What Was It Like Testing The New Abu Dhabi Wavepool With Five World Champions?
“It’s like gremlins — they’re really cute ‘til you put water on them.” – Strider Wasilewski
Nearly six moons ago, the first rumors of a Emirati GOAT-puddle trickled quietly into our periphery. Since then, we’ve sleuthed, searched, and speculated over every carefully-worded wavepool update — often teasingly spoonfed to us by the powers that be.
After months of Google Satelite, covert text messages to +971 phone numbers, and sheikh-filled Adobe illustrator renderings, we’ve finally been granted a look at Surf Abu Dhabi’s industrial mirror of natural wonder.
And, despite an electric blue hue and a futuristic skyline that would make Ridley Scott blush, the wave itself appears awfully similar to it’s Lemoorian step-sister.
However, in accordance with the best practices for announcing a wavepool, we’ve been told that pool is only truly operating at 70% and has ‘much more potential’.
And anyways, the most significant distinction between this pool and Lemoore’s agricultural oasis is a mostly invisible solvent of buoyancy.
Salt.
In order to understand a bit more about the world’s first saltwater wavepool, we called up the WSL’s longtime aquatic MC — and dear friend to Kelly Slater — for insight into the exclusive Middle Eastern swell event.
Though he claims he was a last-minute addition to a crew of World Champions and CT regulars, Strider Wasilewski has a knack for finding himself in enviable positions.
The secret, he says, is being ‘ready and available’ — but a lifelong friendship with Jimmy Slades probably helps his cause.
This is how Strider’s weekend in Abu Dhabi went.
Stab: Hey Strider, how ya feeling?
Strider Wasilewski: I’m feeling good — that wave is amazing.
How was the travel to get out to UAE?
The travel’s not bad. It’s 15 hours from LA, and there’s a direct flight. Couple of movies, a sleep, and you’re there.
Did you have your tickets booked for a while, or was this a last-minute plan?
I think it was a last minute thing to have me there. To tell you the truth, I think the whole thing was pretty last minute.
Was it expensive?
We stayed at a hotel nearby, and the flights were paid for — I believe it all happened through the tourism department. As far as I know, there’s affordable places to stay near the pool. Everything there was cheaper than I expected — buying a bottle of water, stopping at the gas station for a snack. In my mind, because of where we were, I thought everything was going to be crazy expensive, but it was actually cheaper than the US.
I also love the food there. My father-in-law is Lebanese, so I eat a lot of really amazing food from that side of the world, and the food was just next level.
So, this is the first saltwater wavepool in the world. Does it feel that different?
There was a huge difference, yeah. That was the most important part to me, about how much better the experience was. Even paddling into the waves felt 50% easier. Catching the waves, riding the waves, they were more forgiving. Everything about it was really enjoyable because of the saltwater.
It felt more natural — you wanted to push harder because you had more glide and speed. Everything about it felt more like the ocean. I took a couple of brand new boards, which was probably not the smartest idea, just because the opportunities to actually ride waves is limited. But then two waves in I already felt like I wanted to attack the wave. Surfing in Lemoore, you can rip it, but you don’t really keep evolving. In Abu Dhabi, it felt like the evolution never ended. It just became more and more exciting, more rippable. I would love to spend more time there because it felt like you could get better and better.
What boards was everyone riding out there?
Gabriel was riding PUs, Filipe brought normal boards, though he did ride his carbon board. I think it’s just a preference thing. Ramzi was riding normal boards. Everybody had different equipment. I rode a Black Sheep …Lost Stub 3.0 and it was insane, I couldn’t get off of it. And then I rode my normal PU Driver and it was awesome. The wave was so high performance, even the epoxy board I had was thinner than what I would normally ride, and it felt amazing.
Is the wave actually bigger?
There is more size. It’s hard to tell, because when you put someone like Ramzi Boukhiam on it, it actually looks smaller [laughs]. But when you put Filipe on it, it looks bigger. It’s actually a foot and a half taller, on a different setting from what you may have seen on the clip of Kelly. That setting he surfed in the clip was to make sure the wave was as perfect as possible.
