"I would say we certainly shot high, the public spoke, and we've made adjustments accordingly." Michael Gerano, vice president and general manager of DSRT Surf, said that days after the lagoon at Desert Willow opened to the public. The park's first weekend was Saturday, September 26, 2026. By September 29, its top sessions cost $100 less than they did at launch.
That quick change matters if you live at Toscana Country Club and are wondering whether a surf park in Palm Desert has anything to do with your fall. DSRT Surf launched with performance-wave prices aimed at experienced surfers making a special trip. Its lowest price is reserved for Coachella Valley ZIP codes. And most of what would make it a place to bring houseguests who don't surf is still listed as "coming soon," with full opening expected in late November.
A price list that changed in its first week
Business coverage of the opening put performance sessions at around $290 an hour and barrel sessions at around $370 to $380. The launch calendar also offered a full-lagoon buyout at $19,000 an hour. Greater Palm Springs Business Insider called these launch prices, not a permanent rate card. It noted that expert sessions dropping to $270 is a cut of about 27 percent, and that no revised buyout figure had been published.
The early customers fit those prices. The same report interviewed a group of advanced surfers who drove in from Huntington Beach for early-morning sessions and went straight home afterward. One said the lagoon "pumped out 30 perfect waves per hour for our session," compared with the ocean, "where basically every wave is different." For riders like that, a predictable wave is the product, and the Wavegarden Cove system behind it can produce up to 1,000 waves an hour across sections set for different skill levels.
DSRT itself says the price you see at booking applies to that time slot, and that prices can rise as the date gets closer. Any number below is a reading from a specific date.
Where the valley rate sits
The beginner end of the menu is priced differently. DSRT's live booking page lists Learn to Surf at $100 and says Coachella Valley locals pay $60. To get it, you enter a Coachella Valley ZIP code as your billing ZIP at checkout, and the discount applies once the ZIP is checked. The local rate has already moved once. KESQ's preview on September 24 gave the resident price as $75.
Learn to Surf includes 30 minutes of instruction on land, then a one-hour guided session in the lagoon. Read against the hourly performance sessions, the gap between the local and visitor ends of the menu is wide.
| Session | Price reading | Source date |
|---|---|---|
| Learn to Surf, Coachella Valley ZIP | $60 | Live booking page, current |
| Learn to Surf, general | $100 | Live booking page, current |
| Bay and Play | $60 | Booking calendar, Sept. 26, 2026 |
| Easy Longboarding, one hour | $150 to $180 | Booking calendar, Sept. 26, 2026 |
| Progressive Carving, one hour | $200 to $220 | Booking calendar, Sept. 26, 2026 |
| Chamber Barrels, one hour | $300 to $320 | Booking calendar, Sept. 26, 2026 |
The September 26 calendar reading split the lagoon into two kinds of session. Bay sessions are the beginner product and ran only one to four times a day. Reef sessions are the hourly performance product, priced by wave setting, with the top of each range falling on weekends. Because Bay sessions are so few, they're the hard reservation to get. For a household planning a first lesson for visiting family, that matters more than the barrel prices do.
For comparison, Palm Springs Surf Club sells packages of four sessions for $700, eight for $1,400 and 20 for $3,500, or $175 a session at the four-pack price. The same report points out that this is a bulk purchase using a different wave technology, so it doesn't line up exactly with a single DSRT booking.
What is on the property right now
The opening is phased. At launch, the Surf Lagoon and the Surf Center were available, and KESQ reported that other amenities and experiences would follow over the coming weeks and months, with some capacity limited while operations were worked out. DSRT's own visitor guide still calls this a soft opening and expects full opening in late November.
Here is how the non-surf side currently looks, based on DSRT's published materials:
- Beach pass. Non-surfers can get onto the grounds with a beach pass to hang out and watch. No price has been published.
- Food and drink. Offerings and a full-service restaurant are both listed as coming soon, with no date and no named operator.
- Pool, jacuzzi, pickleball and skate area. All appear on DSRT's activity list. None has been confirmed as operating during the soft opening.
- Parking. Free, with VIP and valet parking available.
- Membership. None required.
The 139-room hotel and 57 private villas are a later phase, with no opening date. For now, DSRT is a surf venue. The resort around it is still to come.
The setting will look familiar to anyone who lives on a golf course. The 5.5-acre lagoon sits between the Desert Willow courses. Under a program called "Turf for Surf," about 30 acres of nearby golf turf were converted to drought-tolerant and native landscaping. Palm Desert officials estimate the conversion saves about 34.8 million gallons of water a year, against roughly 23.8 million gallons a year projected for the lagoon.
November puts two things in the same week
DSRT has an anticipated full opening in late November and an international competition on the calendar in the same stretch. The International Surfing Association has scheduled the 2026 World Para Surfing Championship at DSRT Surf for November 19 to 22, 2026. The ISA says spectators are welcome in person and the event will be livestreamed on isasurf.org. The ISA hasn't said whether spectators need a beach pass or a separate ticket. Check that closer to the date.
Capacity is rising too. Gerano described a starting limit of 150 people on the property at a time and an eventual capacity of up to 700 surfers a day. Expert sessions hold roughly nine to 16 surfers. Today's DSRT is smaller and quieter than the one planned for the end of November. The difference should show most in how hard Bay sessions are to book and in whether there's food on site.
Booking a session for visiting family
For a first visit this fall, these details come from DSRT's own booking and guest materials:
- Hours. At launch, the park was set to run 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with sessions starting every hour. Evening sessions run after sunset, when the October heat has eased.
- Arrival. Plan to arrive about 45 minutes before your session. Check-in requires a signed waiver and a completed pre-surf guide.
- Age and size. There's no minimum age to visit. Age and size requirements for surfing are still being finalized and vary by wave type, so confirm before booking for younger guests.
- Boards. Rentals are priced separately at $25 a session for softboards and $50 for several performance boards. DSRT's published materials don't say whether the Learn to Surf price includes equipment.
- Billing ZIP. The $60 local rate depends on entering a Coachella Valley ZIP code at checkout. If a visiting relative books on their own card with an out-of-area billing address, they'll be charged the $100 general price.
The address is 105 Wave Drive, Palm Desert. Prices changed more than once in late September, so check the booking calendar on the day you book.
Hosting this season sometimes raises bigger questions, like how a Toscana home handles a full house of guests or what a second property nearby might look like. Nyla Doering is glad to talk through either, with the same attention to local detail as a well-planned visit to Desert Willow.
