ABU DHABI: Steven Sawyer and Alice Lemoigne etched their names in the history books as the first champions of the Abu Dhabi Longboard Classic on Sunday, marking a special milestone for the sport and the UAE as the World Surf League celebrated its maiden venture in the Gulf.
Abu Dhabi is no stranger to hosting elite-level professional sporting events which includes the participation of stars from the NBA, Formula 1, UFC, World Tennis Association and FIFA. But not many would have predicted that surfing would be the next big thing to land on Emirati shores.
The lack of surfable natural waves on the country’s coastlines has made way for the establishment of Surf Abu Dhabi, a spectacular venue that is home to the world’s biggest wave pool.
Situated on Hudayriyat Island in the UAE capital, the wave pool spans 75,000 sq. meters, with a basin that can accommodate 30 surfers. It is powered by Kelly Slater Wave Co. technology, which produces the longest, open-barrel, high-performance, human-made wave on the planet.
The pool is 3 meters deep and features saltwater waves that range from mellow beach-break whitewash to perfect barrels and high-performance sections. That makes it suitable for surfers of all levels, while also being fit to host competitive WSL action.
Over the weekend, the world’s best longboard surfers competed at Surf Abu Dhabi, which hosted the third stop of the WSL’s Longboard Tour.
It gave sports fans in the country an early taste of what is to come, with the WSL set to return to the UAE capital in February 2025, for the second stop of the Championship Tour, bringing together 60 of the world’s best shortboarders.
“This is incredible. This is really such a unique experience. I’ve been on tour for a long time and this takes the cake. It’s something new and unique and state-of-the-art, it’s pretty amazing to be a part of,” world No. 1 longboard surfer Taylor Jensen told Arab News of Surf Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of last weekend’s competition.
From the very beginning, the wave pool was constructed by property group Modon with the idea of hosting high-performance surfing events.
“This here was part of the initial negotiations for when we decided to build the pool, it was in tandem,” explained Ryan Watkins, the general manager of Surf Abu Dhabi.
“While we approached Kelly Slater Wave Co. to say we want the technology, we also went to the World Surf League to say: ‘If we build it, will you come?’
“And the answer was: ‘Absolutely, we’d love to bring surfing to the Middle East, we want to raise the profile of surfing and breed a whole new group of surfers that have never even thought about it.’”
The idea quickly materialized as a win-win for everyone involved.
Abu Dhabi has created an opportunity to place itself on the global surfing map, while the sport has entered a new market in a region that lacks natural waves.
“I think until not too long ago, surfing has really been limited just to those coastal towns and where the oceans and waves break,” said world No. 2 longboard surfer Rachael Tilly.
“So the fact that surfing is now getting to go beyond just the coastlines and go into countries that don’t have natural waves coming to them, I think it’s really special.
“It’s able to immerse people into the sport that we love so much. It’s a sport that has given me so much, beyond competition, just in my life. So for people here to get that experience, to ride a wave and touch that, I think it’s the best ever. It’s so special that it’s now here.”
Jensen echoed Tilly’s sentiments and was thrilled to be a part of this inaugural edition of the Abu Dhabi Longboard Classic. “The whole environment around the wave, getting to stand up on the deck and look out and watch people surf is something you don’t get in the ocean.
“Normally on the beach you’re really far away, this is up close and personal and just a really cool experience from a spectator point of view,” Jensen noted.
The surfing purists are not big fans of wave pools and prefer to see the sport stick to its roots. But there are many advantages to staging a competition in a wave pool, and it is a trend that will continue to grow.
Ocean surfing competitions rely heavily on weather and wind conditions. A surfing event on the WSL’s Championship Tour has a 10-day window for four days of competition.
And if conditions are not suitable for surfing, action is canceled and everyone has to wait for a more favorable setting. That makes it hard for spectators to attend and broadcast partners to plan their coverage.
“The great thing about a wave pool and surfing is you can actually schedule it so you can have crowds and they can come and even though it’s new to them as a sport, it’s a lot easier to consume it as a fan if you know when it’s going to be on,” said Andrew Stark, president of the WSL Asia Pacific.
“I think surfers are always going to love the waves in the ocean, there’s no question about that, and the iconic waves like Pipeline and Jeffreys Bay and Tahiti … but there’s a place for wave pools, and particularly of this quality, at the Championship Tour level; a wave of this length and of this quality,” Stark added.
“You’re never going to replace all those ocean waves with multiple wave pool events, but having an iconic wave pool event on tour like this in this part of the world, I think, is really important.”
Watkins says a wave pool offers a level playing field for the surfers, unlike ocean surfing, where the elements play a huge part and luck can be a factor.
“Wave pools are springing up absolutely everywhere. And thousands and thousands of people are giving it a try and are saying, my goodness, this thing is the ultimate, this is absolutely incredible,” he said.
“We take a lot of the elements out of it. So a lot of the dangers disappear. So from currents to big waves to sharks and all the things that we love about surfing in the ocean, we eliminate those, and we create a really safe, just a professional environment that everybody can get a taste of it.
“In the ocean you’re sitting in different locations, because the ocean is alive and moving, different tides, different winds, different types of waves. So from an athlete perspective, it’s whoever gets the best wave, whoever gets the biggest wave has got a better shot of winning.
“Here we level the playing field. Everybody gets the exact same wave. It’s perfect. We’ve got the timing. We tell the surfers this is where to sit, and your wave is coming every X minutes, and they paddle in, and they get the exact same opportunity, which we love. We think it makes it really fair.”
Stark says one of the biggest takeaways from the WSL’s first event in Abu Dhabi was how excited the surfers were to be there and the experience as a whole.
“They’re so thrilled to be a part of it,” he said.
“And the other part is just how wonderful the city is. I’ve actually went myself to the Presidential Palace today, and the Grand Mosque. And you see some of the amazing tourist attractions and the diversity in this city, and to have a wave pool surrounded by all these different tourism activities and the culture that this part of the world offers, it’s amazing.
“And I think also the Hudayriyat Island, what’s happening here with the velodrome and the other sporting venues, this is going to become an international sporting precinct. And this is one of the flagship assets within it.”
Stark believes the Championship Tour event coming to Abu Dhabi next February will bring more of the surfing culture to the emirate and create an even bigger atmosphere for spectators.
“We’ll have live music here and big bands, and so it creates a real festival space as well. You know, like people go to the Formula 1, they want to go and watch motor racing, but they’re seeing like music and they’re part of a sort of culture.
“That’s what surfing is. You’ll come watch the surfing, meet the athletes, enjoy the entertainment, be a part of the waves and the culture and really enjoy that atmosphere of surfing,” he explained.
Beyond competitive surfing, what the wave pool offers for the local UAE community is an opportunity to learn how to surf, whether recreationally, or more seriously, in a perfect setting.
Watkins says the UAE has “some phenomenal surfers” and Surf Abu Dhabi provides a place for them to hone their craft.
“One of my goals is to get an Emirati team to feature and perform and do well in the 2028 Olympics, 100 percent it’s a goal that we’ve set ourselves here,” said Watkins.
“I’ve hired Olympic surf coaches as part of my team. I’ve got (an) ex-No. 1 surfer on the world qualifying series as part of my surf operations team. These guys are here and are dedicated to get people surfing. And I truly believe we can have an Emirati team in the 2028 Olympics.”
