How a Novelty Surf Spot Inspired America's Newest Wave Pool
The Gulf Coast of the United States is a beautiful, although surf-starved, region of the country. The waves are inconsistent, the swell windows are scarce – still, there's a healthy population of surfers, who foam at the mouth anytime a hurricane funnels its way into Alabama, Florida, and beyond.
One of those surfers, who grew up surfing the fickle gulf side of Florida, was Warren Smith. And so, he had to get creative…mainly by traveling elsewhere to score waves. But, in his later years, and post-professional surf career, Smith has a new driving force: bringing a wave pool to his frothy hometown of Panama City Beach, Florida. And he's doing it a bit differently than others in the space.
First, the pool was inspired by a real, although boat-powered, novelty surf spot – more on that below – and second, Smith is hell-bent on preserving some core surf culture with the project, rather than simply being a big-money investment opportunity. 'Growing up on the Gulf Coast,' said Smith, 'we always had to travel to get waves. So, a lightbulb went off in my head. It was perfect for this. I wasn't trying to build a rich person's playground; I was actually trying to solve a problem.'
Thus, Shell Point Surf Club was born. And with the project getting unanimous approval from the local city council, the wheels are turning, the plans are being prepared, and the waves (hopefully) will be pumping summer of 2027. To hear more about the project, we hit up Smith. Read on for more.
Tell us about the project, your role, and how it all came to be.
I was in the industry for, whatever, like 25 years. The first half was professional surfing, and the second half was working behind the scenes with brands and photography and creative direction. We started our own brands with Welcome Rivers and Former. Then, somewhere along the way, I got the crazy idea to try and build a surf park, and it's actually working now. So, I moved back here [to Panama City Beach, Florida] five years ago to be with my girlfriend Lindsey, and rip into it and see this baby through.
We were working our asses off with Welcome Rivers, I was sleeping on top of the clothes. And shooting a lot of photography for brands – that's how we were getting by. Then, I went to Waco about seven years ago. I'd surfed a few of the other pools. I went with Dion [Agius] to the Dubai pool [Wadi Adventure], and Typhoon Lagoon…they were pretty novelty. So, I didn't know the level that pools had gotten to. But when I got to Waco, I lost my mind. It was like full-on first surf trip to Costa Rica type of fun. It was unreal. We had the pool for like 12 hours, and I think I surfed for 11.
Growing up on the Gulf Coast, we always had to travel to get waves. So, a lightbulb went off in my head. I was like, 'How do I get one of these in my hometown?' It was perfect for this. I wasn't trying to build a rich person's playground; I was actually trying to solve a problem. I don't wanna bag on my hometown too much, because there's a beautiful beach culture. But we don't get much waves. So, after Waco, I came home, called my good friend and partner on the project, Cole Davis, and got right to work. I thought I'd be, like, the middle man…but fast-forward four or five years, and we've got an amazing team.
So, how does Blair, his video with the boat wake, and all that tie into the project?
The inspiration for the entire project was based off this island here, called Shell Island. It's this pristine, untouched, white sand, emerald green water, beautiful island. The idea was to recreate the perfect beach day…like walking across the sand dunes, and scoring epic waves with your buds. There's the Olympic training, the workout rooms, and all those aspects…that's all totally rad. I see the use for these pools with stuff like that. But what was more the vision for me was creating that perfect beach day, and one that's there every day.
For me, the vision was to create a bit of surf culture, rather than a real estate development.
So, I thought, 'Shit…Shell Island is a perfect representation of what we're going for.' And I called up Blair, who's actually an investor in the project, and Alex Knost, and Justin Quintal. There are no waves there at all, so we had to have this boat drive back and forth, and we created this perfect wave that I didn't even know we could do. I think the boat guys have been surfing this wave for a few years now, because they knew what they were doing. We ended up having to shelve the footage for two years, just with the process of getting things sorted with the pool. So, we held onto the footage until the announcement.
It's an eclectic crew…not typically who you'd imagine as 'wave pool enthusiasts.' But how'd you get surfers like this stoked on a man-made wave project?
I think it just speaks to the point that these pools are an absolute blast. Some people in the surf community are salty about them [pools] not being as 'core' as they could be…but if you put someone like myself in there, I think it adds to that. The more we're involved, the better. There's a little more experience added that replicates what we grew up doing. That's important for these things. You can kinda tell when these parks are real estate developments, and there aren't surfers involved. If you remove the culture, and what we as surfers have dedicated our lives to doing, you can tell. You can also tell when a surfer is involved, and it feels more culturally responsible. That's what I'm trying to do. And having Blair, Justin, and Al as friends of the project, it's perfect. Whether or not we birth an Olympic athlete, or a mom from Atlanta who's stoked on surfing, that's all rad to me.
What made you go with Endless Surf?
I looked at all the tech, and they all have great uses for what you're trying to do. For us, here, being a public play, not a private one, it made sense. You can have a ton of people in the pool; you can have a beginner wave in the front, and an expert wave out the back. You can house all that – the tourism, the locals, the visitors, the core surfers – and have them all surf at the same time. Every project is different, but it made sense for this project.Of course, I had to test out the product, so I went out to o2Surftown pool in Munich, Germany, and I had so much fun. It's so versatile – it can break in the middle and go both ways; it can break all along the wall. It has all the technology to make the best waves a pool can make, then it has the capability to make a one-foot roller for beginners, and longboarders, and Malibu-style waves. You can be doing airs out the back, then like 20 kids on the inside learning to surf with instructors.
When's the pool expected to open?
We're looking at summer, 2027. But maybe don't mark that in your calendar just yet. As I've learned through the rollercoaster of getting here, it's been a journey in itself. I can't even imagine what kind of ride I'm in for with the construction. But there's a lot of people much smarter than me who are in position to make this happen. That's the goal, opening by summer of 2027.
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