Qld’s first Surf Park could host 2032 Olympic events

Triple world champion Mick Fanning, has been appointed project ambassador for the $300m Palm Valley development on the Gold Coast which will combine his two sporting passions – surfing and golf.

Gold Coast surfer Mick Fanning is hoping to build a surf Ranch on the Gold Coast Picture Supplied

Surfing legend Mick Fanning has jumped on board to help create Queensland’s first public surfing wave park.

The triple world champion turned multi-millionaire businessman has been appointed project ambassador for the $300m Palm Valley development at Parkwood on the Gold Coast which will combine his two sporting passions – surfing and golf.

As well as a world-class man-made surfing lagoon, the project will include a remodelled Parkwood International golf course, hotel resort, restaurants and bars, retail outlets, and sporting facilities.

The wave park will use the Endless Surf technology used in Germany’s first surfing pool which opened in Munich earlier this year.

Fanning travelled to Germany recently to test-ride the Surftown facility in Munich, ripping up the perfect peelers generated by the Endless Surf technology which uses fans and blowers to whip up the waves.

He said Palm Valley had the potential to be “the greatest surf/golf resort destination on the planet”.

Gold Coast surfer Mick Fanning is hoping to build a surf Ranch on the Gold Coast. Picture: Supplied

“It’s exactly like the name, Endless Surf – it doesn’t stop,” he said of the Munich experience.

“It just keeps going and going and going and that’s what we want to do as surfers – just keep catching waves.”

Work on the Gold Coast wave pool, which will be the $120m first stage of Palm Valley, is due to start mid-next year after receiving Gold Coast City Council approval last December.

It is due to be finished in 2027, with potential to host the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics surfing events.

Surfing superstar Kelly Slater opened the first world-class wave pool, dubbed the Surf Ranch, in inland California in 2015 and the concept has taken off since with surf parks springing up worldwide.

While parks have opened in Sydney and Melbourne in recent years, Queensland has yet to see its first commercial wave pool. Gold Coast-based Surf Lakes established a prototype pool at Yeppoon in 2018 which was due to open to the public this year, but has so far only been surfed by invited guests including Chris Hemsworth and former world surfing champ Mark Occhilupo.

The Gold Coast project is being developed by the Parkwood Village group headed by former professional golfer Luke Altschwager. The Gold Coast Titans NRL team is also based at Parkwood.

Mr Altschwager said Palm Valley would be one of most significant tourism investments in southeast Queensland in recent decades.

Gold Coast surfer Mick Fanning.

He said the new Crisafulli government and Gold Coast City Council were urging new investment in tourism infrastructure and the “shovel-ready” Palm Valley fit the bill.

“We will create a unique new destination that integrates surf, golf and hospitality – minutes from the Gold Coast CBD,” he said.

“This will position it as a major tourism attraction and the premier training venue for elite surfers.

“As a high performance training resort, it will offer specialised programs designed for Australian athletes targeting Brisbane 2032, as well as accommodate top-tier international talent.

“The surf lagoon will become a premier venue for professional events – with the potential to host the 2033 Olympic and Paralympic surfing (events) if weather dictates.

“With Mick on board, we’ll bring the passion, innovation and excellence that the Gold Coast has always been known for.”

It’s unclear yet if Fanning, who is also a keen golfer and hosts his own annual charity golf day, will have equity in the Palm Valley project.

The 43-year-old has parlayed his professional surfing earnings and social media profile into a lucrative post-sport business career, including an investment with fellow surf stars Joel Parkinson, Bede Durbidge and Josh Kerr in Coast beer company Balter which was sold to brewing giant CUB in 2019 in a deal worth up to $200m.

Fellow Gold Coast surfing legend Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew said wave pools were “a dynamic new concept and technology” that were helping take the pressure off crowded surf spots.

“There’s about 40 million surfers in the world today and two-and-a-half million in Australia, and only a finite number of great surf spots – and they’re pretty much over-loved,” he said.

Originally published as Qld’s first Surf Park could host 2032 Olympic events