Riding waves is a bumpy business, but making them can be rough as well. Ask Jarrod Armitage.
He went through court cases and bankruptcy before opening The Wave Box, an indoor surfing centre using a 12m-wide river-styled wave created by a diesel generator.
The Albany facility opened last month after The Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall and former Waiwera hot pools owner John Brown came to the rescue with funding.
The water gushes over a 1.5m ramp and, for $9 per half hour, customers surf or body board on the wave until they are dumped on to a trampoline-like net. Keen surfer Levi Cassrels, 15, of Takapuna Grammar, spends about three hours a week perfecting his skills on the man-made wave.
"It's good practise for balance. I surf every weekend and it's more fun."
