"Riding the wave starts at $100 for beginners (group of 12), $150 for intermediates (group of 12), and $200 for the advanced (group of 9)."
Three years ago, the world’s best surfers lined up to jiggle their thumb tips against the Palm Springs Surf Club’s pygmy dingus, a proto-wavepool built on the site of the old Wet N Wild in that storied little desert town.
Wet N Wild was the pool used in the opening sequences of North Shore, a film from 1987 that tells the fictional tale of Rick Kane, a boy who learns to surf in a wavepool and then attempts to transpose his skills to Pipeline with mostly pleasing results.
“The surfing footage is fairly routine until the film’s climax, a contest featuring some spectacular shots of surfers seen beneath the overhang of breaking waves,” wrote the New York Times’ reviewer. “Otherwise, the surfing, writing, direction and performances are of a caliber to interest only undiscriminating adolescents.”
The surfing world quickly fell under the spell of the Hawaiian surfer Cheyne Magnusson who had singlehandedly altered the course of aerial surfing at BSR cable park in Waco.
Magunusson joined hands with the “godfather of artificial waves” Tom Lochtefeld and his Surf Loch tech to soup up the ancient Wet N Wild site.
“I come in and play the piano,” Cheyne told me of his role complementing the wave tech. “Give me a bunch of knobs to move water and I can make it sing.”
The pint-sized proto was built and surfers, including Mason Ho, Jackson Dorian etc, came from all over the world, flared and made clips. The pool was then demolished to make way for the full-sized tank.
Now, the pool has been revealed and…a couple of things.
Oowee, don’ look much diff to the proto. Waves look small, Typhoon Lagoon-ish little, and it ain’t cheap.
Tiny burgers cost hundred bucks an hour, one-fifty if you wanna approximate a turn, and two hundred for the best it can pump out. If you’re an Australian swinging into town, that makes it roughly 350 shekels.
Again, oowee.
Here’s the spiel from the PR gal.
Situated just a short drive from Los Angeles and minutes away from downtown Palm Springs, PSSC spans 21 acres and combines the finest features of resort and leisure attractions, creating a vibrant community-based destination centered around surfing and the beach lifestyle. While the motto emphasizes that surfing can be for everyone, non-surfers are also catered to with a range of additional attractions and offerings. Enhancing the visitor experience, large LED displays are strategically placed throughout the club, capturing and projecting the dynamic surf action, allowing guests to immerse themselves in the excitement.
PSSC is redefining the surf pool landscape with its advanced pneumatic wave technology, pioneered by industry veteran Tom Lochtefeld, the founder of Surfloch Wave Systems. This innovative technology offers on-demand, customizable waves designed by expert surfers to cater to varying skill levels, ensuring a memorable surfing experience for all. Accommodating up to 25 surfers simultaneously, the park’s waves are not only pre-programmed for individual preferences but are also a testament to sustainable practices. PSSC stands out for using just 1% of the water volume required by a typical golf course while generating over 70% of its energy resources in-house.
Though crowds will come out to surf and watch the waves, guests visiting the facility (ADA-accessible) will also have access to a lazy river, waterslide attractions (opening later in 2024), cabana rentals, and more. Amala restaurant will provide sustainable eating options that will fuel a day of surfing and play. The open indoor/outdoor design is the perfect place to relax and take in the club’s desert surroundings. Three full bars with custom cocktails and beers on draft will round out the beverage offerings on-site. Guests are welcome to visit Amala for the restaurant experience and forgo the park entrance fee. Those hitting the waves or lounging poolside can also grab a quick bite at Drifter’s, the club’s second restaurant on-site. The retail store will have a curated selection of wetsuits, clothing, and accessories.
A wide selection of rental boards will be available for surf session reservations with a variety of boards available for purchase as well. Riding the wave starts at $100 for beginners (group of 12), $150 for intermediates (group of 12), and $200 for the advanced (group of 9). Winter club entry starts at just $20 and reservations can be booked at https://palmspringssurfclub.com/ beginning on 12/13/23.
All pricing is subject to change.
The Palm Springs Surf Club, 1500 S Gene Autry Trail, Palm Springs, CA 92264
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$200 per hour makes me feel like a peasant. Now Mammoth feel like a deal.
History correction… It was NOT Wet ‘n Wild during the filming of North Shore. Originally, it was called Oasis Water Park. How do I know? I was the chubby 10 year old doing cannonballs in the pool and scared sh_tless of the “dropout” style ride.
I just read an article that a low-pressure system is forecast to set up in the north pacific and shift the jet stream so maybe that will mix things up…shit snow, shit waves and all we are left with is Chas drinking designer organic tequila while attempting to entertain us on youtube.
One strike your out on that subject in my tipi! I really like him, but prefer bring dark to light stylee……
USD$200
This is what the bottom of the pool looks like. I wonder what the v shaped channel is for.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Guess would be turbulence dissipation but I know nothing about hydrodynamics. The whole thing is very different looking to Waco tech. Waco would have the chambers on the opposite side of the pool and you surf at a different angle. This pool is basically 400 feet x 160 feet overall while Waco is 730 feet x 170 feet overall, Boa Vista even bigger at 750 x 350.
That’s not a v shaped channel. It’s a v shaped ridge. So it makes a split peak. Look at the fence line on the bottom of the picture. You can see it gets shallower at the top of the ridge, not deeper. The whole wedge shaped thing is shallower than the rest of the pool.
good callout on the shadow of the fence, couldn’t see it as a ridge until you pointed that out.
Go ahead,…show me.
Hey wtf ever happened to Freerider Sam?
