Kalani Robb, one of the most fun surfers, on any type of wave. Photo: Catch Surf
Six years ago, Kalani Robb announced plans to build Southern California’s first wave pool in Palm Springs — a surf park within driving distance of one of the world’s highest concentrations of surfers. But last week, Robb said he’s cutting ties with the pool. Things didn’t unfold as he’d hoped.
Robb and Cheyne Magnusson first unveiled the project in 2019, setting out to build California’s second wave pool after Kelly Slater’s facility opened in 2018. They chose Surf Loch technology – a lower-profile pool compared to competitors.
The concept looked like a homerun: a wave pool in Coachella Valley, within a few hours of Southern California’s massive surf population. But the project hit obstacles. After opening in early 2024, the pool shut down twice to repair machinery. Sources told us the downtime delivered a significant financial setback.
After years of work, personal investment, issues with technology, and ultimately being given a smaller role than he expected, Robb described the experience as one of the “worst things that ever happened” to him.
I called Robb to learn more about what transpired and what he’s taking away from his time in Palm Springs.
You said that you didn’t align with the ownership at Palm Springs surf club. Can you elaborate?
I wanted to think the best of the situation, but as time went on, it became more evident that was unlikely. I thought it was an isolated thing, like, ‘Maybe I’m getting to know these people.’ Really early on, everybody saw I wasn’t part of anything in the marketing or promotions.
I got completely alienated from my own project. I never got a straight answer from anybody about why. I gave a few different variations of my jobs, wrote what things I could do – being a surf school, doing safety videos and making it fun, etc. But I just got the run around, like, ‘Maybe we’ll hire you.’ When it really hit home is when I saw all the marketing going on, and me not being a part of it. When I asked why, I was just getting ridiculous answers. I was personally getting emails from ABC, NBC, the Today Show. I was handing them over and the next thing I know, I don’t hear anything about it and I see them on the TV show talking about the wave pool.
What does “leaving” mean exactly? Did you sell your stake in it and cut ties?
My stake is going to be sold. I’m going to get out of it.
At one point, I was definitely the owner. I was there with James (Dunlop). We were the originators of it – the marketing, it was absolutely just me, him, and all my team. When it was taken by new ownership, I was told that they were going to keep going with (our vision), and we were going to keep using my ideas and have me be part of it. Then, when they had the power to make that decision, it didn’t happen.
Was it lucrative?
Let me just put it this way. Do you think I would be selling it or getting out of it if it was (lucrative)?
It’s very hard to let go of something that was my dream. It was run in a certain way for all those years, and I was completely quiet about it, going, ‘Okay, this will get better. They’ll figure it out.’ At one point I was even dreaming, like, ‘Okay, they’ll come to their senses and bring me back.’
When the pool first opened, (was subsequently shut down), and they turned off the comment section, guess where all the messages went? Nobody knows those guys. They all know Kalani Robb, though. We got the brunt of it. Guess who answered it? Me. Hundreds of emails. Hundreds of DMs. Pissed off. ‘Why’d you guys turn off the thing?’ I answered everybody. I had to man up, because this is my project, and (the ownership) wouldn’t.
Speaking of those snags the pool went through when it was getting off the ground, what was that time like?
A lot of those things were really stressful, but at the same time we knew we were doing something that no one’s ever really done. So it was very exciting, actually. When things would go down, it was very gnarly problem solving, where it actually was a lot of fun. We were batting above our average because we were so excited about it, and we just had all the will. We weren’t super billionaire guys. We had millions on the line. And we did it. We pulled it off.
Now that you’ve been in the wave pool industry for quite a while, where do you see it going? Are there any new trends or insight you can share?
When we started, I told the boys, ‘Once we do this, everyone’s going to do it.’ I believed it was going to revolutionize our sport because it was coming to the Olympics. I said it was going to be so beneficial to surfing. In our sport the ocean could be flat, and they couldn’t count on that because that’s where the money is. They need to be able to syndicate these things to sell the sponsorship money. You can’t have it be flat. When I saw Stab High, I was like, ‘Oh, this is definitely it. All these kids are going crazy.’
I think there’s a lot of room for wave pools. Obviously, there’s going to be some run well, some not well. I’m kind of a cautionary tale for everybody: once it was taken out of my hands, look at how much it can affect not being run the right way. And the public tells you that, not me. I wouldn’t have been able to say that earlier, but it’s time now, because it’s just become too much on me. I can’t keep my mouth shut and keep taking blows for what the pool is. I have to just let it go. Honestly, it sucks. It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.
If someone came to you for advice on how to start a wave pool, what would you tell them?
I have millions and millions of dollars worth of tips for you and you can hire me as your consultant (laughs). I’ve already been getting phone calls off the hook. So does anybody else want to offer one? Yes, I’m going to be available. And yes, I learned a whole lot. And yes, I still am eager. I have great ideas that can come to fruition with ease. It just needs to be with the right people.
I was always afraid this (break) might happen. I’ve had some weak moments in myself. It made me sad. It almost put a sour taste for surfing in my mouth. But I get it. It’s a game. I truly am sorry that I didn’t pull it off. A lot of people out there believed in me. This story is definitely not over. There are going to be ripple effects.
So what’s next?
Anybody who’s doing a wave pool, there is a way to do it right and wrong. I’ll tell you. Get the people that have done it and know it. I think that any space that even doesn’t have the best wave, if they have the best culture or the best idea that fits that wave, the sky’s the limit. I believe big time that if you get the right visionary who knows the right people, they’re going to change the world. And I’m gonna be one of them, for sure.
So in other words, you want to stay in the wave pool industry and find a new role or project?
I mean, maybe. It’s not easy. It took six years of my life that I’ll never get back. It was detrimental to a lot of things in my life, but it made me stronger. It made me smarter. And I hope that it makes me more valuable because of how I went through it. But yeah, if you read me right, I’m in the wave pool industry.
