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Yes, you’re going to need a reservation.
Our surf sessions are usually booked about 2 months in advance, so showing up and hoping for the best is not something we recommend. At all.
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Yes, we have a rad rotating fleet of soft top and fiber glass boards available to rent right here!
- Short boards are $39+tax for the first session and Soft tops are $29+tax.
- For additional sessions on the same day – the board will be $14+tax per/session.
- There is an optional additional $35+tax for insurance.
Check out our latest inventory on our website here – Surfboard Inventory.
Once you’ve chosen your shred stick – we’ll ask you to fill out the Surfboard Rental Agreement on site 🙂
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Unfortunately, split Public Surf Sessions are no longer allowed for the surf lagoon. Safety is our number one priority and having guests exit and enter the water is a potential safety risk.
If there are too many surfers in the water, control tower will stop the waves and read out the names booked into the session to find out who is not supposed to be in there – which means other guests in the session loose waves… so don’t be that guy…
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Below are our starting rates for our space available/public surf sessions, with the understanding these can change at any time due to timeframe and availability.
Beginner Surf Sessions range from $129-139+tax/person/hour in shoulder seasons, and $139-159+tax/person/hour in peak seasons.
*Beginner Academy is $29+tax/person/hour (you must have a Beginner Surf Session in order to add the Beginner Academy).
Intermediate Surf Sessions range from $149-159+tax/person/hour in shoulder seasons, and $159-179+tax/person/hour in peak seasons.
Advanced Surf sessions range from at $159-169+tax/person/hour in shoulder seasons, and $169-189+tax/person/hour in peak seasons.
To learn more about our different types of surf sessions – head to our website link below and check out our instructional videos!
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We recommend arriving at least 20 minutes before your scheduled session if you have visited us before, and at least 1 hour before your session if this is your first time. This gives us time to get you checked in at the front desk, check your waiver and hand you a wristband.
If you’re running late, please email us at info@wacosurf.com as soon as you can, and we will hold your session for you.
If you are going to be more than 10 minutes late to your session, and have not reached out to us, we reserve the right to cancel your session.
Please note : missed sessions are not eligible for refunds, credits or rebooks.
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Glad you asked – great question! It changes dramatically, reflecting the air temperature the days before your session!
Check the home page top banner for daily water temp updates!
Below are historical water temp numbers, understanding these can change based on Mother Nature!
March-April = 45-65F
April-May = 60-75F
May-June = 75-85F
June-July = 80-90F
August- September = 75-90F
September-October = 65-80F
October-November = 60-75F
November-December = 45-65F -
We usually release the public surf a month at a time (also known as Space Available Sessions) 4-6 weeks before the start of the month! Space available simply means it’s the surf spaces we have available after we book our Stay and Surf sessions and our private sessions.
If you want peace of mind, stay on site with us with at the Waco Surf Hotel and we can prebook your surf sessions as part of the Stay and Surf program.
Email stayandsurf@wacosurf.com for pricing and availability.
*Stay and Surf session pre-booking is only available until Space Available is released, 4-6 weeks prior to the start of the month. Stay & Surf booked within the 4-6 week timeframe is subject to limited availability.
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Whenever you please! We have bookings 24 hours up to 24 months in advance. The further in advance you book, the better selection of dates and times you have access to. You can email private bookings for all availability and pricing!
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Absolutely not. Drones are not permitted in any area of the park – including cable park, surf lagoon, waterpark, accommodations or anywhere on our property. If you’d like drone footage (because it is dope), just ask to hire our in house photography team to capture the moment for you!
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Check out our ALL ABOUT THE SURF page for in depth reviews on the waves!
The Coaster
This small, gentle ground-swell wave provides for an easy rolling take-off. The ride is slow and consistent and allows for plenty of time to work on balance, foot placement, and to begin to understand how to turn your surfboard. The end section closest to the wall, speeds up just slightly, and gives you a chance to ride out on the open face.
This wave gives you two options; a gentle, rolling whitewash on the periphery of the bay, and a knee to thigh high wave on the peak that’s great for progressing from standing up in the whitewash, to starting to ride face waves.*There are coaches in the water with you to help you shred! Soft-top board rental is included in the session price (excluding the optional insurance fee).
