Wave garden? What's a wave garden?
In the last two years, everything (and anything) has been written about this subject that both fascinates and annoys the whole surfing community. Fantasy of a commercial evolution for some, death of the surfing spirit for others... Great opportunity to promote to the general public an activity endangered by the number of its members...
This article aims to summarise these ideas in order to ask the right questions at the next information meeting!
Information meeting in Vieux-Boucau
Why does it annoy?
1/ Ecology!
As soon as you change an ecosystem, it is common to say that you are having a negative effect on it... and you can turn it around... it's true!
2/ Common sense!
Why build a wave... where there are already waves! And not the worst ones, since the chosen site is the one chosen by the WSL (formerly asp) to contest the European stage for years.
3/ The very opposite of the "freesurf spirit
For many of us, surfing is also a way to discover the world, to travel, to gather. The artificial wave destroys this way of thinking.
4/ Fear
To see one day the words "efficiency" and surfing put side by side... We don't sell mobile phones, we surf!
So why is it good?
1/ It broadens the very concept of surfing!
After the small waves, the big waves, the tidal bore, we can now surf a new type of wave, it is also a search for the best wave, the perfect wave.
2/ Safety!
A problem that is beginning to be felt on many spots, by establishing the Wave Garden near famous spots, we decongest the spots and thus increase safety. Many beginners don't dare to go to the peak ... the Wave Garden is an ideal safe place to learn to surf, without localism, without apprehension, just discovery.
3/ The currency!
If you take your head out of the sand for five minutes, you will notice that almost the entire surf industry is hanging its tongue ... the Surf Garden has a more than encouraging forecast!
4/ The evolution of surfing!
If we look closely, almost all top sportsmen have training rooms, training centres, technical centres at their disposal... except for surfing? The Wave Garden can become an indispensable tool for improvement... pro surfers are a good example.
Whether you are already a fan or fiercely opposed to the concept, the problem caused by this new wave is very real, while the advantages are very promising, although still a little vague... The important thing is to master the subject well in order to limit the harmful effects on the ecological level but also on the sporting level, while optimising its benefits...
For you, should surfing protect itself or, on the contrary, open itself up at the risk of being eaten by merchandising...? Hasn't this already happened in the surfwear industry?