Watch: Floating Wave Pool Roars to Life in Italy

In the years following the first look at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch – that fateful mid-December day in 2015 – a revolution in the realm of wave pools was spawned across the globe. A parade of different pools, various warring factions jostling for domination, and a dystopian (depending on who you ask) brave new world of artificial surf simulators.

Nearly nine years later, the battle rages on.

Amongst the major houses fighting for power, smaller, less-prominent parties have emerged in the skirmish – wave pool operations like Unit Surf with their floating, eco-friendly standing wave stadiums. And Laguna Beach native, professional skimboarder, and stylish soft-top enthusiast Blair Conklin recently traveled to Italy to test ‘em out. 

The concept behind Unit Surf is thus: to recreate naturally-occurring standing waves (i.e. river waves like at Waimea Bay or the Eisbach in Munich, Germany) in a sustainable format. According to their description of the tech, “The UNIT Surf Pool is inspired by an occurrence found in nature called the Hydraulic Jump Phenomenon. When this hydraulic marvel occurs the result is a spectacular deepwater standing wave that is incredibly fun to surf.”

Watching it come to life, awakening from a stagnant Italian lake, is certainly a “hydraulic marvel.” However, compared to other wave-making set-ups, this one is on the smaller side – smaller wave, fewer options (no tube), but...a smaller footprint, too.

“Riding these waves,” Conklin said after a marathon session on an assortment of boards, “you really have to go rail to rail. You can never really get down in the flat part. If you go down too far, it’s just gonna spit you back out. It’s nice; it’s an easy wave.”

Well, easy for him.