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 an area where people can cliff jump into the water.
“We are delivering an authentic ocean surfing experience alongside an unrivaled beach experience, combining adventure and leisure in one place — all while 150 miles from the Pacific Ocean,” Grantham said.
The wave itself will have various skill levels with 10 surf zones that will suit beginners to experts. It will have waves that will simultaneously break toward the left and right, the higher-level waves reaching 7 feet, with rides as long as 35 seconds.
Two other projects in the works are aimed at the general public.
The Palm Springs Surf Club is gearing up to open sometime this year and the DSRT Surf operation, approved last year by Palm Desert city officials, should be open within the next year, Ponting said.
Each wave pool development will be unique as investors aim to find the right mix to be a successful draw, whether it’s adding in homes, hotels or exclusive experiences.
The Surf Ranch in Lemoore, the brainchild of 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, has shown a demand for a surf retreat that caters to small groups or companies that hold meetings or team-building gatherings.
That was the case for Santa Monica-based Red Bull on a recent day, which gathered social-media influencers to get a taste of the wave for the first time along with elite surf-team riders, including world champions Carissa Moore and Italo Ferreira and San Clemente resident Caroline Marks, who got time to train on the waves ahead of an upcoming World Tour stop at the Surf Ranch in May.
Pro surfer Jaime O’Brien, who flew in from Hawaii for the event, talked about his long obsession with wave pools, especially the Surf Ranch.
“This is like the crème de la crème of surfing – you get the service, the great food, the great people. Everyone is cheering for each other,” O’Brien said.
Compare that to surfing with 40 to 100 people in the ocean, where “you’re way more selfish in that line up than you are here,” he said.
In ocean surfing, you’re battling for wave. But in a pool, you wait for your turn. In a controlled wave park, you can analyze video with surf coaches on staff to review waves and get pointers, he noted.
“I love it, for me as an athlete knowing I can score really good waves and know it’s going to be good is the ultimate,” O’Brien said. “I feel so blessed to be in this modern-day age and be able to surf all these different wave pools around the world.”
The 2023 Surf Park Consumer Trend Report showed not just an appetite for wave pools, but an overall boom in surfing the past few years, fueled by the pandemic that sent people searching for outdoors activities.
The report found that people’s perception of surf parks has changed through the years as technology continues to get better, Pointing said. “There was a real spiritual divide between those who were really eager to use them or didn’t need a machine to catch waves.”
The survey indicates people are willing to drive an estimated 2.5 hours for a surf park experience. Once you get past that time frame, the number dips about 25%. Also, most people said they would go multiple times a month if there was a pool within that 2.5 hour driving distance.
In 2015, people responded they would only be willing to spend $23 for artificial waves. Now? Those surveyed said they are willing to pay $84.50 on 10 man-made waves.
What they actually spend while visiting a wave pool? An average of $290, with more advanced surfers forking out $380 for higher-quality settings and more waves.
Along with people’s perception about wave pools changing favorably in the past few years, and wave riders’ willingness to spend money, there’s also been a huge increase people interested in surfing.
In the three-year period from 2019 to 2022, the number of new surfers in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia all grew by at least 30%, the 100-page report said.
In the United States, there’s about 3.3 million surfers, with at least 990,000 of those starting in the past three years, Ponting said. Many of those newcomers are women, he said.
The study found that 70% of beginners and 90% of intermediate surfers say they would travel internationally to surf.
Many beginners want to build their skills, but want to do so in a controlled environment where they can progress more quickly, Ponting said. Surf breaks can be intimidating for newbies both because of the unpredictability of the ocean and the crowds.
But will wave pools work in surf-rich Southern California, where the ocean is free?
Think about this winter, Ponting said. Rain has been consistent and as a result, the ocean has been dirty. When conditions are good, everyone who has been waiting to surf are in the water, creating huge crowds.
That makes Ponting believe there will be surfers willing to pay for clean, uncrowded waves.
Because of the surge in new surfers, technological advances and people’s willingness to spend money, the time is ripe for the future of surfing man-made waves, he said.
Around the world, there’s about 12 wave parks already up and running, including in Japan, Brazil, Korea, the United Kingdom and Australia.
