We were super stoked to accept a special invite for our team to surf Lost Shore, Edinburgh’s new multi-million pound wave park.
The rise of inland wave parks world wide has been huge in the last decade, with new ones popping up annually in every continent. Andy Hadden (Founder of Lost Shore) had a vision to bring one to Scotland almost 10 years ago. With Lost Shore officially opening on Monday 11th of November 2024.
Wave parks aren’t a new concept, having been around since the late 60’s most famously brought to the world’s attention in the cult classic “North Shore”. The film features American Rick Kane winning a “ticket to Hawaii” in a surf competition in the Arizona wave pool, only to have a massively steep learning curve in the real Hawaiian ocean waves.
Wave pools now offer waves of all types for all abilities including pro surfers. Scotland’s pool is up there with the best in the world and is the largest wave pool in Europe currently. Lost Shore wave park runs with the Spanish “wave garden” model.
Coast to Coast staff were blown away by the whole experience, leaving Dunbar to go for a surf inland on the other side of Edinburgh was a really strange experience.
Lost Shore is set against quarry cliffs, creating a large amphitheater environment to house the pool and waves. We watched the wave pool begin to churn out wave after wave, mesmerized as the first set of waves peeling for 15 seconds or more on both sides of the pool. Even though this was a lower setting, it was difficult to resist jumping into the pool for a surf.
We were greeted by friendly faces, Andy Hadden and Martin McQueenie from Lost Shore. They showed us around the purpose built surf shop, with a variety of new wetsuits and hot new surfboards. Local shapers Jay surfboards and Farr beautiful surfboards were also featured too. Local North Berwick artist Charlotte Herd has stunning ceramics on show and there’s also a nod to local clothing brand “Slab”.
We received the call to surf. It was a really nice touch to see in our session, so many friendly faces that have been surfing the Pease Bay Area for over thirty years and a lot of nods and smiles exchanged and a really nice community vibe created for our first experience.
Wetsuits on, and a friendly debrief by the new Lost Shore staff and we hit the waves. We got to surf three different settings (as our group was in a demo testing session).
The first setting kicked off with “cruiser”, a 10-15 sec peeling gentle waist high wave that was perfect for surfing a minimal or soft board and offered 3 or 4 turns on it.
Photo by Sam C ( Mike K drawing nice lines on the log)
The next setting jumped up a gear and we were greeted with longer and steeper waves, ideal for a groveller or shortboard but also still suitable for bigger boards. The “turns” setting has around 4 good quality turns on the shoulder high wave, it was super fun! And a really nice development level for the intermediate surfer.
Photo by Clive Christopherson (Josh making the most of the Turns setting)
It then dialled up again to the “manouvers” setting, with a genuine shoulder high powerful wave that offered 3 or 4 excellent turn opportunities on a short board as the wave peeled down the reef and even a wee tube section. This genuinely felt like a good shoulder high reef surf session anywhere in Scotland.
Photo by Clive Christopherson (Tim in the end section of manouvers)
Having surfed in Bristols wave park in the last few years, this version by wave garden is a big step up in technology. The wave quality through the sets doesn’t change, all waves seem on a very similar par. There is less waiting time , only 30 seconds or so between sets. The waves have consistent power, more size and the length of the ride is longer. It’s a much closer experience to surfing in the sea and there are waves for every level of surfer.
We didn’t see the “beginner” waves in action on that day but have seen since and the area set aside, is well thought out within the concepts of the wave pool, with a very gentle 1ft white water wave breaking for 20m or so. There is an area on artificial grass for practice pre lesson. The main disadvantage for beginners is the shallow waves are over a concrete bottom.
The top setting is the “barrel” wave and is very impressive – with a genuine barrel on offer – we didn’t surf it that day but our staff and top young surfers have now and love it. This wave also offers a little air punt section at the end too.
Photo Sam C (Californian young surfer, Makena Burke, ripping in the wave pool)
All in all the place is simply a fun park for surfers and wave riders of every form. Our staff were genuinely stoked post session. The added bonus of a drink and some lovely food at the resorts restaurant with Pete and Tito was beyond expectations.
Photo Sam C (Unidentified Bodyboarder lining up for the barrel)
Overall – really impressed with the “inland” waves, the vibe and the intentions of the team at Lost Shore. It was also cool to see Josh, Coast to Coast Surf School senior instructor included in the media day as one of Scotland’s top bodyboarders.
The team at Lost Shore have also been super positive about working with Scotland’s coastal surf schools in the future with an intention to push coastal surf schools that run “transitional courses” for those wishing to try to surf in the ocean. As surfing in the sea is a very different prospect and creating an educated path from inland to coast for safety and to continue the positive vibes we already have in our coastal communities is essential as surfing grows.
Our staff comments straight after the sessions :
” Good waves, good food, good times!” Lachlan
“Massive smiles, mind blown and still tripping out you can surf such good waves next to Edinburgh Airport!” Tim
“Exceeded all expectations, we now have an excellent training environment for all wave crafts” Josh
“ Andy and staff couldn’t have been more welcoming – an incredible training facility for Scottish Surfing” Sam
“So stoked to have the opportunity to surf Lost Shore and amazing waves so close to home. Everyone was so lovely” Clover
