Amidst the global wave pool arms race, China was always going to be a major player. With a rising surfing population, funding from the government for competitive training, and the first-ever Chinese surfer in the Paris 2024 Olympics (Siqi Yang), the Middle Kingdom was bound to jump on the manmade surfing train eventually.
Enter, American Wave Machines and their PerfectSwell® technology. Since the recent success in Brazil with the São Paulo Surf Club, there were whispers of another pool coming sometime soon to China. And now, it’s finally here. Over the past few days and weeks, the first glimpses at Riyue Bay Surf Resort, located on Hainan Island, began trickling out on social media. San Diego’s Jacob “Zeke” Szekely hucking full rotations; Japanese American style-master Ryji Masuda with claims of the “highest air ever seen” in a pool; and China’s own dual-sport snowboarder/surfer Patti Zhou pushing boundaries.
And so, following the flurry of first-looks at the pool, we hit up PerfectSwell® Brand Manager Rob Kelly the lowdown on Riyue Bay Surf Resort. Read on.
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SURFER: What’re the specs on the new pool?
Rob Kelly: It’s a little bigger than Waco but more compact than the two pools in Brazil. It’s actually kind of the sweet spot size wise. At that size, all the staple waves from Brazil like the double shot, drainer, and A-frame wave settings can be used along with the entire menu of waves from Waco and Japan. It’s kind of the best of both worlds from a premium surf and public operations perspective.
Related: Best Wave Pool Air Section Ever? Inside São Paulo Surf Club.
How’s it different from other PerfectSwell operations?
The PerfectSwell Riyue Bay Surf Resort will be fully open to the public and operated similar to how Waco is. You can book different session types online including learn to surf sessions, public sessions, and private sessions as well. Because Boa Vista Village and São Paulo Surf Club are exclusive to their residents and members a lot of the surfing population that frequents the pools haven’t had to opportunity to surf the latest wave offerings from PerfecrSwell. This will be a good opportunity for the public to see how good the new waves are.
The trip from JFK to the pool in Hainan was surprisingly more straight forward than I anticipated. 14 hours to Hong Kong and then a quick 1-hour flight to Hainan from there. Riyue Bay already has a pretty happening surf culture which was a pleasant surprise to me. The beach town the pool is in is super rad with a lot of good spots to eat and a beautiful beach with a good wave out front as well.
I didn’t really know what to expect going to China for the first time, but in Hainan a lot of my preconceived notions ended up being wrong, and I was surprised how relaxed and similar it was to every beach town I’ve been to around the world. It’s a spot I’d want to go on a surf pool mission to and would even be stoked to bring my family back next time. It kind of feels like you’re in Hawaii honestly.
PerfectSwell
“I didn’t really know what to expect going to China for the first time…[but] it kind of feels like you’re in Hawaii honestly.”
Rob Kelly
Seems like the response so far from visiting pros has been super positive. What have you been hearing?
We had an opportunity during the commissioning of the pool to send a few last-minute invites to some pros we’ve worked with in the past. Zeke, Cruz, and Ryji had two days hitting the McFly air section and it was a sight to see. A lot of the local Chinese surfers will be working as surf guides so they were onsite training when the pro sessions were going down and they were blown away. The boys were fired up too and from my eyes, some of the best surfing that’s ever been done in the pool was going down in China. Ryji definitely did the highest air I’ve ever seen in the pool, probably the ocean too.
“Ryji definitely did the highest air I’ve ever seen in the pool, probably the ocean too.”
Rob Kelly
Any special features/updates to the tech?
The engineers at American Wave Machines are always working hard to make updates and each project always has a few new features. Some you can feel, like a little more power on the wave and others are happening behind the wall, improving on things like efficiency etc. I don’t want to give away too much of the secret sauce that makes PerfectSwell waves so good and ocean-like, but the engineering team is always finding ways to improve and the improvements here have proven to be successful.
When will it be open to the public?
Right now, the grand opening is scheduled for Nov 11th. This project was finished in record time, and it looks like they are going to be fully open to the public ahead of schedule which is remarkable.
Rising surf population in China, especially with the Olympics. How will this pool factor into Olympic training?
Definitely. We’ve already seen Patti Zhou, who is a Chinese professional snowboarder, getting some reps in at the pool. She has a goal set to surf in the LA 2028 Olympics, and I’m sure her country is going to support her and utilize this new pool to help her achieve that goal. Along with the next generation of Chinese surfers who will have access to the pool. It’s going to be awesome to see how this pool and future PerfectSwell pools will transform the surf culture there.
Related: World’s Largest PerfectSwell Wave Pool Coming to Utah