I banned him.
Epic!
WHAT no badge for bad behavior, just an all-out ban? What was his transgression and is there an article forthcoming, so the faithful BG readers know what line not to cross?
I’m certainly got giving anyone that much attention nor do I have the time to write an article about why they’ve been banned.
But basically I found his scratched record commentary mind numbingly boring and dull.
So only 2 to have been banned are him and B__ M_____ plus the temp ban you claim to have given Otto, although he refutes that claim. I suppose the rest are self imposed bans.
Who said there’s only two?
I never banned Otto. Just some light trolling for the likes of you who are overly invested.
Bex banned three times. Latest one for plagiarizing
Long Tom as a joke.
The Hale-Bopp comet circled back.
Maybe not but Lochtefeld has been at this for years. If this is all he has come up with he should give it up. Wave is way too fucking short.
It’s been a pretty shit winter for surf so far in Southern California, so I am not above this
Hey I had an epic one-hour session at Doheny last Saturday on 1-2s(maybe exaggerating the 2s) and came away wondering if my plan to buy a 4/3 so I can surf more this winter is a bad idea if this continues. Or I could go to Hawaii and hope I don’t get beat up…
The public will probably never see the waves that they cranked up for a handful of pros for the barrage of promotional youTube videos. I’ll give this one a half a HamSammish.
Sooo…you gotta get there (with board(s)). Score a ride to the park. Eat. Smoke. Drink. Lodge? All while paying $2oo per hour to surf a few? That sounds terribly expensive. I hope no one shows and they have to adjust the rates. Looks fun though just not worth the coin. Cunts.
Unless the wave sucks I think they’ll be able to fill this up until another pool opens somewhere in SoCal that has the land for it.
Even though the $ per wavefun would be better going to Mexico it’ll stay busy till other options open. There are just so many affluent surfers in southern and central California.
Fer sure…wealthy cunt are laughing away!
Extremely underwhelming, looks weak, small and a short ride, what an incredible waste of money.
You’re missing out on the opportunity to lube up with cocoa butter and work on your tan so you look good for the Palm Springs bar scene that evening
…gay bar scene that evening.
Not judging of course as the great philosopher DL Roth put it rather succinctly:
“But ev’rybody wants some
I want some too
Ev’rybody wants some
Baby, how ’bout you?”
Do you have to pay extra for a big islander on a jet ski too follow behind and screaming at you how to surf or is that including in the package?
Nice! Now they know what to do with all the excess water out there.
With proper marketing there should be no shortage of takers out there. People in Palm Springs / Southern Cali have got mad money.
What is the price per wave?
How many waves do you get in a hour?
I think with Kelly pool it’s $580 a wave x two per hour?
Depends mostly on who the other 8 cunts you are surfing with is my guess
Don’t know how much this will translate to PS, but at Waco = about 12 available rides per surfer per one hour session (advanced/”expert” session, total 9 surfers in water). If you blow take off, etc, then subtract that from total. Can pick off waves when someone else blows it but given that pool isn’t as big as Lemoore, can’t really count on that as substitute for additional rides, just kind of a lucky, happen to be in the right spot at right time, cherry on top situation.
Strict priority that’s worked out among your 3 person mini-group so there’s no hassling or priority or backpaddling — and mini group is this: 9 surfers per session, 3 wave sets, so split up into 3 groups of 3, and each group gets every 3d set in a strict rotation. When your mini group turn coming up you discuss who’s getting 1st, 2d, 3d waves of set, and if you blow yours then you’re pretty much SOL for that set. At Waco, each wave in a set is slightly different, so some people have preference, others don’t care.
Bottom line is that you get a fair shot at 12 waves per session, if you blow them it’s on you, and you can pick up a couple more if others blow it but wouldn’t necessarily count on that. I will say that it feels like there is relatively little downtime between riding each wave to end and paddle back out.
Good info Rocks Local
Hardest thing at Waco was getting used to take off. Wave doesn’t come at you like Lemoore, just sort of burps up out of nowhere, so you basically paddle for wave on faith based on a noise (the wave machine belching) and a line on the wall next to you for position. And you paddle diagonally, not straight ahead. So count on missing a few in your first session, unless you’re 12-18 yrs old and can adapt on the fly and don’t have 40 years of pre-programmed ocean wave riding and timing embedded in your DNA.
Couple of sections look like blastable fun for turns and I’d love to attempt some terrible 50 year old mankook airs on that on repeat end section
Don’t you have beachbreaks in NZ?
Yeah loads. Not one 24/7 consistent as this pool.
200 an hour ? Is that all ? Sign me up quick !
Hahahahahar.
Get fucked. Stupid Noceans.
Bumper to bumper with 8 of your best mates no less
At least Bali will give you the runs.
WOW, that really is UNDERWHELMING.
Especially coming from a country of 340 million that invented the modern surf industry and is chockablock full of energy resources.
Bloody EMBARRASSING really.
P.S.
The world’s first heated wavepool (of a better proven design to this comedic lemon) opening soon in NZ (pop 5mil).
Going by those numbers the U.S.ofA. should have 68 wavepools (Kelly’s arithmetic, or not)…
Is the one in the Swiss alps not heated?
Apparently not, so dunno if they gotta keep it circulating to keep it open all year, or if it’s seasonal, or far enough below the snow line and just bloody cold in winter
Must be seasonal. The one in Melbourne is fucked up cold enough in winter.
Small poppy syndrome
I’d get serious claustrophobia in there.
sustainable eating options?
what the heck is this?
You eat. You crap it out.
Nothing sustainable about it.