For a select group of São Paulo residents, going to the beach no longer means just traveling to the coast. On the contrary, the direction is towards the interior of the State. Soon, this group of wealthy people won’t even need to hit the road anymore: the beach has gone up the mountains and settled in São Paulo. Furthermore, it brought perfect waves for surfing without bad weather: rain, shine, wind or not.
This beach comfort in the city is part of a new segment of the luxury universe in the country. This is a niche that emerged with the opening of surf clubs and their wave pools starting in 2021. These are ventures that combine sport, leisure, gastronomy and exclusive experiences.
Brazil already has three artificial surfing beaches in operation. Two are located in the interior of São Paulo, Praia da Grama, inside Fazenda da Grama, in Itupeva, and Boa Vista Village Praia, located in the condominium of the same name, in Porto Feliz. A third complex, Surfland, is located in the city of Garopaba, in Santa Catarina.
Senior executive of a company in the financial sector and amateur surfer, Evandro Tomasi (fictitious name), aged 47, is one of the São Paulo residents who frequent Fazenda da Grama. The artificial beach at the Itupeva complex was the main argument for him to invest in this second residence. “It’s perfect. I take the family to the beach and there are always waves to surf.”
Tomasi also has a house on the north coast of São Paulo, but says he currently prefers to go to the beach in the interior. “The sea is temperamental. The conditions have to conspire in your favor to be able to take advantage of the waves.” On Grama, life is easier and surfing is convenient.
The club, like Boa Vista, became a point for the executive surfing crowd. It has been common to find images of wave pools on Instagram by the “Faria Limers” group, as the money professionals who circulate around the financial center of São Paulo were nicknamed. In other words, the trick of undertakings is to combine fun and networking.
The large wave pools and luxury infrastructure at Fazenda da Grama and Boa Vista Village also attract athletes, celebrities and influencers. World surfing champions such as Gabriel Medina, Ítalo Ferreira and Tati Weston Webb have already performed their maneuvers at these points. And they come back whenever they can.
Professionals have praised the technologies responsible for the waves. “In the pool, you can do the maneuvers exactly as you planned in your mind,” said world and Olympic surfing champion Ítalo Ferreira, in a statement about Boa Vista Village.
Both the Wavegarden, used at Grama and The Beyond, and the PerfectSwell, at São Paulo Surf Club and Boa Vista, can reproduce everything from tubes worthy of Tahiti, to water walls two to three meters high and lasting longer. 22 seconds, great for training aerials and other maneuvers. But even at the press of a button, much smoother ripples can appear, tailored to entertain beginners.
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The number of spaces is expected to triple in the next two years. There are six projects being implemented. Among the new clubs, the capital of São Paulo will host two, The Beyond and the São Paulo Surf Club. A third project, the Surf Center, was launched in Curitiba, capital of Paraná, scheduled to open in 2025.
The interior of São Paulo will receive the Fazenda Vista Verde condominium, in Araçoiaba da Serra, which should be ready in the second half of next year. A second Surf Center will be built in Ribeirão Preto, with no opening schedule. The Reserva Beach Club, in Alphaville, is scheduled for delivery in December 2026.
The closest project to be opened is The Beyond, a project by KSM Realty, whose partner is BTG Pactual. The schedule foresees a “soft opening”, a kind of testing period, starting in April 2025. The complex should effectively open its doors between July and August and have an official opening the following month.
It will be the first artificial surfing beach in the city of São Paulo. The facility is located on the banks of the Pinheiros River and occupies a 70,000 m2 plot of land, which housed the Transamérica hotel. Not by chance, 15 minutes by car from Avenida Faria Lima, the financial center of the capital of São Paulo.
“I’m also a surfer, I’ve always had this dream of accessing a beach with perfect waves at any time, without worrying about whether the weather is favorable or not”, says KSM CEO, Oscar Segall. “So, for me the success (of surf clubs) was not just about business, but about joy.”
Segall compares The Beyond to the first golf clubs, which before multiplying across the country, were seen as niche ventures. Today there are already 117 fields and more than 20 thousand practitioners of the sport. In fact, the Fazenda da Grama condominiums, owned by KSM, and Boa Vista Village, owned by JHSF, have their own 18-hole courses.
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KSM’s plan includes expanding The Beyond club network to other states and even outside Brazil. Segall says he is already in advanced conversations with partners in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, as well as in Miami, in the United States, and in Madrid, in Spain.
The surf club goes far beyond the wave. There will be skate parks, beach tennis courts, tennis courts, squash courts, as well as a gym, pilates and dance studios, a fighting arena and various services, such as a spa, beauty salon and physiotherapy. Leisure will also include starred restaurants, wine cellars, a jazz bar and a night club. In other words, everything that luxury can offer.
KSM established an offer of 3 thousand titles for those who wish to join, of which almost half or 47% have already been sold. They will all be patrimonial, that is, the owner will be able to negotiate them in the future and even make a profit with a possible appreciation, just as happens in traditional clubs in the capital of São Paulo, such as Pinheiros and Paulistano. As is customary in this market, The Beyond takes a 10% toll on the sales value.
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Although the company does not disclose the value, information circulating in the market points to an initial price of R$650,000 – at competitor Boa Vista Village the title costs R$700,000. This means that, with current sales, the group has practically recovered the investment of R$ 1.1 billion made in the project.
It seems like an exorbitant amount. And it is: it is equivalent to buying a BMW X3 or a one-bedroom apartment in Pinheiros, a neighborhood in the west of São Paulo. But, judging by the public that buys luxury cars, there is a large potential demand for members.
BMW, Volvo Car, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi together sold 21,114 units in the first half of the year. And, within this group, the perspective is that 2024 could close with sales of more than 30 thousand brand new vehicles with prices above R$500 thousand, that is, from consumers with more than enough capital to join the new wave.
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The São Paulo Surf Club, located on the opposite bank of the Pinheiros River, is not far behind The Beyond. The project includes tennis courts, beach tennis, squash and sports such as football, volleyball and basketball. Services such as a spa, beauty salon and gym will also be offered. For moments away from the beach, there will be restaurants, bars and a lounge.
The complex is part of the portfolio of the JHSF group, owner of brands such as Fasano and Boa Vista Village. It is expected to open next year, but there is no specific date yet.
“We want to deliver something unprecedented to the capital, a unique experience”, says JHSF CEO, Augusto Martins. In the group’s view, the venture has a clear appeal: São Paulo is the city with the largest number of surfers in the country. And most practitioners come from high-income families. In addition to the club, the project includes a new residence integrated into the SPSC and the Cidade Jardim Complex.
The JHSF did not specify the number of titles offered, but the São Paulo Surf Club will also include the “membership” modality, a form of association without acquiring an equity title.
Individual membership will cost around R$625,000. In the family version, it rises to R$925 thousand. In this case, in addition to the member, the spouse and three dependents up to 35 years of age will be able to attend the club. In addition to membership, there is also an annual fee of R$25,000.
The beach will be closer to São Paulo residents from 2025. But, for now, only for a select group of wealthy people. In any case, as the law of supply and demand reigns in any market, the success of urban surfing could end up democratizing artificial sand. After all, new waves always emerge in the real estate market to attract all types of clients.
