DSRT Surf opens in Palm Desert after more than a decade of development

DSRT Surf, a wave pool more than a decade in the making, opened to the public Sept. 26 in Palm Desert, bringing surf sessions to the city for the first time.

The public booking calendar opened Sept. 24 at 5 p.m., allowing guests to reserve sessions ahead of the opening of the facility, located within the Desert Willow Golf Resort.

The Surf Lagoon and Surf Center are available at launch, while additional amenities and experiences are expected to roll out over the coming weeks and months. Some offerings and capacities will remain limited as the team refines operations.

The facility operates from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with surf sessions beginning every hour.

For first-time surfers, DSRT Surf offers a Learn-to-Surf Experience that includes 30 minutes of land instruction followed by a 60-minute guided water session. The cost is $100 for the general public and $75 for Coachella Valley residents, with weekday sessions currently offered at 4 and 6 p.m.

More advanced sessions are priced higher. Sessions focused on larger waves and turns cost about $290 an hour, while barrel-focused sessions run about $370 to $380 an hour. Weekday sessions cost about $20 less. Renting the entire pool for an hour, with both left and right waves, costs about $19,000.

The pool is divided into two sections that can each accommodate up to 28 surfers, although some sessions, such as the “pro barrel,” will have fewer surfers in the water. The lagoon holds 9 million gallons and uses Endless Surf technology, which is said to deliver up to 1,000 waves per hour.

DSRT Surf is also billed as the largest Wavegarden Cove surf lagoon in North America. The Wavegarden Cove system includes settings for barrels, long intermediate rides and soft beginner waves, with the size, shape, height, length, frequency, power and speed of the waves able to be customized. Waves are selected from a menu before each session.

The 17.8-acre site sits between two Desert Willow golf courses and can accommodate 3,500 people. DSRT Surf describes itself as the world’s first surf lagoon to achieve International Dark Sky Certification and also operates a turf-for-surf program designed for net-zero water use.

A second phase is expected to add a 139-room resort hotel and 57 villas. Pro surfers and industry insiders tested the pool in recent weeks, while job fairs were held throughout the summer in preparation for the opening.

Beach Street Operations, the group behind the Palm Desert project, is also leading a project using similar Wavegarden Cove technology in Virginia Beach.

The opening makes DSRT Surf the second surf park to begin operating in the Coachella Valley. The Palm Springs Surf Club opened in 2024 at the former Wet ‘n’ Wild Palm Springs water park, which closed in 2018 and was acquired by Pono Acquisition Partners in 2019.

More wave pools are also on the way. Another private project, Thermal Beach Club, broke ground last month at Coral Mountain Desert Club near La Quinta and is expected to open in 2028. Ocean Kamp is under construction in Oceanside.

DSRT Surf’s opening also comes ahead of the ISA World Para Surfing Championship in November, when the facility will welcome athletes and guests from around the world.