NEW WAVE POOL SET TO OPEN IN PALM DESERT IN 2021
CATCHING UP WITH CJ HOBGOOD ABOUT HIS NEW WAVE POOL PROJECT, DSRT SURF
by: Zander Morton | Surfer Mag
Another wave pool will be gracing the state of California–this time in the dry city of Palm Desert, a roughly 2-hour drive from the nearest ocean (and a hell of a lot closer to popular surf towns than the wave machine in Lemoore). Just a few days ago, CJ Hobgood, Josh Kerr and Shane Beschen announced on Instagram that they’re involved with the development of the new pool–DSRT Surf–which is set to open in 2021. To find out more about DSRT Surf, we gave CJ Hobgood a call and asked about how it all came to be, what he’s learned from past mistakes (he was involved in a wave pool start-up back in the 2000s that unfortunately failed miserably), and what sort of surf we can expect to see in Palm Desert in the (fairly) near future.
The news that you’re involved with a new wave pool project in Palm Desert dropped out of the blue last week. How did that all come about?
What’s been cool for me during this process is I’ve been close to a couple other projects in the past. I was around when they tried to do the wave pool over at the Ron Jon in Orlando, Florida, and that one failed. I was talking to another guy down in South Florida early on where the WSL’s new one was supposed to go, and he was saying he has trouble even digging an 8-foot backyard pool in that neighborhood.
So, when I started doing the process with these guys [John Luff and Doug Sheres], we just grilled them, like: “What about this?” and “what about that?” These guys were so ahead of the curve with their homework, I was just really impressed. I’d been used to dealing with a bunch of cowboys. So, from that perspective, it’s been super refreshing. There’s just so many things that can be outside of your control, and we’re trying to make sure we’re doing everything right to give ourselves the best chance to succeed, because even then it’s not bulletproof.
What was the biggest draw to Palm Desert?
I think it’s going to be a really great thing for that valley community there. And it’s also that “rising tide rises all boats” thing. Kalani [Robb] and Cheyne [Magnusson] are doing their pool with a different technology, and then we’ll have ours, and I think it’d be cool if someone else does another project in the valley, and that area could become the North Shore of wave pools [laughs]. Each one will offer a totally different experience.
