Who is a wave pool between two municipal golf courses actually for in its first month? The renderings and the press releases point to a resort, with a hotel, villas, cabanas and a restaurant overlooking the water. What opened at Desert Willow Golf Resort on Sept. 26 is narrower. Right now the clearest fit is a Coachella Valley resident with a free weekday evening.
DSRT Surf took more than a decade to build. It opened to the public with a phased soft opening, and its booking calendar went live at 5 p.m. on Sept. 24. The facility sits on 17.8 acres between the Firecliff and Mountain View courses and is built to hold 3,500 people. In its first weeks, though, much of that space is a stage for one activity.
What opened on Sept. 26 was the water
The Palm Desert Post's opening report lists exactly two things available at launch: the Surf Lagoon and the Surf Center. More amenities are expected "over the coming weeks and months," and some offerings and capacities stay limited while the team refines operations.
That is less than the city expected in May. A May 6 City of Palm Desert release described Phase 1 as including a leisure pool. The September launch coverage names only the lagoon and the Surf Center. So for now the resort amenities trail the surfing, and anyone planning a poolside afternoon should check before driving over.
The lagoon is the real attraction. It holds 9 million gallons and runs Endless Surf technology, which is said to deliver up to 1,000 waves per hour. DSRT Surf bills it as the largest Wavegarden Cove surf lagoon in North America. Surfers pick waves from a menu before each session, with settings for barrels, long intermediate rides and soft beginner waves. Height, length, speed, power and frequency can all be adjusted. The pool splits into two sections. The Palm Desert Post reports that each holds up to 28 surfers, and DSRT Surf's own FAQ lists 35 people per side.
The local rate sits at the entry level
The most useful number for a Palm Desert reader is the price gap between a first lesson and everything above it.
| Session, as reported at the Sept. 2026 opening | Price |
|---|---|
| Learn-to-Surf, Coachella Valley residents | $75 |
| Learn-to-Surf, general public | $100 |
| Larger waves and turns | about $290 an hour |
| Barrel-focused sessions | about $370 to $380 an hour |
| Full pool rental, left and right waves | about $19,000 an hour |
The Learn-to-Surf Experience includes 30 minutes of land instruction and a 60-minute guided session in the water. KESQ reported the same $75 resident and $100 public pricing. The $25 resident discount appears only on the beginner product in the opening coverage. The advanced sessions list one price, with weekday sessions about $20 cheaper.
Neither the facility's published materials nor the launch coverage explains how residency is verified. Ask about it when booking, not at check-in.
The full-pool rental figure is easier to judge on a per-surfer basis. With both sections full, $19,000 an hour comes to roughly $339 a surfer at the Post's 28 per side, or about $271 at the FAQ's 35 per side. That range sits on either side of the $290 turns rate. For a group that can fill the lagoon, a private buyout costs about the same per person as a standard advanced session.
Weekdays at 4 and 6 p.m.
The hours matter more than they first appear. The facility runs from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with surf sessions starting every hour. Weekday Learn-to-Surf sessions are currently offered at 4 and 6 p.m.
Those slots fit a workday. Put that schedule next to the resident rate and the cheaper weekday pricing on advanced sessions, and the early pattern is clear. The easiest, least expensive way in is a weekday afternoon or evening, which suits people who live nearby more than visitors who fly in for a weekend.
The late hours also come with an environmental story. DSRT Surf describes itself as the world's first surf lagoon to earn International Dark Sky Certification. It also runs a turf-for-surf program designed for net-zero water use. In a city that has watched the project take shape for years, those two credentials will likely come up as often as the waves.
What the grounds are meant to become
DSRT Surf's own FAQ describes the non-surfer experience this way:
"A beach pass gets you access to the grounds so you can hang out, watch the action, and take in the scene. A full-service restaurant is also coming soon."
The same FAQ says DSRT Surf has pickleball, a skate area, a resort pool and a jacuzzi. The opening-day report, however, names only the lagoon and the Surf Center as available at launch, so it is unclear which of those extras are running yet. The International Surfing Association's July announcement describes a beach club with a three-pool viewing deck, cabanas, a restaurant and a bar. As of early October, the restaurant is listed as "coming soon," and no source gives opening dates for the others. The beach pass has no published price either, and the sources reviewed don't confirm it is on sale yet.
Phase two goes further. Plans call for a 139-room resort hotel and 57 villas. The operator, Beach Street Operations, is also leading a Wavegarden Cove project in Virginia Beach. When the hotel and villas arrive, the balance between locals and overnight guests will shift. That timeline is open-ended. The lessons are bookable today.
For now, the most reliable meal near the lagoon is the one Desert Willow already serves. The resort's dining page lists The Terrace as open daily for breakfast and lunch to local residents and the public. That page was last updated in June, so check the hours before a morning session. Desert Willow still lists Firecliff and Mountain View as its two public courses, managed by KemperSports for the City of Palm Desert. Its directions page still routes drivers from Country Club Drive onto Desert Willow Drive. None of the sources reviewed announces any change to the golf courses, clubhouse, parking or road access tied to the surf opening.
The November weekend that opens the gates to spectators
Before the beach club finishes, DSRT Surf will host its first international event. The ISA has scheduled the World Para Surfing Championship at DSRT Surf for Nov. 19 through 22, 2026. It says spectators are welcome in person, and the event will also be streamed. The ISA calls the schedule tentative and subject to change. As currently posted, it runs like this:
- Thursday, Nov. 19: training and opening ceremony
- Friday, Nov. 20, through Saturday, Nov. 21: competition
- Sunday, Nov. 22: final day of competition and closing ceremony
The ISA pages don't list a ticket price, reservation process or capacity guidance. No source reviewed includes a spectator parking or traffic plan for that week. For a resident who isn't ready to paddle out, those four days are the first confirmed chance to see the lagoon at full use with a reason to stay.
Where DSRT Surf fits in the valley's wave pools
DSRT Surf is the second surf park operating in the Coachella Valley. The first, Palm Springs Surf Club, opened in 2024 on the site of the former Wet 'n' Wild Palm Springs, which closed in 2018 and was bought by Pono Acquisition Partners in 2019. A third, the private Thermal Beach Club at Coral Mountain Desert Club near La Quinta, broke ground in August and is expected to open in 2028.
That puts Palm Desert's lagoon in the middle of the valley's wave pool lineup, on city-owned golf land with a public booking calendar and a posted resident rate. For anyone already living near Desert Willow, it adds a weekday option to the season, alongside the El Paseo sculpture rotation and the other changes covered in our Palm Desert neighborhood guide.
A new amenity a short drive away changes the way a nearby home should be presented to buyers. If you own near Desert Willow and want your home's story to include the lagoon next door, Rich Nolan can help. Schedule a design-first marketing consultation and we'll build that story with you.
