Would you travel away from the beach to buy freshwater waves created by a machine? How much would you be willing to spend?
Those are some of the questions posed by Surf Park Central, a hub for the growing wave pool industry, and the Huntington Beach-based surf forecasting company Surfline.com to gauge the demand for and perceptions of artificial waves. Their finds were recently released in the 2023 Surf Park Consumer Trend Report.
The 100-page report comes as Southern California is about to see a wave of surf parks sprout up, possibly as early as this year with at least three in the works throughout the Coachella Valley region. Another 3.5-acre surf lagoon got the green light last year in Oceanside from city officials.
“There’s going to be a lot of them around,” said Jess Ponting, co-founder of Surf Park Central and director of the Center for Surf Research at San Diego State University. “There’s probably 100-plus in the pipeline (around the world) at the moment being actively worked on.”
Details emerged in recent weeks for one of the desert projects underway that will help transform the area into more than a place for golf and festival enthusiasts, but also a thriving surf scene hours away from the ocean.
Developers behind Thermal Beach Club recently announced an expected ground breaking this summer, with surfers riding waves in the 20-acre pool by December 2024.
“This project will not only be a catalyst for the real estate and surfing industries, but it will also be transformative for the local community in terms of job creation, infrastructure improvements and overall economic growth,” said Brian Grantham, co-founder of the billion-dollar project, in a news release.
The wave pool will be set within a private residential community with 326 luxury homes. In addition to surfing, a basin will be built where residents will be able to use kayaks or stand-up paddleboards to cruise on the water. There will be a beach lounge, swim-up bar and even…
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