From the outside it looks like any other office building on the fringes of an industrial area.
But behind closed doors – and past the “no cameras” signs – is the future of Sea-Doo.
It is here where advanced concepts are experimented with – and the design and engineering of new models begins.
We are inside Sea-Doo’s design and engineering centre in Palm Bay, about 180 miles (approximately 300km) north of Miami, Florida.
It is one of three design centres owned by Sea-Doo’s parent company BRP.
The others are in Valcourt, Canada (the company’s original design studio), and in Sophia Antipolis in the South of France (which opened in 2023).
In 2024 BRP invested $US15 million to expand the Palm Bay facility to make it the mainstay of Sea-Doo design and engineering.
It was inside this studio the first sketches of the Sea-Doo Switch tri-hull pontoon boat were drawn, and where the latest generation Sea-Doo Spark was spawned.
We weren’t allowed to remove the black fabric covers off the scale models that were positioned around the design studio.
But we suspect they were early design studies for the successor to ST3-based models such as the Sea-Doo GTX, RXT-X, Fish Pro and Explorer Pro series.
If history is a guide, Sea-Doo introduces new models every nine years or so. A successor to the ST3 was due to be unveiled this year and arrive in showrooms next year.
However it seems we may need to wait at least another year or two.
For now it is unclear whether Sea-Doo’s most successful platform of all time is going so well the company does not need to change it yet.
Or if the company decided in the final stages of development to pivot in a new direction, and simply needs more time with whatever it is working on.
Whatever the future holds for the ST3 platform, the next chapter starts right here in Palm Bay, Florida – after feedback from the real-life experiences of more than 100,000 customers worldwide is taken into consideration.
Above: A Google Maps view of the BRP facility in Palm Bay, Florida.
Behind the main building – which houses design and engineering under one roof, although on different floors – are three massive engineering workshops where prototypes are put together by hand, and engines are tested and analysed.
We walk through the engineering workshop where there are numerous Sea-Doos with black boxes attached to their rear decks, and a myriad of wires leading into the engine compartment.
Sea-Doo tests in extreme hot and cold conditions and can analyse engine behaviours by the millisecond.
Today counts as hot weather testing. It’s close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degree Celsius) outside and the humidity is suffocating.
A short walk across the grass behind the engineering centre is a giant manmade lake – where experimental and future Sea-Doos are tested away from prying eyes.
The lake takes up most of the space inside the 600-acre facility.
Alongside the dock is a giant crane that repeatedly drops craft into the water from a great height, simply to test the durability of the hulls.
Around the inside perimeter of the facility – which is bordered by tall hedges to block the view of cameras from the other side of the fence – is an off-road course where BRP can test its CanAm buggies.
On the surface this place seems like the ultimate playground, but this is serious business.
It takes three to five years to transform an idea from a sketch on a computer screen – to a showroom reality.
And it costs millions of dollars in the process, testing countless iterations of a top deck or hull before settling on the final design.
More than 60 people are employed at this facility alone across the design and engineering functions.
There is even a fleet of dedicated test riders who literally ride multiple Sea-Doos all day every day.
Sometimes they are testing minor changes to a hull or a sponson, other times it could be a new steering set-up or a new engine calibration.
A new RXP-X 350 blasts past us as we tour the lake on a Sea-Doo Switch.
The cornering speed of the RXP-X is frightening, until you realise the craft is clearly in expert hands. Little wonder the RXP-X hull is the new short course racing benchmark.
Then a new Sea-Doo Spark X Trixx comes out to play, with the stunt rider balancing the craft on its tail for what felt like an eternity.
Whatever craft they were on, all riders had the precision of circus performers on a trapeze – yet none of them appeared to exert any effort as they performed with such ease. It was brilliant to watch.
As is the case with other manufacturers across the automotive and watercraft sectors, Sea-Doo needs to be able to test future models (and new hull designs) out of public view so they can finesse the finer details before signing-off the design and tooling-up for production.
But Sea-Doo does not only test on its manmade lake. It has another secret facility about 15 miles (approximately 25km) north-east from here in Melbourne, Florida (not to be confused with Melbourne, Australia).
Here, Sea-Doo’s test team has access to the ocean for testing in rough conditions.
However, in this scenario they are in the public eye. And that’s when the camouflage comes out.
Sometimes Sea-Doo can test a new hull in public by using an existing top deck as a disguise.
But eventually the test riders need to put the craft through its paces in the ocean in its complete form, to account for weight distribution, riding position and other factors.
Canvas covers are draped over the top of the ski and only the handlebars are visible.
Incredibly, no-one seems to have caught one of these on camera to date.
We asked one of the test riders if they ever get noticed by other Jet Ski riders when they’re out in the ocean on a top secret Sea-Doo which has a camouflage cover, and we were told “sometimes”.
“We tend to always be moving so we don’t attract attention. But sometimes when we’re stopped, people come up to us and ask why the craft has covers on it.
“Unfortunately we have to tell them we are not allowed to say what it is, and that we can’t answer any questions about it.
“Most people are understanding. We always keep it polite of course, and I would be curious too if I saw something like that, so we get it.
“But unfortunately we can’t talk about it because it could be years away from being released.”
Above: A clay scale model of a previous generation Sea-Doo on display inside the design and engineering centre.
Sea-Doo (and other manufacturers) like to keep future models under wraps because if the public knew a new model was around the corner, they may be less inclined to buy a watercraft today.
And that’s why you rarely get glimpses into the future until the day of the official global unveiling.
Above: Kevin Shaw from the Watercraft Journal (left) and Joshua Dowling from Watercraft Zone (right) try to figure out what’s under all those covers.
It’s also why any predictions into the future are speculative.
“Plans change and development takes time. It’s not a reality until the covers come off it at the show,” said one of the Sea-Doo experts who showed media – including Watercraft Zone – around the facility following the Club BRP preview of 2027 models in Orlando, Florida in August 2026.
Above: Are the three covered scale models resting on the ledge above the design drawings the next-generation ST3?
To sum up: Sea-Doo (and the personal watercraft industry in general) is more technical and more advanced than most Jet Ski riders realise.
The design and engineering of new models takes years of development time and millions of dollars.
The Sea-Doo Spark sketches that were displayed on computer screens during our visit – to illustrate how designers use modern technology to shape the future – were drawn more than five years ago. The lead times are that long.
So be patient, Sea-Doo fans. The new version of your favourite model is coming. The team at Palm Bay is probably working on it right now.
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