Melb's wave pond

How much does a return to from the moon cost these days...I guess with mars being the new buzz...prices are falling?

I did look into it...but for me to do a overnight trip would cost me around 600 bucks...that's for 3x1 hour sessions air fares and cheap overnight accommodation
Nothing I have seen of their promo footage has provided any sort of encouragement for me to consider it seriously
If I was going to that effort and cost to travel to Victoria, I would drive an hour or two west instead...and take my chances in the ocean
Maybe if I lived in Melbourne I would give it a crack

I would like some opinions and details about the wave...the videos just seem to show a take off then short barrel section...what comes after that. How many turns can you do...is it steep or fat ..speed...does the wave get smaller or stay the same size? etc. I think they say 12 to 16 seconds? How long is that in metres?

Cheapest airfare I found was $350,that's with 20kg check in! Yes sometimes$69 airfares are available,but they get snapped pretty quick and u need to take boards unless u hire

Yes have surfed I.

Depending on fitness I reckon 2hrs is probably perfect. 1hr will most likely leave you wanting more (still wanted more after 4hrs but definitely pretty tired after 2hrs). Back to back session is what I plan to be doing. I'm not super fit, but not unfit.

Yes you just change sides to go from say to go from left to right, from one session to the next, very easy.

Enjoy

I have surfed it.
2 hours was perfect, I was blowing pretty hard after 45 minutes as there were only 8 of us on the left so we got a wave every set.
According to my Rip Curl watch I covered 6.6kms.
Up to 4 turns on some settings, I am an average surfer and had a blast on all settings (including getting thoroughly flogged and bounced off the bottom a couple of times when they cranked it to Beast mode)

Happy Opening Day URBNSURF
All the best from the swellnet crew.

Congratulations Mr Andrew Ross
One Rainbow for Willy Wonka - just sign here.......

Huey says thanx for the long weekend....Gone Surfin'
Go for it Roary...wind up the Beast's evil twin.
Wave of the Day~~~~^~~~~/(`~~~~/C`........../(C`..[ ww )

Airport Drive / Ring Road wavepoolcam
http://victoria.snarl.com.au/cams/single/117

Earliest available sessions as from opening day...
10th Jan Early morning available
11th Jan Day available
11th Jan Evening available

Oz Team training +Local Vic Club Comps > VIP entrance.
(tbb is having a wild guess) Anyone got the dirt on this...
25/26th Jan (am) booked out > (Vic - 'OZ weekend' supercomp ?)
3rd Feb (am) booked out > (Team Oz Olympic Camp?)

can anyone tell me what wind direction is offshore there?

NE I think.

damn, how do S- SW winds affect it?

I’ve been watching a lot of their IG videos and wave shape is fine but it definitely crumbles the lip. Probably for the best for those on the coast as the wave pools best conditions are the same as the beaches, hopefully keeps a chunk of the Melbourne punters away

Gary G might have some hands on feedback on how (little) the wind affects it FR.

In the vids the waves seem to break in a direction that is almost down the line of the outside wall so the rights would be closer to straight N for directly offshore and the lefts ENE-NE.
From looking at google maps.

Gary would prefer we didn’t discuss secret spots such as this on open forums. He would prefer you referred to it only as Gary’s left and Gary’s right. If you have to name it, let’s go for Tulla Tracks. Gary would like it to be crowded enough for Mr Ross and pals to earn a handsome reward on investment for their excellent work, without it booking up 6 weeks out and making it hard for Gary to grace the pond!

FR: Gary’s first session was in a 12kt direct onshore SSE and his second in an almost glassy NE. Both on the left, both this week and both were sick. No fetch to generate meaningful chop and the takeoff is sheltered.

Gary flapped around for about 20-30mins on his first session as it’s all a bit alien at first and then had a ball. Second session was very, very good and a few more booked in the next week.

You’ll make your own mind up next week but yeah, Gary will be sunning himself there regularly.

What if Gary was booked in to a midweek session (therefore having the day off) and the winds were light offshore NE with a perfect 4-6ft SW groundswell coming into bass straight?
Does he hit the pool or flag it for the coast?

NE and 4-6ft means 1km long closeouts on the beaches!

4-6ft and NW? Now we're talking...

Good question, Doggy.

Gary sees the pool as an opportunity to augment his surfing, in the way a cosmetic calf implant augments many lesser physiques. Sugar on top.

Not a trade off in the way that Just For Men robs people of their middle-aged silver fox allure.

If Gary had the day off he’d do both. He’d likely to be in the first or last session at the wavepool anyway as he does his best work under cover of darkness.

