Kelly Slater Shreds Surf Ranch in Never-Before-Seen Footage

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Jul 23, 2025 5:56 PM ET

Since 2015, when the first images of the Surf Ranch were released into the wild, a lot has changed. For one, the rise of machines has exploded, kicking of a worldwide wave pool arms race. And because of that proliferation, we’ve seen a lot of synthetic surf footage.

Every day, a new clip, video, or edit drops from one of the widespread surf tubs.

Saturation, desensitization, fatigue. Wave pools, even as the godfather and harbinger of this new era of manmade surfing, Kelly Slater, has called, are just a “supplement” to the real thing. And the promise of perfect waves at the push of a button can get a little monotonous, at least from a viewer’s perspective. But this clip – this one’s different.

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It shows Slater surfing his baby, the Surf Ranch, from a 360-degree camera, and it brings a whole new vibe to the wave pool experience. The camera, with all its revolutionary angles, takes the viewer inside the tube with Slater, as the filmer zooms alongside the 11x world champion via jet ski. For most people, it’s the closest they’ll ever come to getting properly shacked at a Kelly Slater Wave Company joint. Even if it’s through a screen.

GoPros, and all other personal cameras, have become ubiquitous in surfing and all other action sports. But like wave pools, they’ve come a long way since their inception. Hence, this innovative new perspective from Slater at Surf Ranch.

For instance, the GoPro Max 360 covers all the angles. As they say, “Max never misses. 360 video captures everything around you—just record and pick the best angles later in the app. You never have to aim, but always get the shot.”

And that makes for a pretty one-of-a-kind shot at Surf Ranch. But of course, it helps to have the greatest surfer of all time on the other side of the lens…no matter the camera.

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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