11-Time World Champion Kelly Slater Launches World-Class Surf Park in Abu Dhabi
As if being the most dominant competitive surfer of all time wasn’t enough for 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, at 51 years old he continues to push the progression of the sport with the launch of the new surf park Surf Abu Dhabi.
Modeled after the groundbreaking technology pioneered at the original facility in Lemoore, California, the Kelly Slater Wave Company partnered with Abu Dhabi developer Modon Properties to bring the vision to life. It reportedly will offer the world’s longest ride, largest barrel, and highest man-made wave.
“I’ve surfed hundreds of incredible waves across the world and this wave in Abu Dhabi stacks up well against some of the best waves on earth. I’ve drawn on that traveling surf education to design the wave at Surf Abu Dhabi,” Slater explained in a press statement.
The launch of Surf Abu Dhabi saw Slater and a number of the world’s best surfers, including world champions Caroline Marks, Stephanie Gilmore, Filipe Toledo and Gabriel Medina, enjoy the waves for the first time.
"So stoked you guys came to surf. Thanks man. Means a lot to me personally and it’s always good to see you shredding like a remote controlled surfer!" wrote Slater on Toledo's Instagram post.
The press release from Modon also notes that Surf Abu Dhabi is “capable of hosting future major international surf competitions and accommodating professional surfers with perfect conditions to train or compete,” so look out for further developments on that front.
Surf Abu Dhabi was built in the Hudayriyat Island development, which is a coastal zone designed for sport, leisure, entertainment and recreation.
There’s no word yet on when the official opening of the new surf park will be or what the rates will be, but it’s sure to continue to make headlines with its man-made perfection in one of the most unlikely surf zones in the world.
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.