If Gary has to trade between ocean and pool in future, he’ll share here as group therapy.

Was there yesterday.
Surfed the left. Nine or ten crew.
No dickheads, very cool.
The sucky take off less than a metre from a concrete wall takes some getting used to. At least it did for me.
The onshore breeze could be felt in the take off area more than I expected.
Faces were clean (and a lot of fun).
9-10 waves in a set.
About 6.5 secs between waves.
2 mins between sets.
The short time between waves led to a couple of close calls for me where a quick evasive turn was required to miss a fallen rider who popped up during the first bottom turn.
One thing very different to the ocean is watching your mates ride waves.
You don't. You might see their take off but that's about it. You're so busy getting in position for your own waves that you don't have time to watch anyone else really.

water temp ?

Reckon low 20's

Comfortable in a short sleeve springy

cheers

Yep, felt too warm in a long arm springsuit

how come you only went left?

I went with a long sleeve as well yesterday, I wish I've found this thread earlier lol. I was struggling the whole day with it.
It's mostly personal preference in my opinion but I take an hour off in-between and never do back to back sessions, it gets somewhat boring and tiresome as well.

I am attending the pond tonight and as a mature aged surfer my current choice of board is my 9'3". My question is, has anybody seen people surfing mals, will that size board work ? My other choice is my 7'6" . I think I'll take both, is it possible to swap boards mid session?

I don't think you would any issue changing boards mid-session. Just leave the spare near the end of the pool.
I had a friend who surfed on a mal but hadn't been surfing much. He was a bit hesitant as the take off can get a bit sucky on the higher difficulty levels.
Our session was a bit different as they were swapping between settings after each couple of sets.
Enjoy, it is great fun.

FR: on the ‘why left’ question: being vicco, the right is way more booked up than the left. Gary has had 4 sessions on the left this week and the first he could get the right at a suitable time was next Monday (booked pretty soon after opening).

One of the great things about it is there is a sense of community. As a Melbourne surfer you are transient, and always an interloper. Always a visitor in someone else’s place and community. The tub feels like a surf community will build around it, and the order of the lineup means that it’s pure stoke for all from beginners through to advanced. Sure, it niggles when people don’t paddle out the way properly or are in advanced and should probably try intermediate first but that will sort itself out with time

The price will exclude some, but it certainly doesn’t feel they’re trying to make something for the (financially) elite a la the KSWC. They’re shooting for something much more communal.

"One of the great things about it is there is a sense of community. As a Melbourne surfer you are transient, and always an interloper."

So Melburnians give stink eye to Queenslanders?

Community at a wave pool.

Something about that seems deeply risible. No offence meant.

Anyhow, C U next Tuesday.

It's been weird tracking Melbourne weather for the last week.

None taken.

It wasn’t the vibe Gary was expecting. But communities form around all sorts of pursuits and Gary can certainly see one emerging here.

The prospect of regular and rippable 8s period peelers will likely feel a little less remarkable to you given what you have at home, but in the context of Vic and Melbourne specifically it’s pretty sick.

And Gary regularly (and happily) sets his alarm at 3:30am in summer to make it down for first light and a surf before work, so it’s not like he’s surf starved per se

Had one session and bought a membership, great fun and yes agreed in Vicco you normally get bigger, less consistent walls. Regular, punchy, fun sized little tubes are lacking so it's a good fit here. Also got more tubes in my first session than a long time....it's been a bad end of 2019!

I'm wondering if/when I'll get bored of it, the wave settings I surfed were certainly challenging enough with plenty of room for turns, barrels and airs if it's your game. But the fact it won't get any bigger or smaller, any more perfect or less perfect may make things a little boring.

Freeride when I went boarding were the go. Couple of guys in wetties were cooking. It was a hot day though, mid thirties and I went in the evening. I'd probably say a wettie vest with boardies would cover it in summer, you stay fairly active so as long as you're kind of used to cooler temps you should be fine.

Be interested to see how quickly it swings with temperatures. I'm going again tomorrow (Sunday) night and it's been a bit cooler here.

Was booked for the advanced setting and when we arrived were told that there had been a "glitch" in the system and would be surfing the intermediate wave, with no beast mode. Beast mode wouldn't be available for another few hours, so just turns and no pits it was.
It was a bit disappointing as we were looking forward to getting a bit of vision and as we were leaving they started cranking up beast mode and it looked fun as farrrrk.

