Before. Photo: DSRT Surf
According to a press release, developers broke ground on Southern California’s newest wave pool project in Palm Desert Friday, DSRT Surf. Located in the city of Palm Desert (not to be confused with its neighbor Palm Springs), the Wavegarden facility will be the centerpiece of a structure that includes pickle ball, a pool, and a skate park tucked next to the Desert Willow Golf Resort. According to the DSRT Surf website, construction will be complete in spring or summer of 2026.
“Today marks an exciting moment for the Southern California surfing community and for the city of Palm Desert” said John Luff, Managing Member of Beach Street Development and Operations — which runs DSRT Surf. “DSRT Surf is introducing the largest Wavegarden Cove in the United States. The five-and-a-half-acre surf lagoon will offer world-class waves for both experienced veterans and first-time surfers. Today’s groundbreaking ceremony culminates years of development and starts the next chapter in bringing this unique and iconic vision to life, expanding the Southern California surfing landscape.”
After. Photo: DSRT Surf
”With their Turf for Surf program and the removal of more than one million square feet of turf they will be offsetting more than the water they are using for this project,” added Eric Ceja, Director of Economic Development for Palm Desert
Though it’s still two years from being available to the public, the new wave pool can turn the Coachella Valley into a Southern California hub for inland surfing. Palm Desert is between two and three hours inland from Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, and about 30 minutes from Palm Springs.
The Palm Springs Surf Club opened temporarily this year and has been hit with issues to its wave-making machine, forcing off-and-on closures since opening its doors to start 2024. Meanwhile, DSRT Surf has been on a very long road to Friday’s groundbreaking. The project was first announced way back in 2019 with a $200 million price tag and plans for construction were finally approved by Palm Desert city council in early 2022. A 2023 opening was announced at the time but that deadline obviously came and went.
Nonetheless, once PSSC and DSRT Surf are both up and running the area will have two wave pools within a short drive of each other — an easy trek during Southern California flat spells. Of course that’s all assuming this newest proposed wave pool in Southern California meets its deadlines and gets its doors open to the public. We shall see.
