A Brief History of Wave Pools Pre-Y2K

Photo: Youtube / SurfLakes This surf-focused history of wave pools pre-Y2K uncovers the surfable and the non-surfable. Only in surfing would you find a connection between a mad Bavarian king, America’s largest cosmetics company, and pre-Nazi Germany. All three were instrumental in creating wave pools. In the 1870s, Ludwig II of Bavaria built The Venus Grotto, an underground labyrinth with aquatic passageways, boats and an electrified “wave maker” of which very little is known. The subterranean pool became Ludwig’s place to escape the pressures of kinghood. It’s said that he liked…

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