I wore a 3x2 short arm, nice and toasty, that was perfect for me

So I wouldn't pay for another session in the waves we had, but heading up again midweek to surf what we were hoping to in the first place, so hopefully no more dramas

Qldurrz thank Vicco wave pool community for sharing tales from the deep end.
tbb is not some lame Qldurr, sucking up to Viccos for a Wave Pool Party invite.

Traitor will fairly swap- Surf Lakes 'Washing Up' vid for a wrung out Golden Ticket.

goofyfoot ...sorry to hear that.
Just how does 18 intermediate share the 'same point' with 18 advanced?
Great if you could clear up the unsolved wave pool mystery.

The Wave UK dumped their Intermediate wave within a month.
Punters refused to pay for such a sub standard wave.

Any clues on the "Glitch" as there are vacancies from 10 days on...?
Equally wishing yourself & crew...A free go for next time around goofyfoot.
Bravo for speaking up!

WarriSymbol spells out the humdinger (6.5 second wave intervals)
WSL Olympians (4 man Pipe heat) are afforded 3 x longer wave interval.
Water Slide rats are afforded 4 x longer ride interval + (Delay - Clear to go)

We read URBNSURF punters aren't Olympians nor as lively as Water Park rats!
More like - Extinction Rally Zombies shutting down an $80 Tollwave

Zombie horde of 136 lassos armed with 680 blades, blockading Oz #1 slip'n'slide.
Unarmed basher risks strangulation, punctured lung & facial scrub on every ride.

'Round up all yer stickerz & ring the RSPCA'... (Gromz, wait over there with Mum!)
tbb will manhandle yer beastie! OK...One deathroll but then...rip out his heart.
'Clubbie cue : Pool Toy clutter mode!' (tbb throws in a free detox for WSR's & Pools)
Now press clean up set & fire yer start pistol to wake up Roary's Beast ~ (Lets surf!)

A bit disappointed? Goofyfoot I’m sure you would be furious. I’ve asked them about this exact question as I picked it up in the booking system, 3 days and no reply. It’s false advertising and considering 4 of us are flying in and out for the day, for barrels, I’ll be asking for my money back if it happens. I wouldn’t make the trip without the quality I’m after, personally.
Can you imagine you paid for a Prado and the the dealership said there was a glitch in the system so they are just giving you a Carolla?
TBB- when I booked the day it opened for a February weekday, I booked under advanced settings. Looking for middle of the day hours, it gave me 12 & 3pm but the others were blocked out, so I assumed it was like Waco and the other hours were reserved for different levels.
3 days ago a mate tries to book with us but it’s sold out, but notices 1pm is available. I think that’s weird but guess they’ve opened it up as it’s a popular setting. Out of curiosity I check again by going in under intermediate booking, and there it is, 1pm. My question to them was simply which one is it. No answer from them to me says it’s not a glitch but something they are aware about and happy to go ahead with. If they think it’s a clever move then they are in for a shock.

TBB, I haven’t been yet (am booked this coming week though) but I understand that a session will be advanced or intermediate. They don’t run them both at the same time.

Bnkref, check your booking. I can book an intermediate session at the same time as my sold out advanced session.

Does anyone have a phone number to call or best way to contact them. I’m waiting on a reply from 2 emails as of today.

I’ll seriously pull out if I can’t get advanced

Fire the questions to them on Insta...with 55000 followers im sure you get a speedier reply from them.

Any reviews on the advance session yet?? would be interested to hear to hear of crowd size and at what time?

Shoredump if I’d flown from interstate I’d be shitty but fuck, a lot of other people with much bigger problems around at the moment. Feel like a bit of a knob complaining. Shit happens

Good advice udo! ...did some snoopin' & the crew are right...about near all of it.

"Roary's Uproar!"
URBNSURF contact is one way . (No Site phone / email / [f] / swellnet replies)

The Wave (UK) Is copping the same. ( Wave Garden Policy Choose: No/Auto reply )
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g8725998-d19169701-r73659...

Booking troubles...(No reply)

Transit Shuttle -Melbourne/Bristol
(Poor Shuttle/s or lack of one + long walk is really pissing off surfers)

Crowd Size...
Peabo 11/Jan/2020 Note random Gate admissions are added to ramp Booked Tally
Gate entry possibly no (L/R) choice & spaced @ 2 or more per (L/R) sessions.
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2019/12/13/reflections-t...
18 Intermediate + 18 Advanced or (18 Intermediate + 18 Advanced) re: Waves...

