A rendering of the proposed Ocean Kamp development. Courtesy image.
California has a lot of good waves, but not a lot of wave parks. There’s Kelly’s Wave, of course, up in Lemoore, and the Palm Spring Surf Club, which was actually just a proof-of-concept and is currently being rebuilt with no official opening date. There’s three other wave parks in the works for the desert oasis of the Coachella Valley (DSRT Surf, Coral Mountain, and Thermal Beach Club), but so far, none of these have been built, and surprisingly, there’s nothing within true “striking distance” for the everyday surfer who lives near the Southern California coast.
That’s going to change soon, with Ocean Kamp a resort-style development that was just approved by the Oceanside, Calif. planning commission. The project includes plans for a 300-room hotel, 700 condos, and a 3.5-acre surf lagoon, of course. The development will be built on a 92-acre site just off of State Route 76, a mere 10-minute drive from the Oceanside Pier, that has formerly seen use as a drive-in theatre and swap meet in recent years. Due to the rectangular-shaped pool in renderings and planning documents, it’s believed that the surf park will make use of the Surf Loch wave pool technology.
Ocean Kamp location. Photo: Google Maps.
Plenty of concerns have been raised with the proposed project, such as increased traffic and congestion, responsible water use in drought-stricken California, and the site’s proximity to the Oceanside Airport. However, the planning commission believes the benefits – such as increased tourism and a projected $81 million in tax revenue over the first 10 years of operation – outweigh the concerns as they voted unanimously to approve the project.
“It’s the greatest project I’ve seen here in a long time,” said Oceanside Planning Commissioner Tom Morrissey. “It just fits in with our Oceanside history.” With no set opening date, it will likely be a year or two until the California coast sees its first surf park come to fruition, but this one, at least, has a green light to move forward.
