DSRT Surf is betting that its pool can fetch a higher price than its competition across town. Photo: DSRT Surf//Facebook
California’s Coachella Valley will become a unique case study in surf park competition. DSRT Surf announced that its Wavegarden pool will open to the public this weekend, putting it in direct competition with Palm Spring Surf Club, just 10 miles away.
The California desert will provide a rare experiment on wave pool competition and pricing. It’s the first time two public surf parks have operated in such close proximity anywhere in the world.
When DSRT Surf opened its booking platform, some customers were surprised (see Instagram comment section) by the pricing. With sessions ranging from $250 to $370, the newest Wavegarden pool is priced at a premium, suggesting it believes it’s superior to Palm Springs Surf Club down the road, which charges $212 per session.
The price tag is more than double — even triple — what other Wavegarden pools around the world charge. The most expensive session at the second-newest Wavegarden pool, Atlantic Park in Virginia Beach, is $151. At Alaia Bay in Switzerland, it’s the equivalent of $155. It’s $79 at The Wave in Bristol, England; $105 at Lost Shore in Scotland; $81 at Wave Park in South Korea; and $115 at URBNSURF in Sydney, Australia.
Bryan Dickerson, the founder of Wave Pool Mag, highlighted how this scenario is unprecedented in the surf park industry.
“You have Lost Shore and the Wave (in the UK) and Munich and (Switzerland) within a few hours of each other, but that’s more of a which-wave-pool-for-a-surf-trip strike mission or weekend scenario when you consider flights or driving,” Dickerson told The Inertia. “The desert pools are the first ‘commuter’ pools so close to each other.”
View this post on Instagram
During a session at DSRT Surf, customers share the pool with 14 to 24 other surfers depending on the wave type. At Palm Springs Surf Club, 10 to 12 surfers share a session. That said, the Wavegarden Cove layout is larger than Palm Springs Surf Club. DSRT Surf’s pool is 5.5 acres, with two separate pools for lefts and rights, while Palm Springs Surf Club’s pool is about two acres.
Palm Springs Surf Club opened in 2024, although a few hiccups caused temporary closures.
