The waves in the surf lake are generated by moving water over a carefully sculpted lake base that causes a wave to form, and then fold on itself. This is just like how ocean swell becomes a breaking wave when it moves over a reef or a sandbar. In the case of The Wave, water is moved by a mechanical device located along the central pier in the lake. The device displaces over 30 tonnes of water, and gets it moving at over 6 metres per second to create a perfectly formed surfing wave. The water then bounces off the wall to move down the lake towards the shore.