Up to 8 riders
Host a public lobby or send an invite link to just your crew. Everyone sees the same sets, so you can call each other into the good ones.
Your water. Your way.
Ridereal spots with your friends.
Forty-seven water sports on Pipeline, Teahupoʻo, Jaws and almost any real coastline, in your browser or in VR, with live wind and swell and your whole crew in the lineup.
01Forty-seven ways to ride

Drop in, carve and pull into the barrel on steep reef sets.

Kick into hollow reef sets lying down, with fins on.

No board: fins, a hand plane and the body.

Run the wet sand, drop the board and slash the shore break.

Run a floating dock out to the break and jump onto a passing wave.

Pump between bumps and link waves on mellow peeling points.

Kick into a wave lying down and let the foil lift you.

A mast motor lifts you onto the foil, then ride the small bumps.

Chase wind-swell bumps on long runs down the coast.

Harness the forecast wind and fly flat water or open swell.

Fly a small pocket wing over the surf foil board on the lagoon.

Rig up and blast across strong side-shore wind.

The same rig on a foil: lift off early in lighter wind.

Edge a twin-tip against a 9 m² kite and send it for air.

A small, fast foil under the kite: quiet and upwind for days.

Kite, wing or sail across the beach on four tyres.

Sheet in and steer a dinghy, daysailer or motorsailer.

Hike out and fly a one-person hydrofoil dinghy above the water.

Jet skis, RIBs and a superyacht, each leaving a rideable wake.

Stand up on the ski to carve, pop and flip, or race the buoys.

Plane fast, dive under, breach and barrel roll in a shark-shaped craft.

Paddle flat water outside, then catch small soft waves.

Paddle a kayak or canoe across calm water at your own pace.

One blade, the ama on the left, catch the bumps downwind.

Ride behind the robot boat on your own, or let a friend drive.

Sit on a hydrofoil behind the wake boat and launch off its wake.

Combo skis or a single slalom ski, carving across the boat's wake.

On your own behind the robot boat.

Rise up on a line behind the boat and take in the coast.

Skim the shorebreak on a rope behind a galloping horse.

A beach winch pulls you onto waves too fast to paddle for.

Foot launch off the sand, fly the coast and land back on the beach.

Run off the bluff into the sea breeze and soar the ridge.

Pull the wing up on the bluff, then work the ridge and thermals.

Ride two water jets from a jet ski: hover, fly, dive and flip.

Take off from the water under a trike wing, fly the bay and land back on the sea.

Taxi out on the floats, take off from the water, fly the coast, land back on the lagoon.

Lift off from the helipad by the runway, hover, fly the island, land back on the pad.

Afterburner off the island's runway, fly the coast, land on the wires.

Burn to rise, vent to sink, find the wind at each height to go your way.

Winch launch off the runway, soar the hills and the thermals, land back on the runway.

Hull, up onto the foils, then fly in ground effect a few metres over the water.

Bowl, mini ramp, quarter pipes, rails and ledges.

Pump the rollers, ride the skatepark's bowl and quarters.

Tabletops, a step-up, rollers and berms on a 250.

Gondola, three runs from easy to expert.

Gondola, three runs from easy to expert.
02Built on the real world
Before you paddle out, Open Waves loads the latest wind, swell and weather for the spot you picked. The sun sits where it really does. Shorelines and seabed depth come from open map and survey data, so the lineup looks the way it should.

03Virtual reality
Put on a Meta Quest, open Open Waves in the headset's browser and press Enter VR. You are on the board: look over your shoulder at the set rolling in, lean into the carve and watch the lip throw over you. Touch controllers are mapped for every sport, and nothing needs installing from an app store.
04Real spots
…and any coastline you pick on the 3D globe.
05Ride together
Host a public lobby or send an invite link to just your crew. Everyone sees the same sets, so you can call each other into the good ones.
Talk to whoever is near you on the water. Voices fade with distance, so the lineup sounds like a lineup. Text chat is there too.
Battle for the crown in King of the Hill, chase the lobby records, or tow a friend into a wave behind your jet ski.
06Level up
Rides, tricks and distance earn XP and shells, the game's currency. Your rider levels up, and each sport has its own level too.
Buy new boards, foils, wings, kites, sails and boats as you reach their level, plus passes for famous spots.
Pick your character, then kit them out: board designs, wetsuits, hair and spray, all kept in your locker and saved to your account.
07FAQ
No. Open Waves runs in a modern desktop web browser. There is nothing to install.
Forty-seven: surfing, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, skimboarding, dock run-in surfing, surf foiling, bodyboard foiling, foil assist with a mast motor, downwind foiling, wing foiling, parawing foiling, windsurfing, windsurf foiling, kitesurfing, kite foiling, mountainboarding with a kite, wing or sail, sailing, foiling Moth sailing, boating, freestyle jet skiing, shark watercraft riding, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing, oc1 outrigger, tow and wakeboard behind the robot boat or a friend, sit-down hydrofoiling, water skiing, tubing, parasailing, horse tow skimboarding, winch tow-in surfing, paramotoring, hang gliding, paragliding, hydro flight, flying boat, seaplane, helicopter, fighter jet, hot-air balloon, glider, seaglider, skateboarding, bmx, motocross, snowboarding, and skiing. Each has its own boards and gear. Several are open from the start; the rest unlock as you earn levels and shells by riding.
Yes. Spots are built from real coordinates, mapped shorelines and seabed depth data, with the latest available wind, swell and weather loaded before you paddle out. You can also generate a spot anywhere on the coast.
Yes. Host a public or private lobby for up to 8 riders who share the same sets, with proximity voice chat, text chat and a King of the Hill mode.
By riding. Every session earns XP and shells. Levelling up opens new boards, foils, kites, sails and boats in the Surf Shop, and shells buy them along with cosmetics for your rider.
Yes. Open the game in the Meta Quest browser and choose Enter VR to ride with your headset and Touch controllers. No app store download is needed.
One person, as a passion project. Servers, map data and 3D scenery cost money every month, so donations help keep it online and free.
Open Waves is in a private, invite-only beta. Invites are personal and tied to your email address.
Developers can license the water engine behind Open Waves as a Three.js SDK. It brings the game's breaking waves, foam, spray, sky, weather and forecast-driven wind and swell into your own app, can sit among Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles of real coastlines through your own Google Maps account, and floats your own 3D models with wakes and reflections. It suits boat and product configurators, waterfront real estate and resort tours, coastal architecture visuals, digital twins, browser games, training mock-ups and education. Game controls, riders and multiplayer stay in the game. See Open Waves for developers.
Made by one person
Open Waves is designed, coded and kept running by a single developer, out of the goodness of their heart. There is no studio and no investors, just a lot of late nights.
Keeping it online has real monthly costs: the game server, Google's photorealistic 3D scenery, map and forecast data, and the domain. If you enjoy riding here, a donation of any size keeps the waves running and the game free.
Supporters get a Beta Supporter badge and early access to new spots and features as they land.
Secure checkout by Stripe. Thank you, it genuinely helps.
For developers · Three.js SDK
The water behind Open Waves is available for your own Three.js app: breaking waves, weather and live swell beside photorealistic 3D scenery of real coastlines, with your own models floating on it. Made for boat configurators, waterfront and resort tours, coastal architecture, digital twins, games and training visuals.
Explore the Water SDKGot an invite? Your next session is one click away.