Waves
UK Wave 19/Nov 2019 Wave Garden intermediate wave is cancelled.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/surf-sessions-wave-...
6/Jan 2020 Intermediate Wave is set to return (No footage or comments as yet)
https://raisedwaterresearch.com/the-wave-in-bristol-resumes-intermediate...
Both OZ/UK binned intermediate Mid Wave.
(Now Alternate with cross grouping Advanced break)
Advanced wave bookings/settings get reduced to cater for more softer take off waves.
Former intermediate zone is also softer for beginners entering the fray.(Halves the fibreglass?)
Sure Ok! More uncontrolled boards but they'll be mostly softies ?
Already a huge 1st step toward a safer bouncy Jumpy Castle Wave Pool

Urbnsurf Legend of Roary's mythical pet Tulla Wave Serpent...(A Hoax!)
[NEWS] Thor slays the 'Beast'....twas Hollywood Hunk that killed the beast!
Mere mortals need no longer fear Wave Pools + [fact] No leftie Evil Twin Beast.

> > [ URBNSURF (rare reply) ] < <
Can still book Private Bestiality lap dances...see Thor's gigs!
After the Gromz school holidays, maybe a less rude.(PG) Disney version will rise up.

Enere Munro (Park's beastlyboogerbarrelroller spins a tale of legendary beast)
Beast smashed boards & Skulls into the wall & floor + snapped bones & leggies.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/urbnsurf/posts/

(Wavepool souffles rise then deflate even faster).
Week one Recap: (Beast got locked up by the pound)
Wave interval stays, but culled the Slabz & cleared out half the hard shelled Krab pots
Plenty more Disney slushies for the the softies...(Smells like a Goldie theme park!)
Typical first week wave pool opening...crew both said & warned of this ~1000 x over!

Pick'n'mix'n'match...
DJ mixes up Top 40 to suit Intermediate Ratio in the Advanced line-up.
Many surfers swear different versions of same wave type + no set wave combos.
More Kooks'n'Krabz request Kokomo vs less hardcore requests for Smash it Up!

Water Temp: (22*) Spring suit crew recommend no wettie.
Wind: Few mention Onshore as a problem rather state Offshore is the Bomb!

Storms (Electrical)
[f] Surfing under dark clouds with no Lights. ( Yet another URBNSURF safety vid?)
http://swannysurfclub.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/20141018-1217-Li...
Lifeguards practice 30/30 procedure...(Session timed out / cancelled) Refund?

cheers Tbb.

Goofy....fuck that.

You wouldn’t shortchange crew you’ve worked for and then expect exemption because of unrelated bushfires.

"Tax the churches" Udo for PM

Yeah true blowin.

I was looking at a group booking and was emailed the schedule. It means if you are keen on a couple of hours on the advanced wave it’s either early or late surfs.

Urbnsurf summer 2020 schedule
6am- advanced
7am- advanced
8am- advanced
9am- intermediate
10am- intermediate
11am- intermediate
12pm- advanced
1pm- intermediate
2pm- intermediate
3pm - advanced
4pm- intermediate
5pm- intermediate
6pm- advanced
7pm- intermediate
8pm- advanced
9pm- advanced

mackdog sniffed out the secret wave pool formula.
Waves gear down & Hard/Stand up boards are locked out to a/h sessions.
Down the track...you get a few nights at best! (Not Joking!)
tbb has exampled such in 99.99% of wave pool histories.

Still sorry that the crew had to find out in week one!
Demolition Derby refashioned into a Jumpy Castle...one scoop or two!

Gary hopes not. It's pretty sick. Despite not being as good as the advanced setting, even the intermediate is pretty fun, especially on the later setting. 3-5 good turns per wave before kicking out.

Gary experienced intermediate by accident in a similar situation to Goofy on the weekend, possibly the same session, and was happy with how they dealt with it - URBNSurf team members came up mid session to own the mistake and direct those affected to the service team afterwards for compensation. Yes, would have been annoying if you had travelled for it but they certainly weren't ducking and dodging.

Also logged a couple of service tickets last week and received replies in the 24-48 hour timeframe that is promised on the web.

hows that Melbourne weather looking for tomoz Gary G?

OK for short shorts and a tee-o?

So I could of been in the presence of Gary and not even realised?

Hi Shoredump. Thanks. Just checked my booking and there is no intermediate option for the time that I booked (6am). Looks like intermediate is only available from 9am on that day.

Shorts and Tee looking good, FR. Will be a seabreeze in the arvo but probaby warm at Tulla. You FIFO tomorrow? That's a big day. Very interested in your round up

Goofy: Gary feels the same!