Midnight surfing proposed at $100m Aldinga Break Surf & Stay wave pool

Five huge lighting towers would rise over a $100m wave pool in Adelaide’s south under a plan to allow surfers to ride until midnight.

South Australians could surf until midnight if Onkaparinga Council approves five 27 metre high lighting towers to a surf park set to be developed in Adelaide’s south.

Construction is to commence on the $100m The Break Surf & Stay wave pool at Aldinga next year, which will be able to produce waves up to 2.1 metres high for 70 surfers at a time.

The planner, Future Urban, is now asking council for permission to construct lighting towers of an equivalent height to an eight or nine storey building, while extending the surf park’s opening hours to 7am-12am, seven days a week.

The locations of five proposed lighting towers to surround The Break Surf & Stay wave pool at Aldinga. Photo: Future Urban

Sam Williamson, the manager of Noarlunga’s Beaches Apparel surf shop, said he was “super excited”.

“So many people are time poor and we’re dealing with the ocean, waiting for waves constantly,” he said. “I sometimes work till nine, so if there’s a chance to go for a surf in the dark under the floodlights, that would be wicked.

“We’ve seen what the Gather Round does for the state for tourism, and I think this is another thing. I’ve flown to the Melbourne pool [URBNSURF] so many times.”

Surfing South Australia operations manager Craig Potgieter said the extended hours would be “great for the surfers that work late shifts”, but he is conscious of how it may affect local residents.

“It’s not a nightclub,” he said.

“I don’t think it needs to be open till that time. 9 or 10 o’clock at night would probably be acceptable.

“Let’s just think about what other sporting facilities stay open until that time of night.”

Left: The Luminaire Philips ArenaVision LED light proposed to light up the wave pool. Right: The proposed 27-metre highlight pole. Photos: Future Urban

However, in the application to council, Future Urban associate director Jason Cattonar says the request is “acceptable in regard to noise” and meets legal requirements regarding noise.

He also says the visual impact of the 27m-high lighting poles will be minimal because they are “slender in design and muted in both colour and tone”, using “modern, small LED fixtures”.

They will cause “no measurable light spill” and their operation until midnight is “not an unreasonable hour”, he states in the application.

Similar surf parks, URBNSURF Melbourne and URBNSURF Sydney, also use LED light towers and stay open until 11pm and 12am respectively, on Fridays and Saturdays.

Night surfing at URBNSURF, which operates in Melbourne and Sydney Picture: Facebook

The wave pool, which was previously only proposed to be open during daylight hours, will employ “Endless Surf” technology to generate 2.1m waves for rides of up to 18 seconds.

It will be the first surf park in the Southern Hemisphere to employ the technology.

South Australia’s picturesque Fleurieu Peninsula will soon be home to a world-class surf park and tourism destination, with plans for ‘The Break Surf & Stay’ unveiled. Picture: Supplied

The facility will also include a surf academy, 35 short-stay villas and a craft brewhouse and licensed restaurant.

More than 300,000 annual visitors are expected to visit The Break, which is scheduled to open mid-2026.

Future Urban’s application for lighting towers and extended hours is open for public feedback until 20 January.

The Break has been contacted for comment.