How a Surfer Brought Waves to a Dutch Canal
Edwin van Viegen loves to surf. But living in Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands, finding waves isn't always easy.
Rotterdam is about 30 kilometers from the nearest surf break, and many surfers like van Viegen travel from the city to the coast looking for waves.
But one day, while sitting by a canal in the city, van Viegen had an idea. Instead of driving to the waves, why not bring the waves to Rotterdam?
There are several canals in Rotterdam, which connect to the seaport — the largest in Europe, and one of the largest in the world.
Making waves in one of those canals wasn't going to be easy, but van Viegen had a vision: a surf pool, right in the center of the city.
The result, after more than 10 years and nearly $11 million, is an artificial wave pool that generates a wave every seven seconds — or about 330 waves per hour.
The mechanism for the surf pool was made by Surf Loch, a company in California. Using water from the Rotte River — which is cleaned through a filter — the mechanism uses wind-powered engines to create waves like the ones you'd find in the sea.
The waves can be set to different levels, from beginner to advanced, with larger waves reaching 1.6 meters in size.
The pool can hold up to 18 surfers at the same time, and it costs between $50 and $65 for one hour, with lessons also available.
The surf pool opened on July 6, with world-famous Brazilian surfer Italo Ferreira invited to show the city what the pool can do.
A competition called the Rotterdam Surf Open was also held that day, with different events for children, professional surfers, and an open event for anyone wanting to take part.
