We’ve been gearing up for Urbnsurf’s wave pool at Sydney Olympic Park for years. It was first approved in 2017, with promises of two-metre-high waves and up to 12 rides an hour, but unprecedented rainfall delayed construction on the $75 million project by a year, out to autumn 2024.

And we’re finally here. Urbnsurf turned on the wave machine this week for surfers Owen Wright and Milla Brown, among others, and it announced an official opening date of May 13 for the general public.

It’s the second surf park from the brand – Urbnsurf Melbourne opened in 2020 – and the Sydney Olympic Park site will be open seven days a week, welcoming up to 1000 visitors a day.

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It has a lagoon the size of Sydney Cricket Ground, a leisure swimming pool, a skate park, a health and wellness centre, a Rip Curl shop, a surf academy, and two food venues from the group behind The Butler, Bopp & Tone and Rafi.

The two new eateries, called Rafi Urbnsurf and Sandy’s, will have water views and beachy vibes. Rafi will have a seafood focus, with dishes such as tuna ceviche, charcoaled meats and veggie plates. Sandy’s will be a kiosk on the ground floor with coffee, pancakes, egg rolls, crispy fish tacos and beef barbacoa burritos.

While you can’t book a table at those restaurants just yet, you can book surf sessions now. The wave schedule has time slots for beginners (with wave heights up to one metre), cruisers (gentle point break-style waves), intermediate, advanced and expert level (heavy barrelling waves).

There are also gentle rolling waves for anyone who wants to play in the waves in the safest possible way. The Bays are for softboards only, but like the other sessions they’ll still have 10 to 12 waves per session.

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