The Runner
Open, lined-up faces allow for high performance and high variety. Our three-wave set provides three different waves to play with; wave 1 has a slightly steeper take-off and initial section, allowing for multiple top turns and a full speed end-section; wave 2 provides a slightly longer line for a racier set up for a bigger finishing turn, and wave 3 has a softer take off, but more drained out end section for a little cover up, and wrapping top-turns.*Board rental is not included in the session price.
The Peak
This wave gives you the variety and setups you need to push your surfing to the limit. Wave 1 is a steep runner, with a quick take-off and open face perfect for true top to bottom surfing; wave 2 stretches that face out a bit allowing for big wraps and end-section turns at full speed; wave 3 is a slopier take-off allowing you to pump into a steeper end-section for your biggest hacks; wave 4 provides the most stretched out sections for a punchy beach-break-like set up.*Board rental is not included in the session price.
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Short answer – all of them. Long answer – see below.
Advanced Private Wave Settings:
Freak Peak Wedge – 2 waves that collide from either end of the lagoon. Made for doing airs.
Waco Wedge – Slab barrel wave.
Sissy Sauce – Air wave with section to a barrel section.
3 set lowers – Similar to a wave at lowers/ soft lip able to do cutbacks and get barreled.
Peak Peel – Wedge slab barrel followed by a peeling roller with barrel section then floater section.
Peel Wave – Fast hollow running wave.
Closeout Air – Closeout wave made for doing airs.
Air Section Plus – Air section with a bit more ramp to the section.
3 Set Close – All peeling waves in a 3 wave set. Fast hollow waves.
3 Set Gap – Peeling waves with a 10 second gap between each wave.
Spit – Long fast peeling wave that spits midway to the end.
Intermediate Private Wave Settings:
Air section right and left – Softer smaller air section with close out.
3 set Jetty – A smaller version of the lowers wave. Good for perfecting turns and barrels.
3 set plus – Intermediate version of a peeling wave.
Peel – Fast hollow peeling wave. Good for single longboard wave.
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You can check out our photography and videography solutions HERE – we have all angles covered 😉
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For sure! They can buy a Surfer Companion Beach pass and swim in the lagoon while you boost airs!
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Waco Surf is located in a dry county, meaning that in order to sell you delicious cocktails on the surfside of our property at the Dive Bar, and Star Bar (and the Saloon), you’ll need to have your ID swiped, sign the receipt and become part of our private club (it’s free and fast to join).
This is why the beach area is not BYOB – as this is a separate liquor license to our Water Park. Our Water Park is zoned for BYOB, meaning we can only sell beers/seltzers on that side of the park.
It’s also why drinks from the beach side cannot cross the bridge to the Water Park, and vise versa.
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You can bring:
- Coolers full of all the delicious snacks and non-alcoholic drinks you can think of (although we sell them here)
- Life jackets for kids under the age of 12 years old (we have some you can borrow if you forget yours)
- Umbrellas and tents – please do not dig poles into the sand. Only use bases or weight to secure umbrellas and tents. (although we have umbrella rentals available here for the beach)
- Reusable water bottles to refill from our Flowater stations across the property.
- Your own surfboard or body board for your surf session (although we have a great quiver here to rent)
You cannot bring:
- Your own alcohol (we have 2 bars located on the lagoon you can purchase any liquid courage from).
- Anything made from glass.
- Pets of any kind (service dogs are allowed with correct marked badges, and need to remain leashed at all times – but they are not allowed on the beach or in the water).
- Grills or BBQs of any kind
- Skateboards, rollerblades, roller skates, bikes, one wheels, e-bikes, mules, horses, go carts etc.
- A bad attitude
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Although we don’t have an age restriction for the surf sessions – we do require that all surfers be proficient swimmers and their parents supervise them either out of the water or close by in the water (but not in the way of other surfers).
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For sure! Go to the ‘Activities’ tab on our website scroll on down to Beach Cabana Rental!
*Please note – BYOB is not permitted on the surf lagoon/beach side of the park.*Beach Club Cabanas come with 6 Beach Club Passes, additional passes can be purchased on site.
The maximum number of people allowed per cabana is 10.
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We strongly recommend boards no longer than 8ft in the intermediate and advanced sessions as the pool does get pretty shallow pretty quickly and we’ve seen all too many custom single fins hit the concrete bottom (brutal to watch).
Only soft tops are allowed in the beginner session for safety reasons. Short boards, long boards and anything else that’s not squishy is not permitted and you will be asked to leave the water if you have anything other than a soft top/foam board.
