Wavegarden has already started construction on artificial surf parks in the UK and Australia, with others in the works. Now the Spanish firm is taking things up a notch, as it's begun development on a Korean project that will reportedly be the world's largest surfing lagoon.
Known as Wavegarden Cove, the lagoon will be the centerpiece of the new €2.1 billion (~US$2.4 billion) Turtle Island attraction, located about an hour's drive from Seoul in the South Korean province of Gyeonggi. Built on land reclaimed from the ocean, Turtle Island will also feature hotels, convention centers and marinas.
Plans call for the lagoon to incorporate multiple surfing areas, each of which will have waves of different sizes, shapes and strengths for surfers of various skill levels (the photo above is from an existing Wavegarden facility).
Snow plow-like "wavefoils" will move back and forth on underwater tracks, generating up to 1,000 "ocean-like" waves per hour. Some of the energy generated by those waves will be recovered in order to minimize electricity use, and to help power the water treatment system.
Turtle Island was officially announced last November, and is being built by Korean theme park developer Daewon Plus Construction. It is scheduled to open in 2020.
Source: Wavegarden