WESLEY CHAPEL — The Wesley Chapel area might be getting another lagoon.
This one, however, will bear only a minor resemblance to the ones at Epperson Ranch and Mirada.
It’s like the difference between a paddleboard, and, say, a surfboard.
Last week, Tampa businessman Tony Miller announced he has signed a deal to purchase a 35-acre site within the Two Rivers development to build Peak Surf Park, a first-of-its-kind venue for Tampa Bay.
The park, which expects to be open sometime in late 2027, will be on State Road 56, a quarter-mile west of 301 and just east of Wesley Chapel.
Peak Surf Park promises a surf lagoon, with technology that creates large swells for guests to ride on their boards, not to be confused with your typical wave pool.
“I would say it’s extremely different than the lagoons,” Miller said. “A surf lagoon is very, very different than what the crystal lagoons are, or some of the other lagoons that are out there. A flat-water body is fine, but it’s very different than creating a sport.”
The waves at Peak Surf Park will be created by Australia-based Surf Lakes and its proprietary technology, which uses a Central Wave Device, or “plunger,” to create swells.
The CWD acts like a large plunger in the center of the lagoon, and air pressure moves it up and down and determines the size of the waves, which cascade in a 360-degree direction.
The design of the lagoon will also include various contours to facilitate the size and shapes of waves, which can be controlled for steepness to accommodate beginners, or made more difficult for the advanced surfer.
Miller, an experienced surfer, said the technology does a remarkable job simulating real waves. Before signing on with Surf Lakes, he visited a full-scale prototype in Queensland and spent a couple of days surfing the waves.
“It was phenomenal,” he said. “I don’t want to geek out too much and go down another rabbit hole of how cool the surfing is and why it replicates ocean waves better than the other technologies, and how much fun it was on many different levels, but yes, it is very much like an ocean wave, the way it comes at you, the way you take off, the way the water draws up underneath the wave. It really replicates what’s happening in the ocean.”
While more than 3 million people surf worldwide, it is still considered a niche sport, raising questions about whether it can sustain an entire park.
Miller, however, thinks his park can help it move the sport into the mainstream. He likens it to snow skiing, which he says in the 1930s and ’40s was limited to those willing to trudge to the top of a mountain and ski down.
But the advent of the chair lift opened up skiing to everyone, and Miller says now there are 462 ski resorts in the country.
“Surfing in the ocean is almost equally as difficult as climbing to the top of the mountain to go skiing,” he said. “You have to live by the coast. There has to be waves. You have to fight the people in the lineup to catch some of those waves. There are sharks, there’s the ability to drown. There’s just lots of things that make surfing extremely difficult right now. When you create surf parks, you create access to the sport unlike you’ve ever had before.”
Surf parks are not common in the U.S. but interest in them has grown in recent years. According to an article on SurfParkCentral.com written by Stephen Szczygiel, a senior associate at Hotel & Leisure Advisors, there were only six open surf parks in the U.S. in 2023, and only one, Waco Surf, was the public, resort-style facility Miller is looking to build.
Peak Surf Park will be more about surfing. It will include a half-mile beach, concert and event venues, bars and restaurants, shopping and a full adventure park, to name a few amenities expected to produce nearly two-thirds of the park’s revenue. The remaining third will come from surfing and surf-related activities.
Miller, who got the idea for the surf park during the pandemic, announced his plans in 2022.
Prior to his announcement, he commissioned an economic impact study, conducted by H&LA, and was emboldened by its findings.
It concluded that the park could generate more than $50 million in revenue in year one.
A 10-year projection suggested a potential economic impact of $1.3 billion.
Finding the land for his concept was his biggest obstacle. But he knew from the start he’d like to end up in Pasco County.
“I probably drove to no less than 85 different property sites in my search for land, and looked probably at another 100 just online,” he said. “So, it was an extensive and exhaustive search to find the land, and ultimately, thrilled that we were able to secure the property there in Two Rivers. I think it’s a great property.”
The massive Two Rivers master-planned community is in eastern Pasco County off State Road 56 between Morris Bridge Road and U.S. 301. It is on 6,000 acres and has already expanded to adjoining Hillsborough County following the Eisenhower Property Group purchase of 2,000 acres in 2023.
The entire community will eventually have roughly 7,000 homes with four amenity centers and playgrounds, as well as tennis and pickleball courts, a regional park and more than 3 million square feet of office and retail space.
A private golf course designed by Scottish architect David McLay-Kidd will be the centerpiece of the project, but Peak Surf Park is expected to be a major economic driver.
Miller has launched a crowdfunding campaign for accredited investors and will begin a second campaign aimed at retail investors in 2025.