Midnight surfing, tall light towers axed for Aldinga’s $100m The Break Surf & Stay wave pool as opening pushed to late 2027
Revised plans and a new opening date have been revealed for Aldinga’s $100m world-class surf park, as excitement swells among South Australian wave-chasers, some have been left feeling dumped by the changes.
A hotly anticipated $100m surf park at Aldinga will no longer stay open until midnight or feature tall lighting towers after updated plans were submitted to the local council, pushing out the opening to late 2027.
Under plans submitted to Onkaparinga Council this week, The Break Surf & Stay would have seasonal opening hours and close at 10pm latest, replacing a previous proposal for midnight surfing.
The lighting towers would “align with the low-lying built form” – replacing plans for five 27m-tall lighting towers which would have risen well above the surf park – while a previously proposed microbrewery at the site has been axed.
A spokeswoman for The Break said the changes were “in line with input from contractors and feedback from residents” and works were expected to start in the new year.
Pending the council’s approval, the privately funded project would start its next phase of capital raising this year and the opening would be pencilled in for late 2027.
The spokeswoman said The Break would “not normally make public comment” during a planning assessment, but “with such strong interest in the project, we think it’s important to share where we’re up to”.
“We’re encouraged by the countless messages of support we’ve received from surfers, families, residents, clubs and local businesses and we hope to have more to share soon,” she said.
She said The Break would still be a world-class surf, wellness and accommodation precinct, centred around a surf lagoon powered by Endless Surf technology.
The park is set to be the first in the Southern Hemisphere to employ the technology, which can generate 2.1m waves for rides of up to 18 seconds, for 70 surfers at a time.
Keen surfer Brooke Deroussent, 21, was “disappointed” by the scrapping of plans for midnight surfing, saying it “would be amazing if it was open later” but she was still “very excited”.
Ms Deroussent, who works as a retail assistant at Noarlunga’s Beaches Apparel surf shop, said customers were “always asking what’s happening with it” and her friends were keen for it to open.
“It’s been really hard recently with the algae bloom; it would’ve been amazing if it was ready and going right now,” she said.
“I think it’s going to be great for us, the people that actually live down south.”
Surfing South Australia’s former chief executive Craig Potgieter welcomed the revised plans, saying the less the developers did to “break up the natural surroundings, the beauty of the area, the better”.
“You don’t want big, massive (light) towers in the middle of the (area),” he said.
The 7.1ha precinct will also include a surf academy, 35 short-stay villas and a licensed restaurant.
It is expected to be a tourism drawcard, bringing in more than 300,000 annual visitors.
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Originally published as Midnight surfing, tall light towers axed for Aldinga’s $100m The Break Surf & Stay wave pool as opening pushed to late 2027
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