“It creates perfect waves,” says Andy Hadden, as another breaker ripples across the lagoon at Lost Shore, Europe’s largest inland surf resort.
Created in a disused quarry at Ratho, a village just outside Edinburgh, Lost Shore Surf Resort is already being celebrated as a standout surfing destination, and an important addition to adventure tourism in Scotland.
The £60m centre, which opened in November 2024, is the result of 10 years’ work, and a host of collaborations that tapped into Scotland’s legendary can-do attitude, says Hadden, the centre’s founder and head of strategy and innovation. “Scots have always had this willingness to experiment and I think Lost Shore is a great example of our appetite to push boundaries,” he says. “I wanted to build a resort that was distinctly Scottish, from the landscape and architecture to the food and the welcome.”
Despite lacking the warm waters of Hawaii or California, surfing has been popular off Scotland’s east coast since the 1960s, and its waves and swell have seen it become a leading cold water surfing destination. Lost Shore, says Hadden, “is the next chapter in Scotland’s surfing story”.
The lagoon, which is three times the size of the pitch at Hampden Park, Scotland’s national football stadium, uses water drawn from the nearby Union canal. This is cleaned by a chemical-free water filtration system and treated with UV lights to kill any pathogens. During maintenance, when the lagoon is drained, cleaner and better oxygenated water is returned to the canal.
Lost Shore is one of eight surf parks around the world that uses Wavegarden Cove technology developed by the Spanish specialists Wavegarden. Electric-powered paddles send up to 1,000 waves an hour rolling across the lagoon, while using just a tenth of the energy of traditional pneumatic wave systems.
The size of the waves is easily adjusted, ensuring they’re suitable for beginners and professionals, and in just a year since opening, it has already won awards for design, innovation and engineering.
The science of surfing
Hadden was keen to make Lost Shore more than just a surf resort, so in collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University he created the world’s first Surf Lab. It focuses on all aspects of surfing, from performance and product design to health and wellbeing.
As well as having a hub at the university itself, PhD students from a range of disciplines, including engineering, tourism and renewable energy, have a permanent base on site at Lost Shore. “Our ambition is to become the brain of surfing,” says Hadden.
As well as being an attraction for surf fans, the resort is a hotbed of research projects
Sustainability is also important to the Surf Lab team, and much of the R&D has centred on testing the performance of different wetsuits. Nine brands were put through their paces in cold water conditions, including a new generation of plant-based wetsuits, made from natural rubber, and with a much lower environmental footprint than traditional suits. These performed so well that Lost Shore bought 700, which they now rent out to customers.
The Surf Lab is also exploring the physical and mental benefits that surfing can bring and it has sponsored the world’s first PhD qualification in surf therapy at Edinburgh Napier University.
Can-do attitude
As with any project of this size, there were challenges along the way, including starting construction in the middle of a major supply chain disruption after the pandemic. “What got us through was a very Scottish can-do attitude,” says Hadden, who pulled together a team of predominantly Scottish businesses to develop the project.
“We knew our plans were ambitious, but we thought that if we work together, we can make this happen, and that mindset has been critical at every stage,” he adds.
There was also support from Brand Scotland partners VisitScotland and the Scottish Tourism Alliance. “It’s really been a collaborative ecosystem,” he says.
Hadden is proud, too, that the City of Edinburgh Council has confidence in the project and its wider ambitions. The Lost Shore team worked tirelessly to show councillors that it was a community asset, not just a private business, he says.
The centre runs after-school clubs and works with charities including The Wave Project, which uses surfing to help young people tackle mental health issues. “We’ve created a facility that not only produces world-class athletes but offers something to local people,” he says.
The resort, which includes shops, holiday lodges and a restaurant, has brought economic and regeneration benefits to the city’s outskirts. In its first year it attracted more than 100,000 visitors from 60 countries. This brought an estimated £18m boost to the local economy, and created about 130 jobs in coaching, lifeguarding, hospitality and maintenance. There have been environmental benefits, too, with more than half the 25-hectare (60-acre) site being turned into a country park providing woodlands, wetlands and grassland habitats.
Back on the water, Hadden says that the majority of people who visit are beginners, and his staff have created an environment where everyone feels welcome.
“Surfing is a sport where everybody, including the best surfers in the world, falls off at some stage,” he says.
Find out more about opportunities to live and work, study, visit or do business in Scotland at Scotland.org
