Plans Approved for $320m Port Douglas Wave Park

Plans for a $320-million surf park and resort on the outskirts of Port Douglas are on the verge of approval by the Douglas Shire Council with construction expected to start early next year.

The project, known as NorthBreak Port Douglas, will be the region’s first wave park, opening up a new market segment for both domestic and international tourists.

The masterplanned resort, presented to the council in mid-2021, will be built across a large site next to the Mowbray River, 10km from Port Douglas.

The 40.22ha site at 5640 Captain Cook Highway, currently a cane farm, is at the northern end of the new Wangetti eco-tourism trail.

The park, proposed by local developer David Imgraben, will be split into four precincts.

It include a 4.5-star hotel, 90 self-contained detached homes, a tourist park with 35 self-contained cabins, alfresco dining decks, cafes and a number of retail shops.

The 15,000sq m hotel will be two distinct three-storey buildings comprising 160-guest rooms with the east wing facing the “beach” and kids’ paddle area, and west wing facing the resort’s 4ha lagoon.

The development will also feature a beach club, wellness centre and spa, conference center and a number of function rooms.

Plans for a freshwater lagoon and an aqua park are also part of the proposal, offering a safe place to swim free of crocodiles, sharks and stingers.

▲ Local businessman David Imgraben and architect Gary Hunt of Hunt Design—the firm behind Crystalbrook Flynn hotel and the Cairns Esplanade Dining Precinct—are spearheading the project.

Its 1.5ha wave park will use WhiteWater West’s Endless Surf technology which has also been mooted for a surf park at Parkwood on the Gold Coast and the planned Surf N Play Aqua Park in Melbourne.

Using state-of-the-art technology, the pool will be able to generate waves up to 2.1m (7ft) high, with rides as long as 26 seconds.

The 300m-long artificial wave, producing between 15 and 20 rides per hour, will cater for surfers with a range of skill levels and ages.

The park will be powered by renewable energy sources and will target self sustainability by taking advantage of the area's abundant natural resources, including its more than 2m annual rainfall, through stormwater harvesting. 

Once realised, the park is expected to create up to 700 full time jobs and generate $120 million in wages during the two-year construction period, the majority of which will go to regional residents. It is expected to attract more than 120,000 overnight visitors each year. 

The Port Douglas project follows a spate of proposals by wave pool developers along the east coast looking to tap into the post-pandemic surge in domestic tourism.

▲ Douglas Shire Council’s town planners have advised the councillors to endorse their recommendation to move ahead with the $320-million wave park.

Urbnsurf has begun work on its second wave pool and surf park, just north of Sydney Olympic Park at Homebush.

At Wiseman Ferry on the Hawkesbury River, 75km north-west Sydney, a consortium backed by Australian ex-world-champion surfers Joel Parkinson and Stephanie Gilmore has plans to develop a state-of-the-art wave pool and a 54-room hotel across a 18ha site.

In Queensland, Surf Parks Australia holds approved plans for a 13.4ha site on the western side of the Bruce Highway at Johnston Road, Glass House Mountains.

Just 20km away, Sanad Capital has plans for its own wave pool, adventure park and resort at 2652 Steve Irwin Way, Glenview, which has been in the pipeline since 2015.

Kelly Slater has also voiced his intention to build a $1.1-billion surf resort in Coolum, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, his first such facility outside the US.

The project, which is currently in public consultation, includes restaurants, bars, a six-star hotel, an environmental education centre, a residential component and a huge, open-air entertainment precinct.

Broadbeach-based company Surf Lakes, headed by Aaron Trevis, is also moving ahead with plans for a $200-million development to be built around its prototype wave pool, in Queensland.

Meanwhile, former UrbnSurf co-founder Andrew Ross has ventured out to Western Australia to spearhead a bid to develop Perth’s first wave park on a 5.7ha site at Jandakot for US wave park developers Aventuur.

The $80-million Wavegarden Cove surfing lagoon development would be the largest wave pool in the southern hemisphere, and would feature a boutique 100-room surf hotel, health and wellness centre, co-working offices, a beach club and restaurants.