The Wave Avis 

I visited The Wave on Monday 19 October for my 23rd birthday, having driven three hours with my family for what was supposed to be a special experience. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the most disappointing parts of the day.

We had planned our journey carefully, allowing two hours before our surfing session to account for traffic and the induction. Unfortunately, a serious accident on the M4 brought traffic to a standstill. I emailed The Wave before our scheduled arrival to explain the situation and ask whether we could move to a later session. We received no response. Had someone confirmed that this wasn’t possible, we would have avoided continuing the journey.

When we eventually arrived, approximately 30 minutes into our booked session, a member of staff at reception reassured us that we would still receive a full hour of surfing. However, after getting changed, an instructor informed us that we would only have the remaining half-hour. Completely contradictory information.

We attempted to speak with management to resolve the situation, but despite spending another 15 minutes trying to get assistance, no manager came to speak with us. The staff we dealt with seemed unable to offer any meaningful solution.

Having paid £150 for three people, we eventually decided to enter the water rather than waste the entire booking. My father and I managed just two waves each, while my younger brother didn’t get into the water in time to surf at all. £150 for four waves between three people.

The facilities were also disappointing. The toilets were dirty, with urine around the toilet, and the lock on the cubicle my girlfriend used didn’t work, resulting in someone accidentally walking in on her. Hardly the standard you’d expect from a venue charging premium prices.

I subsequently spoke with Victoria Johnson, who identified herself as being responsible for the site. She listened to my concerns and indicated that she would speak with the team about a possible refund. However, I was directed back to the same generic email address that had already failed to respond to my earlier message.

I followed up by email the next day, explaining everything that had happened. No acknowledgement, no response and no resolution.

I fully appreciate that The Wave cannot control motorway accidents, and I wasn’t expecting them to. What I did expect was clear communication, consistent information from staff and a reasonable attempt to resolve the situation.

Instead, we experienced contradictory promises, poor facilities, unhelpful customer service and a complete lack of follow-up.

For a venue marketing itself as a premium surfing experience, the overall standard of service was extremely disappointing.

I also documented our visit on video and intend to share an honest account of the experience.

What should have been a memorable birthday experience became an expensive and thoroughly frustrating waste of time. I certainly wouldn’t recommend The Wave based on how we were treated.

we booked a session for my granddaughters having visited previously and enjoyed, 3 days before trip my wife fell and dislocated her hip, we contacted and asked to either refund or move to alternative date so other members of family could take them as we could not get there to take them, reaction was they have a strict 7 days no change policy and refused both options, meaning all lost, Obviously i can only apologise we did not book my wifes fall in advance so they could refund us, they have had this money, they wont get anymore, shocking attitude, if they had a phone number they might learn some compassion !!!

Confirmation said a waiver would be emailed before our 13:30 beginner session. We travelled to Bristol the night before. The waiver never arrived. I chased by email before the session and only got an auto-reply saying support can take 72 hours — after the session. I asked for a full cash refund, not a voucher. Still waiting. They did not send the paperwork they promised and have not answered. Do not book if you need a timely response. Really poor.

We booked a beginner session for myself, our 6-year-old and 8-year-old based on the website stating it is suitable for ages 6+ and with a swimming ability of 25 meters.

However, the underfoot currents were far too strong and dangerous for young children. My 6-year-old had to abandon the session crying, and I had to give up my own surfboard just to keep my 8-year-old safe—entirely losing my own paid session.

While the on-site staff and duty manager fully agreed the session was unsuitable and the marketing is misleading, customer services refused a financial refund. Instead, they offered us to return for 3 free session, which are completely useless as we were only visiting the area on holiday.

They acknowledged the safety and suitability issues but chose to pocket our money anyway. Unsafe conditions and zero customer flexibility. Avoid if you have young children.

Surprised you use plastic teabags when you are trying to be ethical. Plastic teabags are toxic to the environment and also to humans when placed in hot water
Other than that the place is great, lovely vibe.

