DSRT Surf opened to the public on September 26 after more than a decade in development. Its first wave menu didn't last long. On October 18 the lagoon switched to a new menu, and DSRT Surf's own announcement says prices are down 30 to 40 percent. Most of what has been written about the place still repeats the September launch numbers, so a lot of what's out there is already out of date.
That leaves three things you can count on right now. The lagoon is open. Coachella Valley residents get a lower rate on the beginner lesson. And the city settled the lighting and water rules for this corner of Desert Willow before anyone paddled out. Everything else, from session prices to the hotel, is still moving.
The September Prices Are Already Out of Date
At launch, The Palm Desert Post reported that sessions built around larger waves and turns cost about $290 an hour. Barrel-focused sessions ran about $370 to $380, and weekday sessions were about $20 cheaper. Renting the whole pool for an hour, with both left and right waves, cost about $19,000.
Those were opening-month prices, and the October 18 reset replaced them. Here's how the two menus compare:
| Launch menu, from September 26 | New menu, from October 18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced turn sessions | About $290 per hour | Cut as part of a 30–40% reduction |
| Barrel sessions | About $370–$380 per hour | Cut as part of a 30–40% reduction |
| Waves per surfer | Not published per session | At least 10–12 per surfer at full capacity, with some settings and sessions offering up to 30 |
| Where to check | Launch coverage | DSRT Surf booking calendar |
DSRT Surf's website announced the cut as a percentage and didn't list the new dollar amounts by session type. If you work 30 to 40 percent off the launch figures, an advanced session that cost about $290 in September now lands somewhere around $175 to $205. Treat that as math, not a quote. The booking calendar shows the actual price for each session.
The wave-count guarantee may be the bigger change for a local deciding whether to go back. The lagoon is split into two sections, each holding up to 28 surfers, and some sessions such as the "pro barrel" put fewer people in the water. A minimum of 10 to 12 waves per surfer at full capacity tells you what an hour gets you before you pay for it.
The Resident Rate Is on the Beginner Lesson
The Learn-to-Surf Experience is 30 minutes of instruction on land followed by a 60-minute guided session in the water. KESQ reported the price as $100 for the general public and $75 for Coachella Valley residents, which saves a local $25, or a quarter of the price. At launch, weekday lessons ran at 4 and 6 p.m.
Those two time slots work for anyone with a weekday schedule. A lesson that starts at 4 p.m. in late October finishes as the light starts to drop behind the Santa Rosas, and the 6 p.m. slot runs under the lagoon lights.
The launch schedule had the facility open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with sessions starting every hour. Those are the published launch hours. The menu has changed once already, so check the calendar before you plan around a time slot.
You can look at conditions before you book. DSRT Surf runs a live camera on Surfline that shows the waves in real time.
The Lagoon Is Open. The Resort Isn't Yet.
The opening was billed as a phased soft opening. At launch, only the Surf Lagoon and the Surf Center were open, with more amenities due over the following weeks and months. Some offerings and capacities stayed limited while the team worked out operations.
The lagoon itself is the main draw. It's a 5.5-acre Wavegarden Cove lagoon that can produce up to 1,000 waves an hour, the largest of its kind in North America. Its 52 modules can create more than 60 different wave patterns, from slow beginner waves to steep performance waves. The Palm Desert Post puts the lagoon's volume at 9 million gallons, while the ISA's July announcement gives 8.5 million. The whole 17.8-acre site sits between two Desert Willow golf courses and can hold 3,500 people.
Plans released before opening describe a much bigger property. When the International Surfing Association announced its championship in July, it described these beach-club features:
- A viewing deck with three pools
- Cabanas
- A restaurant and bar
- A skatepark
- A pickleball court
A second phase is expected to add a 139-room resort hotel and 57 villas. No opening dates have been announced for the hotel, the villas or the beach-club features. For now, DSRT Surf is somewhere you go to surf, and the resort is still in the plans.
The Rules Neighbors Can Count On Were Set Before Opening
The prices may keep changing, but the effects on the neighbors were settled at City Hall before construction finished. The city's planning fact sheet laid out two that matter most around Desert Willow.
Lighting. DSRT Surf calls itself the world's first surf lagoon to earn International Dark Sky Certification. According to the city's fact sheet, the certification covered the project's lighting plan, including the lagoon. The overhead lights run only while the lagoon is open, with security lighting after hours and tightly aimed beams meant to keep light from spilling. A glare study predicted that the lagoon's lighting would not reach beyond the property. That is a prediction from the design stage. With a 10 p.m. closing time, the lagoon lights are on into the evening on every day of the week.
Water. The Turf for Surf program converted about 30 acres of golf-course turf next to the lagoon to drought-tolerant and native landscaping. The city's fact sheet says this was non-play turf at Desert Willow's courses, so the plan as written doesn't take out any fairways or greens. The water figures in that fact sheet break down like this:
- Turf conversion saves an estimated 34.8 million gallons a year.
- The lagoon is projected to use 23.8 million gallons a year.
- That leaves an estimated 11 million gallons a year saved, measured against the lagoon alone.
- The fact sheet still estimates the full project's net water use at 19.1 million gallons a year after the turf savings.
So the "net-zero" claim covers the lagoon, not the whole development. If you play Desert Willow often, the change shows up as native plantings in the out-of-play areas between the courses, while the fairways and greens stay grass.
November 19–22 Will Be the First Big Weekend
The opening came just ahead of the facility's first international event. The International Surfing Association lists the 2026 ISA World Para Surfing Championship at DSRT Surf for November 19 through 22. In its July announcement, the ISA said spectators are welcome to watch in person and that it will livestream the competition. The ISA hasn't published spectator pricing, so check the event page before you go.
This will be the first time the lagoon hosts athletes and guests from around the world. If you were hoping to book a regular session that week, look at the calendar early. Competition days may change what's available to the public, and the published schedule will be the best guide.
Fitting a Session Into the Rest of the Fall
The championship is in the middle of a busy stretch in Palm Desert, and a few dates are only minutes from Desert Willow:
- Through November 1: & Juliet is at the McCallum Theatre, followed by Tom Papa on November 4.
- October 31, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Howl-O-Ween at The Living Desert, with trick-or-treat stations and new limited-edition animal trading cards, included with paid Zoo admission or membership. The Zoo stays open while construction continues on Lion Ridge, where lions aren't expected on view until fall 2028.
- November 14–15: The Palm Desert Choreography Festival at the McCallum.
- November 19–22: The ISA World Para Surfing Championship at DSRT Surf.
- November 24 to December 30: WildLights on select nights at The Living Desert, with a members-only preview on November 23.
A 4 p.m. resident lesson on a weekday in the first week of November fits comfortably between the McCallum's final & Juliet performance and the championship. By then the new menu will have been running for a couple of weeks, and the prices on the booking calendar will be the ones that count.
If DSRT Surf has you thinking about life near Desert Willow, or about what a new attraction like this could mean for homes around it, Desert Cities Home can walk you through the Palm Desert neighborhoods closest to the lagoon. Request a Free Home Valuation & Custom Marketing Plan, and we'll show you how we'd present a home near Palm Desert's newest attraction.