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Swimmers are allowed in the first part of the surf lagoon, until the curved concrete ridge before the surf waves.
Swimming is not permitted in the surf wave part of the lagoon however. State law requires everyone in our surf lagoon to have a flotation device that can support your weight. This means no body surfing, hand planes, wompers or just general frolicking and swimming.
If you are accompanying a guest in a private surf session (i.e. filming) you will need a coast certified life jacket. We have some on site you can borrow!
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We have several umbrellas on site that you can rent from us – don’t worry about lugging your around umbrella, we got you!
You may bring your umbrella or tent for the surf lagoon beach, but do NOT put any poles or rods directly into the sand as it will rip the liner underneath the sand. Please only use bases or weights to secure the tent or umbrella.
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SUPs and Foils are not permitted in our Surf Lagoon. In some rare cases, SUPs can be approved for a private surf session – but this will need to be approved by our staff prior to your booking on a case by case basis.
Foiling is a hard no, however.
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1 dog is permitted per cabin for an additional pet fee.
No dogs are allowed in the Waco Surf Hotel or Houses on property.
No dogs are surf lagoon or beach area, or waterpark activities area.
Dogs are allowed by the cable park on leash.Please be a good pet parent and pick up after your dog, we have a lot of barefooted guests…
Service animals are not allowed in any bodies of water due to health regulations. We can direct you where service animals are and are not allowed on property. If a service animal is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it, staff may request that the animal be removed from the premises.
Staff may ask questions per the ADA, “In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.”
*Emotional support animals or comfort animals are not considered service animals under the ADA, “because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. “
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Please make sure you’ve read our cancellation policy as we follow this pretty closely!
2023 Waco Surf cancellation policies
You can email us at info@wacosurf.com to rebook or cancel your session and we’ll help you according to the policy 🙂
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We do! Shoot us an email at info@wacosurf.com with the amount you’d like and we’ll get you set up!
*Gift Cards are different to Resort Credits – please see below for the full list of policies.
Gift Cards
Waco Surf Gift Card have no expiration date for Waco Surf products and purchases (excluding on site purchases such as food, drink and retail merchandise).
Gift Cards have a 1 time use only. If bookings are canceled using a Gift Card, the Gift Card will not be able to be reused or reapplied to a booking.
Waco Surf Gift Cards are non transferable and non-refundable.
Standard Resort Credit
Standard Resort Credit expires at the end of the year in which the credit was issued.
Standard Resort Credits issued after November 15th will be eligible for use in the following calendar year.
Priority Resort Credit
Priority Resort Credits expire 3 years from the date of issue.
Resort Credits have a 1 time use only.
If bookings are canceled using a Standard or Priority Resort Credit, the credit will not be able to be reused or reapplied to another booking.
All Resort Credits are non transferable and non-refundable.
Resort Credits cannot be used for retail, merchandise or food and beverages.
What to do if you have a BSR credit or gift certificate.
Our grace period for accepting BSR credits ended in December 2022. BSR credits, unused sessions or passes will no longer be accepted by Waco Surf.
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The water is filtered through a three-phase, state-of-the-art system that includes disk filtration, media filtration, and the addition of ozone and chlorine.
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There’s a dude in the corner of the lagoon with a bodyboard pushing it up and down. His name’s Reef. And if that’s not the actual answer, it’s probably proprietary…
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For all Waco Surf cancellation policies – please see link below:
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Our surf lagoon, cable park and water park operate rain or shine, and all sales are final. We follow National Weather Service Guidelines and ask guests to vacate the water if there is lightning within a 10 mile radius of our facility.
For surf sessions – we then start the clock to run a lightning delay and push the whole surf schedule back. Usually the lightning will pass in 20-30 mins and we’re back to having fun. If the delay lasts more than 30 mins, we’ll need to cancel the current session, issue credits to those in that session, and move onto the next session of the day.
For Water Park and Cable Park guests – we usually try and hold out to see if the storm passes with enough time to get everyone back in the water and having fun. But in the event that the storm is too severe to allow guests back into the water, the Water Park and Cable Park will close for the day and Priority Resort Credits will be issued to those affected.
Should surf be canceled by the resort for any reason, the customer will be offered a Priority Surf Resort Credit which will expire 3 years from the issue date. Waco Surf is in no way financially responsible for any travel costs or fees acquired in the rare event that the surf must be shut down due to local or federally mandated closures, and/or unforeseen mechanical, safety or weather-related reasons.