I booked two sessions at The Wave. The intensity of the surfing there aggravated my shoulder, resulting in a serious rotator cuff injury. My osteopath advised me not to return for an extended period, if at all, as I’m now being tested for arthritis, which will seriously impair my ability to surf.
I cancelled with 7 days notice and requested a refund, explaining the medical circumstances and my inability to return, and offered evidence. The Wave refused and would only issue credit — meaning they continue to hold my money indefinitely for an activity I've been medically advised not to do soon, if ever again. This is illegal as the Consumer Rights Act 2015 states companies must only keep money to cover any losses from cancellations, but they re-sold both my slots. Blanket "no cash refunds in any circumstances" policies are not legal or enforceable, even if they’re in the T&Cs. I made them aware of this but they simply repeated their refusal to refund me. I live hours from The Wave so cannot pop in to spend the money on anything else, and have therefore lost over £130 which they are unethically keeping.
The facility itself is good and the staff on-site were pleasant. But this review is about how the company treats customers who can no longer use their bookings through no fault of their own. If you book, be aware that whatever happens (and I mean ANYTHING), their position is that you will not see your money again, only a voucher. I'm now pursuing the matter through Trading Standards.

I visited recently after previous complications with access and came away really disappointed with how the place is run. The organisation felt poor from start to finish; it seemed to be staffed largely by a young, inexperienced team with no real structure or guidance. The staff I dealt with were bored and rude rather than helpful.

The facilities let it down badly too. The changing cubicles had no locks or benches, about half the lockers weren't working, and the whole place felt filthy.

The food and drink were overpriced for what you got and the quality was basic at best.

What really put me off, though, was trying to get in contact. The phone number was disconnected, live chat showed as offline with no one responding and when I finally got an email reply, it came only after the event, just to tell me there were no refunds.

Overall, a frustrating experience I wouldn't rush to repeat.

Whilst the able bodied facilities and staff are amazing, the place is let down on its accessibility if I’m honest. This place is massive, in all senses and can easily accommodate a 1000 people shore side and in the water - but only 5 disabled parking spaces?? Come on it’s 2026 and this place should pride itself on supporting and enabling physical and non visible disabilities to participate. From what I’ve seen, that’s very far off!

A wheelchair would not have been able to access the till points (chicane of barriers then height to the till point)

Only small other gripe, is the tables at lunch time (during school holidays) SO many WFS (work from surf) entitled parents on zoom calls taking up 6 person family tables - the staff should move them else where so that tables for families are available.

So the surfing was great for the kids - really good instructors etc and the actual wave pool is amazing. However, we stayed in the glamping tents for 2 nights. its meant to sleep 6, which it does, but the facilities at the tent were insufficient. Not enough mugs for tea/coffee plus the ones we did have were stained and dirty inside. no cloth to wash up with or wipe down so tables we sat at were dirty/messy from food etc. No bottle opener or corkscrew, no scissors. No hand towels or drying up cloths for basic cleanliness. I think these things are all pretty basic items if you are providing a toilet and kitchen facility. In general the tents felt run down and in need of updating - i.e rips on the sofa, ill fitting mattresses that dip in the middle.

The wave itself is great, as are the surfing staff - the 1 star is for the terrible customer service support - no phone number or way of speaking to anyone to resolve issues when not on site. I messaged asking to speak to a human person and was contacted 2 days later....I asked the respondents to forward my complaint to one of the wave directors and was told they would not do this - REALLY!?! So DIRECTORS OF THE WAVE - your system does not allow users to either speak to or message anyone at the wave in near real time - this is very out of step with the rest of the business community - if you need help or mess up a booking (as in my case) - GOOD LUCK cos there's NOBODY there to help you!!

I did a Progression Weekend (Intermediate Plus) which was 4 surf sessions, mixed with land drills, video analysis, and some surf skate. It was really fun, the coaches were great, and everyone on the course made a good level of progress over the weekend.

Very clean and nice atmosphere

Great customer service when I needed to track the fate of an e-voucher I purchased for my son’s birthday. Same day response which was helpful and left me completely satisfied with the outcome.

The venue is good too!

I went to The Wave yesterday, my son had been on a school trip last year and was desperate to go back. It is an absolutely INCREDIBLE and unique place. Firstly, the site is gorgeous, set in beautiful countryside, with stunning design and aesthetically perfect cafe and shop. Literally every detail combines looking perfectly like a gorgeous surf school on the coast, while being spacious and practical. The staff were brilliant, particularly the coaches in water, fantastic with children. Lovely to able to watch the children so closely - I sat on the edge with a coffee while my husband and children enjoyed a lesson. Honestly had the best morning here and could easily have stayed all day and done more sessions! Gorgeous shop too. Can’t wait to come back.

