RIP: Big Surf, America's First Wavepool

Long before Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch, Wavegarden, American Wave Machines, Surf lakes, et al, there was Big Surf in Tempe, Arizona.

It was America’s first wavepool, made for surfing, opening in 1969.

But, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Big Surf closed. And now, it appears the fabled, first-of-its-kind manmade surf spot is going away for good as a real estate developer has bought the property for $49.97 million with plans to tear it all down.

Per local news, the wavepool and waterpark will be converted into a “business park”:

“Tempe City Council voted in favor of Overton Moore Properties’ (OMP) new three-building, 690,000-square-foot spec industrial park at 1480 N. McClintock Drive. The company paid $49.97 million for the site in 2022.

“With all approvals secured, the Phoenix Business Journal reports construction to start by the end of the year. The architect for the project is HPA Architecture.”

Although somewhat forgotten in today’s world of wavepools, Big Surf played a significant role in surfing’s synthetic history – an early forebearer of what was to come.

It was featured in 1970’s Pacific Vibrations (see above), from SURFER Mag founder, John Severson, with pioneering pro surfer, Corky Carroll, sampling the goods.

Surf historian Matt Warshaw explained:

“Big Surf, the first American wavepool used for surfing was built in Tempe, Arizona, funded by hair-coloring giant Clairol, opened in 1969 and cost $2 million. The pool measured 300' by 400', and was set in a 20-acre Polynesian-themed complex located in the middle of the desert. Chest-high waves were created by dropping millions of gallons of water down a vertical 40-foot-high concrete chute and refracting the flow into the pool through underwater metal gates. Groups of surfers alternated with groups of swimmers and mat riders. Featured in the surf press and in surf movies, visited by world surfing champion Fred Hemmings, U.S. champion Corky Carroll, and dozens of other top American riders, Big Surf represents a media high point of sorts for early American wavepools.”

And, of course, it was also where the fictional Rick Kane from the cult classic, so-bad-it’s-good 1987 film North Shore, cut his teeth before heading to Hawaii.

RIP, Big Surf.

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