Wave Pool Breakdown on BingSurf.com

What was your first impression of the wave pool you surfed?

The first thing I remember thinking was how loud the wave machine was. It was so unnatural compared to the ocean.

What was your first wave like?

It took me a couple of tries to get the takeoff down (the wave machine hums like a jetplane and a wave essentially appears out of nowhere, then you have to paddle towards the white-wash to catch it and pivot towards the wall to ride it), but once I got it down it had a perfect second turn section that practically did all the work for you. We surfed the “Trestles Right” at Waco first and that section kind of reminded me of a wave I surfed years ago in El Salvador.

Best wave you had during your sessions there?

My best wave was one of the Trestles Rights where I did a “three to the beach” combo ending with a little head dip. At the time I thought it was a total barrel, but looking back at the footage it’s more of a head dip, or “leash barrel” as my friend calls it, hah.

What Bing board did you ride and how did it work in the pool?

I mainly rode my 5’1 Cyprus with the tri-fin setup, but I also caught a few on my Sunfish.

What was your biggest takeaway from surfing in a wavepool?

I’m always trying to identify the “holy grail” surf trip. At this phase in my life, with three young kids, this pool was pretty hard to top and I kept comparing it to Mexico. The distance of Waco from San Diego is similar to Southern Baja (about 2.5 hours), but you can guarantee you’ll get waves and the pool has a mellow wadding area for kids to swim. With the BSR lodging being adjacent, it definitely checks a lot of the boxes.

However, I’d still pick Mex any day over a wave pool. It’s hard to top a real surf trip—dust in your sandals, salt in your eyebrows, the combination of risk and reward. Waves pools seem to be more of a training ground than a true surf trip experience. The combo of both- say going to Waco then flying down to Mainland Mexico, might be the best call though!