Epic place , lovely staff and great vibe.

Just done a Wave Academy progression week with the phenomenal coach Sam. Mixture of in water and on land sessions including surf skate and video analysis.
In just 4 days he managed to fix 15+ years of bad habits 🤙

The quality of the waves along with the experience of the coaches mean you can progress a lot in a short space of time. Surf skating on site also really helps to dial moves in.

Definitely recommend getting progression training with The Waves great fun and very knowledgeable coaches.

The Wave cancelled my session, gave me a voucher instead of a refund, and then refused to honour the voucher.

Rather expensive, but nice for a treat - we'd come more if it was a bit cheaper. I am sure it was MUCH cheaper last year.

My youngest child attempted a surf session without staff (had done a few beginners lessons last summer and was competent then), but it was a bit too hard (not least because the water was soooo cold), and she wanted to go back to the beginners' class where staff are on hand in the water to help give her a little push. Had to really plead to be allowed to swop her out of the beginner session and into the beginner lesson - I'd have hoped for customer satisfaction (especially at this price point) they would have automatically just let her do this - it wasn't as if they were very busy on this day and there were plenty of spaces for her for the lesson which was a little over an hour later and highly unlikely to sell out in that time frame. Hence my three stars. If i had left a review last year it might have been 5, but this incident marred our trip this time, so I wanted to feec back to management.

Generally a fab vibe though.

Luca the lifeguard/surf dude was fantastic with my daughter while I was trying to get her swopped to the lesson at the desk, he was sympathetic and kind and encouraging and a real credit to the Wave. Five stars for Luca.

Management did eventually approve the swop, otherwise this would have been a very long trip (2.5 hours' drive plus we were staying on site) for us and a wasted journey for my daughter and a huge expense for me. So thank you for doing that, but ideally just be easier on us especially when a young child is involved.
I am sorry I didn't get their names, but the two surf dudes who took her in the lesson were really fantastic, and she did come out of it very happy. 3.30pm on Thursday 9th, if management wish to check who the staff were.

Regarding the stay. April 2026, unseasonably chilly (was set to be warmer when I'd booked). Log burner in the tent was lovely but didn't really take the edge off the cold unless we were sat right by it. Beds were really cold. I'd like to suggest heated blankets for the beds, or at least a hot water bottle available (to others, suggest bringing your own!). We have stayed in the summer and it's been lovely, but we were all so cold and tired from not getting a great sleep that we just wanted to head off home the next morning rather than stay for another session in the waves.

Food/cafe. Not bad options for vegans. Again, rather pricey. Little shop is really lovely.

I had a beginner surf session. I had a surf lesson earlier on in the year in the sea where I got up to standing but couldn't balance. I assumed I would more or less pick up from there and hopefully get a bit of balance.
The session didn't go well though and I didn't enjoy it. Once we got on the water no advice was given. On most my goes I came off the board very quickly whilst just laying down. I didn't know what I was doing wrong and no advice was given. There were 4 children in our group who couldn't stand up at the depth needed so were taking up a lot of the instructors time and they were paying little attention to how the adults were doing. Also being 16 people in a group I felt was too many. I can see why they can't give advice with that many people to look at. It also meant I didn't get many goes. I didn't count, but know it wasn't more than 10, probably less.
My friend I went with is more natural at this sort of thing and was able to get up to standing a couple of times, although he said he struggled. And he remembered later on something he should be doing that he was forgetting. Why didn't the instructors notice at the time and give advice? Or if it isn't possible to see, perhaps give out reminders to people?
I found the waves stronger than I have experienced in the sea and found the crash of the wave around me a bit much. Perhaps it would be a good idea to start of shallower to get used to it? That would have helped also with the children who were out of depth. But they should probably not be in the same lesson at all when they do become out of depth and not strong enough to deal with the current. At the deeper depth I was struggling with controlling my surf board while I was meant to be waiting, no advice was given on this whilst in the water.
This was a very disappointing experience, and has left me wondering if I even want to surf again in the sea. And to be honest I was quite upset.

The jewelry that I bought was really pretty until it broke after ably two uses. I bought two bracelets and and both of them are now broken. Oh and neither of them have a stamp on the back indicating they there are not real silver, which is a big scam for the price they sell them for. Do not recommend go to another store. Do not buy jewelry from this boutique!

I used to love surfing until I came to the wave. It really ruined the experience for me.