DSRT Surf Palm Desert: What Sets This Wave Pool Apart

"We consider this very much available to all income levels and demographics," Doug Sheres of Beach Street Development said before DSRT Surf opened. "It's wide open to everyone."

That line matters more now than it did when he said it. DSRT Surf has been running at Desert Willow Golf Resort for close to two months, and the questions Palm Desert residents are actually asking aren't about wave counts or acreage. They're asking what it costs to bring the kids without anyone surfing, whether the water problem the city argued about back in 2019 got solved, and whether this is going to hold up better than the valley's first attempt at manufactured surf ten miles away.

Palm Springs Surf Club Offers a Local Point of Comparison

Palm Springs Surf Club has been open for about two years, making it an earlier local example of a desert surf pool. The Palm Springs facility runs a smaller 1.5-acre lagoon with a lazy river and water slides, and it has spent its first two years working through mechanical issues with its wave system and noise complaints from neighbors. General admission there runs about $40 a day, with premium sessions like its advanced barrel run reaching $250 per surfer and cabana rentals at $500 a day.

At Desert Willow, DSRT Surf pairs surf sessions with a beach pass for visitors who do not surf.

What Actually Opened at Desert Willow

DSRT Surf sits at 105 Wave Drive, wedged between the Firecliff and Mountain View courses at Desert Willow Golf Resort. The lagoon covers 5.5 acres, which the operator's own materials describe as the largest Wavegarden Cove installation in North America. A 52-module system pushes up to 1,000 waves an hour, with capacity for 70 surfers sharing the water at once across more than 20 distinct wave profiles, from beginner rollers to performance walls built for aerials.

The detail that changes how you think about this place is the water temperature. Groundwater feeds the lagoon from a well more than 200 meters deep, arriving naturally at around 75°F. A Surfer magazine writer who tested the facility ahead of its public opening drove out with the dashboard reading 117°F and found the water sitting at a comfortable 84°F well after dark, lit up for night sessions under overhead lighting. That's the actual pitch for a Palm Desert household in August: a surf session at 9 p.m. is not a novelty here, it's the point.

"It gives people a reason to come out and spend time in a beautiful area like Palm Desert."

That's professional surfer Josh Kerr, who tested the lagoon before it opened. The line reads like marketing copy until you notice what it's not saying. It's not selling the wave. It's selling the fact that you don't have to drive to the coast, or wait for good conditions, or plan around anything at all.

What $60 Buys, and What It Doesn't

The pricing structure is where "available to all income levels" gets tested against reality, and so far the numbers back up the claim more than they undercut it. Here's what's actually on the books, according to the operator's own site:

• Individual surf sessions start at $60 per hour, with no membership required to book one
• A beach pass covers grounds access for anyone who wants to watch, hang out, or use the pool and pickleball courts without surfing
• There's no minimum age to visit the venue, though age and size requirements for actual surfing vary by wave type and are still being finalized
• The venue is fully cashless, so plan on a card or phone for everything from food to gear rental
• Service animals are welcome; personal pets are not permitted on the grounds
• Parking is complimentary, with valet available, and Wi-Fi is free throughout

A full-service restaurant is listed as coming soon rather than open now, which matters if you're planning a full afternoon rather than a single session. What's already running is the lagoon, the leisure pool, the jacuzzi, a skate area, and pickleball courts, all of which are usable without ever touching a surfboard.

The beach-pass option is worth noting alongside the surf sessions. It's the interesting part of a neighborhood story. Visitors who do not plan to surf can use the beach pass, while Palm Springs Surf Club offers a lazy river and water slides.

The Water Question Palm Desert Already Answered

Anyone who lived in Palm Desert during the 2019 approval process remembers that water use was the sticking point, not surfing. The city's answer was a program called Turf for Surf, and it's worth stating plainly now that the lagoon is actually operating: Beach Street Development converted roughly 30 acres of irrigated turf at Desert Willow's golf courses into drought-tolerant, native landscaping. The lagoon itself is projected to use about 23.8 million gallons of water a year. The turf conversion is projected to save about 34.8 million gallons annually, which nets out to roughly 11 million gallons saved each year compared to the pre-conversion baseline.

That math was published before opening day, so the real test is whether it holds up now that the lagoon is filled and running daily sessions. It's the kind of number that deserves a second look in another year, once there's actual usage data instead of projections. For now, it's the answer the city gave its residents.

Local Interest in the Opening

One detail from the run-up to opening didn't make it into most of the national surf press but says something real about how this project landed locally. Beach Street held a two-day job fair at Desert Willow in early May 2026, looking to fill roughly 125 positions across lifeguarding, surf coaching, food and beverage, and facilities. More than 750 people showed up after less than a week of promotion. According to general manager Michael Gerano, most of the crowd appeared to be local Greater Palm Springs residents, with only a smaller share arriving from the coast or Northern California.

Gerano himself is part of that pattern. He's been a Palm Desert resident for the past decade, and he brings more than 20 years of experience running hospitality operations. When a national surf publication or a wave pool industry blog covers this story, that detail gets a sentence at most. For someone who lives three miles from Desert Willow, it's the difference between "a company built something here" and "your neighbor is running the front desk."

What This Actually Means Two Months In

The lagoon's size is one part of DSRT Surf's story. Its pricing, beach-pass option, projected water use and opening-period job fair offer other details for Palm Desert visitors and residents to consider.

Two months of operation is an early snapshot, not a long-term track record. The water-use figures discussed above are projections, and a later comparison with actual usage would show how closely they hold. DSRT Surf combines surf sessions with options for visitors who do not surf.

If you're weighing what a new amenity like this means for daily life in Palm Desert, or you're curious how developments like Desert Willow's newest addition tend to shift interest in the surrounding neighborhoods over time, Reagan Richter has been tracking this market closely and is always glad to talk through what's changing and why. Schedule a personal consultation whenever you're ready to dig into what it means for you.