The groundbreaking ceremony was recently held in Siheung City, South Korea to commemorate the commencement of civil work on the Wavegarden Cove, which, upon completion, will be the largest man-made surf park in the world.
The ceremony was an auspicious occasion attended by more than 500 VIP’s, in particular, the hosts responsible for bringing the project to life: Choi Sam-seob, the Director of the Wave Park; Lee Jae-myung, the Governor of Gyeonggi Province; Lim Byoung-taek, the Mayor of Siheung City; Lee Hak-soo, the President of Korea Water Resources Corporation; and Wavegarden’s Chief Commercial Officer, Fernando Odriozola.
Plans for the Siheung Surf Park that include a beach almost 1km long were initially unveiled last November when the key parties signed a joint business agreement to turn this ambitious vision into reality. Business stage 1 will see the creation of Asia’s first Wavegarden Cove on a site covering 166,613m2, which is on track to open to the public in 2020.
In stage 2 of the development, the Daewon Plus Group, the investor of Wave park, will invest approximately 430m€ to progressively construct a hotel, convention centre, marina, and ferris wheel. Siheung, a city formerly known for its industrial manufacturing business, will transform its venue into an epicenter for tourism and leisure, anticipating 2 million visitors per year.
“As could be expected, the ceremony was amazing”, said Fernando Odriozola, Wavegarden’s CCO. “Our hosts are really embracing the sport of surfing and we’re confident that this Wavegarden project will become a mecca for surfing, not just for Koreans, but also for people throughout Asia“.
