed it!
The take off takes some getting used to - the fact I couldn't really see the wave coming up spooked me a bit. Staying a bit further away from the wall helped too.
MY first go reminded me of surfs where its perfect but I still had a c$%p surf. 2nd time was much better 🙂
if I go back I'll:
book two sessions
use a shorter board (i know everyone said so, but I really wanted to surf the new board)
go midweek early.
if I lived that close I'd probably be there a fair bit, but a 2 hr drive north when I'm 40 mins to the north coast doesn't make a lot of sense. a mate is heading up in a couple of weeks so if there is no break in this run of massive swells and big winds I'll probably jump in with him.
fortunately the photographers managed to make it look like i could surf...
I'm thinking of going in Feb for my birthday. Do I go left, which I am more comfortable with, to maximise my wave count. Or do I go right to try to improve but probably fall off more?
both. although i'd say if you can't cutback on your right, then you'll run out the front of the wave after the first section and miss the inside section.
I've booked an intermediate session in a month's time as a birthday present to myself.
i thought they'd cancelled all the intermediate sessions?
So did I, but it's let me book so I assume they have sorted something. I thought I heard talk of turning the wave size down on the advanced area for use as intermediate, but I could have dreamt that.
make sure you get there in plenty of time. its a bit of a hike from the car park...
I did wonder why they suggest arriving 90 mins before your start time. I know wetsuits can be a struggle but it doesn't take that long to get it on.
first time there? I'd probably aim for about that. watch some waves, work out whats going on etc.
next time i'll aim for 45mins or so before. You need to be at a brief 15 mins before your start time. I've seen some comments that if you miss it, they won't let you onto your session.
Yes, first time. I'm booked on the 10am slot so was planning on getting there early to have a coffee and watch the 8am session surf to get a bit of an idea of what's going on.
8am on Thursday for me 🙂
As you say, if I lived near the beach, its a long drive there.
They're starting to do the softer barrels in the spring, which they said will have the same take off and its just when it gets to the inside section that it will barrel. I think its a great size as it is personally and a lot of fun, a bit bigger would be fine too.
They can't have beginners in when the barrel setting is on, so it will be expensive.
I assume there's a cafe? Might need something warm post-surf if the water's as cold as people say.
there's a cafe, but it ain't cheap. Take a thermos flask!
There's also warm showers inside, but people seem to use the outside ones instead.
The water tracks the air roughly, so when its as mild as it is now, the water's about 8 degrees and with all the paddling I don't get cold. Its been down to just under 6 degrees I believe...
food seemed pricey but coffee was good.
water was a bit sharp on the hands on the first paddle out but bearable.
I’ve been a few times (lucky to be a Bristol local) and think it’s great for what it is. It’s effectively a 3ft wave, consistent training ground. Still much prefer a good day in the sea though.
As others have said, the takeoff takes a bit of getting used to, as it’s a bit blind and ramps up quickly. Easier slightly away from the wall. After a couple of sessions it clicks though, meaning you can get circa 12 fun rides in an hour.
After the initial fast takeoff, it tends to flatten off a bit, before steepening up into a fast and playful wall. I have surfed both my 6’10” Gulfstream Eggplant and 5’8” Firewire Seaside there, and both go really well. The egg planes over the middle flat section better, but the Firewire is more fun in the latter half, gaining warp speed when going up and down the steeper sections. So on balance I think shorter boards are more fun there, but make sure you have a bit of foam to carry you over the slacker bits.
On Saturday morning just gone, it was reaaally cold (noticeably colder than Porthcawl a few days previously). But still bearable, and the café is a lovely post-surf place to warm up!
The whole setup is really well done, with friendly staff and a buzzing atmosphere. I reckon it’ll come into its own more in the Summer flat spells / warm and light evenings. You can also see there are building works in process on site, so it should improve all the time.
The negatives are that it’s not cheap, you have to arrive at least 45 minutes prior to your session, there is a fair walk from carpark to site, and the water is very cold. But overall, its great.
i still prefer the polzeath wave machine...was on fire on sat afternoon push...
definitely, agree Jim, can't beat a good surf in the sea with mates. On the plus side, the Bristol Wave has meant I've had more waves this month than in the last 3 years! And its got me checking the surf report more, so getting out over to the beach more often for some saltiness.
It's going to be interesting to see what sort of standard they'll be looking for with the barrel settings at the wave. I imagine there will be some bruised egos when some get told they can't cut it... The only time I've ever been assessed for my surfing was in the Student Champs in the 90's!! (when I never made it past the 2nd round...).
It looks like the wind is picking back up for the weekend. That scuppers any plans for a sea surf.
I’ve got some mates heading up for the assessments, umming and arring over whether to go.
If I go again, it’ll probably be en-route to the airport when someone else is paying the fuel.
Long range for weekend after looks promising.
And the evenings are starting to draw out a little. Almost fit enough to do battle with the SUP’s at bantham after work...
There's high winds forecast for Bristol this weekend. Don't know how much it's affected by the weather. I'm going to contact them today and see what the score is.
they closed on sunday because of the weather.
I think they've only closed twice due to the winds. it seems to hold up well generally to (most) winds.
Beginner lessons have been cancelled tomorrow but my intermediate session is still going ahead.
My session last week didn't happen. But I am booked in for 9am tomorrow instead. My thinking is there's plenty of spaces on the midday session too. So if it goes really well I can have a coffee and cake then get back in the pool for a second go.
given the shit awful conditions for most of this month, I'm quite tempted to take another visit.
How does the assesment work? Do you pay for the assesment and does it take a whole session? I have a voucher for one visit, it would be nice to test it on barrel mode but as you have to book in advance I guess you can't do the assesment and then book into a barrel mode session on the same day. The intermediate mode looks fun enough anyway fo the novelty factor
have they actually launched the 'expert' assessments and sessions yet?
i think the session I did was advanced, at the time there was no intermediate.
Ah I see, yes it seems advanced is the normal setting so I guess they'll be launching a new expert category. I can't actually see the assesment sessions on the website.
I don't think they're running the barrel settings yet. It's a bit hit and miss with the assessments as I haven't received any emails from them yet. talking to them there though, they asssess you in a normal advanced surf, alongside everyone else booked in. So there isn't a set "assessment surf hour". I'd suggest you discuss it with them at the desk when you arrive.
They seem to be alternating the advanced and intermediate surfs during the day. The intermediate sessions seem to have lots of boards flying about, so might be better at a quieter time of day.
Ah that makes a lot of sense, so book for an advanced session, say you want to be assessed and they do that while you surf so next time you can book expert.. and potentially if there is space book expert later the same day.
yep, I think so. Worth asking though.
I haven't plucked up the courage to be assessed on my surfing yet!! Just enjoying the normal advanced setting. Still have the odd issue on the positioning for the take off, seems much easier in the sea.
how cold is it? 6/5/4 or 5/4/3 wetsuit?
cold but you'll warm up quick...its hard work and no let up.
I'm planning on wearing my 5/4/3 hooded jobby. Will take the 6/4 just in case though.
Well that was a lot of fun. Messed the first few waves up but then got the feel for it. Finished my 9am session and booked a midday one straight away. My shoulders are feeling it now.
Excellent. I'm back for more tomorrow morning. I'm compensating for the boggy trails with more trips to the Wave than I should probably have. My shoulders feel it the next day after just one surf! It's good trying out some of the boards there, which have definitely changed from when I got my last board made.
There's a dedicated bodyboard barrel session coming up on 17th March in the afternoon. Using us spongers as Guinea pigs maybe, as the take-off will be easier?