Post by Surf Abu Dhabi

There's over 400 new surfers in the UAE... and counting. We still pinch ourselves sometimes. Ever since the day we opened our doors, people bought into this ambitious, kind of ambiguous, kind of beautiful project in the desert. Month after month, more of them showed up and made this place what it is. A lot of what we assumed would happen did, in many good ways. But the biggest surprise along the way wasn't so much how many surfers would fly in from continents away for some of the best waves on the planet, but how many people an hour down the road are buzzing to learn how to surf. April made that pretty clear. Over 400 people-who-never-surfed-before came through the pool this month, the most in Surf Abu Dhabi's history. Most are UAE residents, and about a third have already booked their next session. A lot has to do with Surf Social, our monthly excuse to hang around the pool, trade a few waves, eat great food and make a day of it. It's been a hit ever since we first threw 30+ surfers on softops into the basin for some fun. At the same time, we realized that there's a huge appetite among first-timers who loved the energy of those days but wanted it to be a bit more about progression and a bit less about the post-surf shenanigans. One thing led to another, and we came up with another recent favourite called Party Waves, where four surfers share the Beginner Main Wave on soft tops at the same time, rotating through twelve waves. It's just as much fun as our Surf Social sessions, whether you're turning up solo, with a mate, or bringing someone along who's been on the fence about trying surfing. If you want to come see what the fuss is about, Surf Social is back in May with two dates locked in: Saturday the 9th and Saturday the 23rd, and Party Waves runs every day of the week, with a few empty slots still up for grabs. See you at the pool. https://lnkd.in/dxSEthyv