For it to be as good as it was, at that stage, so early in its development, was crazy. They’re just tuning it, it’s just gonna get better and better, until they feel like they’ve worked out the kinks. It’s gonna be crazy how much better it’s gonna get.
So this is a beta test, in a way?
Yeah, basically what you saw was it running at maybe 70%.
Is the left actually better than the right, like you said on your Instagram?
I mean, I think so because I’m a goofy-foot [laughs]. I felt like the tube on the inside of the left was taller than the right. For some reason, it felt like I was squeezing into the right and on the left I could stand a little taller.
Gotcha. Is it one wave every three minutes like the Lemoore pool?
They were testing anywhere between 2 ½ to 10 minutes, just to see what would happen. It was super exciting to be there, just to see how they were testing.
The inside reform wave, which Lemoore doesn’t have, had guys riding it all the way across. Gabriel and Toledo were doing rotations off the reform on the inside.
And, is it actually longer?
I think the wave is longer, but I don’t think the actual pool is longer. I’m pretty sure they’re just utilizing more of the basin.
What was the dynamic like with a handful of the most high profile surfers in the world?
I mean, you definitely see why they’re all World Champions [laughs]. You’ve got Stephanie, one of the most stylish surfers in the world. Watching her was incredible. And then Caroline, Toledo, Gabby, and then you slide in some of the crew who are just good friends with Kelly. For me, after rattling off all those names and dropping myself in below as a plug-in, I just feel honored and freaked-out to be there. You’re watching all of these apex predators in the water, it’s mind boggling no matter where you are in the world. Then you throw in all these factors — brand new tech, and incredible wave, the backdrop, the Middle East, saltwater — everything was elevated.
Was it pretty competitive?
It was pure vacation mode. Everyone was stoked for each other, people were hooting and cheering. Don’t get me wrong, when it was time to surf, everybody wanted theirs. It’s like gremlins, they’re really cute ‘til you put water on them, and then everyone just wants their wave [laughs].
Who got the most waves?
Ummmm… I’m not gonna answer that question [laughs]. Because… They gave me a lot of shit for catching too many waves.
That’s funny. When I was at the Lemoore pool for the contest, aside from the CT surfers, you got more waves than anyone else — between that, and now being invited to Abu Dhabi for the opening of this pool, surely you’re on a very short list of people who have truly gorged themselves on Wave Ranch technology. What’s the secret? How have you ended up in this position?
[laughs] Oh man. To be honest, there’s no real secret. It’s just being ready and available.
Well, I’m available, and nobody calls me.
[laughs] Well, it helps that I grew up with Kelly and have known him for 40 years. He put together and curated a list of people and made sure everybody that was there was supposed to be there. A few random entries showed up a bit later, like Dylan Graves, which was amazing. He’s one of those surfers you love to hang out with. It was really, really cool.
Did anyone get invited and turn it down?
From what I understand, everyone who was invited came.
Yeah, you would. Do you know how they keep the pool clean?
They have a crazy filtration system, which I believe actually desalinates the water. I don’t know much about it, but I know they pull the saltwater from the ocean, and they filter the water with the system. I guess the salt levels rise as it sits in the pool, so they have to take those down.
Any idea what the plans and cost will be for opening it to the public?
What I heard is that it will be open within four-to-eight weeks, and the cost was undecided but going to be pretty affordable. There’s a lot going on around there, and I think it’s a really cool thing to have people come and go. I think it’s gonna be a great stopover destination. Hop a flight, book an hour, and go surf.
If all costs were the same, based strictly on the experience, would you rather drive the four hours from Malibu to Lemoore to surf the original pool, or spend a day in transit to surf in Abu Dhabi?
Hmm. I think I’d wanna go to Abu Dhabi. It’s a little hard to judge the real outcome of what the wave will fully be. There’s a lot of haters online saying it’s just the same wave. There’s always somebody with negative opinions, but I guess the world wouldn’t be the same without them [laughs].
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