CAN I BE FRANK WITH YOU?
SURF:
Typical July conditions the past week with water temps in the low 70's, some small but rideable SW swell, and tropical clouds passing overhead. For this weekend though, Friday looks to have just have leftover waist high+ SW swell and Saturday/Sunday is waist high at best. The OC might see a slight uptick in S swell late Sunday from Hurricane Frank- but for the rest of us, that will come Monday if everything goes according to plan. And here's the tides, sun, and water temps for the next few days:
- Sunrise and sunset:
- 6:01 AM sunrise
- 7:48 PM sunset
- Water temps should hold at 70 this weekend IF... the forecasted winds blow SW. If they turn WNW- then all bets are off!
- And beware the low tide at sunrise:
- 0' at sunrise
- 4' mid-day
- 2' at dinner
- and back up to 4' at sunset
FORECAST:
Once we get the weekend out of the way, can we finally get to the good stuff? Think of this weekend as eating vegetables and next week as anything you want in the dessert display case at Marie Calendars (scratch that- are there any Marie Calendars left)?
Anyway, Hurricane Frank is currently in our swell window and is strengthening to a potential category 2 storm (110 mph). Surf should pick up fairly quickly Monday and peak with shoulder high surf in far N County SD and head high surf in the OC.
That fades quickly on Tuesday but we have a fun southern hemi swell on it's heels for Tuesday into Wednesday for more shoulder high surf. Look for the 1st half of the week to have fun surf and the back half to be small again. FYI- we also have Tropical Storm Georgette meandering off Baja but it's not forecasted to amount to much. All eyes will be on Frank.
WEATHER:
Monsoon moisture increases over the mountains and deserts Saturday/Sunday and there's a slight chance a few of those thunderstorms will drift to the inland valleys. For next week, things dry out and we're back to the mid-70's and sunny skies after lunch. If anything changes between now and then, make sure to follow North County Surf on Twitter!
BEST BET:
Monday once Frank joins the party or Tuesday/Wednesday when the new SW arrives.
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
As you probably know by now, I'm a backer of wave pools. Nothing will replace surfing in the ocean of course, but I think of wave pools as a recreational idea or even a vacation destination. If we can have skate parks or golf resorts, why not wave pools? When it's flat around here (which is often), or crowded at the good surf spots (which is always), or the water is cold (which is known as October to June), or it's overcast & S wind (which seems to be a majority of the time), I'm all for wave pools. I also like taking vacations with my family and let's be honest- Fiji/Hawaii/Indo/Tahiti are expensive. That's where wave pools come in. But at this current time, Waco is the only semi-close destination (as well as affordable when compared to Kelly's $75k a day) and though not as far away as the tropics, I could use something closer. Like somewhere in a 15 minute to 2 hour drive. Looks like I'm in luck:
As mentioned last February in THE Surf Report, the developers of an Oceanside wave pool development had run into some long running roadblocks. BUT... The San Diego Union Tribune this week reported that Ocean Kamp, an adventure-themed hotel and community built around an artificial surf lagoon, received the Oceanside Planning Commission’s unanimous approval Monday for construction in the San Luis Rey River Valley. The project brings a new era to the 92-acre site of a former drive-in theater and swap meet just off state Route 76 and Mission Avenue at Foussat Road.
Opponents said the resort will waste water and increase traffic congestion, while supporters said it will be “a gem” in Oceanside’s crown, boosting the city’s reputation as a surfing destination and bringing millions of dollars annually in tax revenue. Plans include a four-story hotel with 232 rooms, eight “villa” buildings with a total of 18 rooms, 16 “casitas” with a total of 20 rooms, and a park-like group of permanently parked Airstream trailers that constitute 30 rooms.
All the guest lodging will be centered on a 3.5-acre surf lagoon that will generate waves of varying sizes. When the wave machine is off, the lagoon will be available for swimming, stand-up paddle-boarding and other aquatic activities. Also in the plans are 11 separate commercial, retail and office buildings, an 18,000-square-foot conference building, and up to 700 dwellings divided into areas of for-sale condominiums and rental apartments. Among other amenities are about 1.5 miles of trails for walking, running and biking.
“The center of gravity for the whole development is the wave lagoon,” said Jon Corn, an attorney and partner in the project. The lagoon will have consistent waves and warm water year round, unlike the ocean, he said. As a result, the resort will draw people from around the country and the world. The developer is projecting $81 million in tax revenue for the city from the project during its first 10 years, Corn said.
About 5.2 million gallons of water will be required to fill the wave lagoon and about 4 million gallons will be lost annually to evaporation, he said. An 18-hole golf course in California uses about 90 million gallons annually, according to the California Alliance for Golf.
The Oceanside Chamber of Commerce, the North County Economic Development Council, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Oceanside, the San Diego County Bike Coalition and other local groups have endorsed the project. “This is a unique development,” said Erik Bruvold, chief executive officer of the San Diego North Economic Development Council. “It has the opportunity to create a real sense of place and destination in Oceanside.”
Other speakers had harsh words for the project. Diane Nygaard, president of the local nonprofit Preserve Calavera, said she would rather watch real waves on the ocean than “a giant toilet flush” on an artificial inland lagoon. The developer should be ashamed for only providing half of the city’s required 10 percent affordable housing on the site, she said. The project will pay in-lieu fees to the city to build the other 5 percent elsewhere. The resort offers “expensive pay-to-play recreation that uses water during a drought,” she said, and it will take business away from other hotels in the area that have recently opened or are planned, such as the Inns at Buena Vista Creek along state Route 78 and two hotels approved for the city’s El Corazon property. “We urge you to just say no,” Nygaard said.
Other speakers said the resort’s location is too close to the Oceanside airport, which has had two fatal crashes so far this year. About half the speakers Monday were in labor unions that wanted jobs with the project. Carpenters union members and their families all praised it, saying the developer had promised to employ them. Pipefitters, steel workers and other unions opposed the project, asking the commission to refuse approval until their groups are offered a deal.
Several people suggested a new, full, environmental impact report should be done. An environmental impact report was approved by the city in 2008 for a previous development on the site called The Pavilion. That project would have been the largest shopping center in Oceanside with multiple big-box anchor tenants, but it lost momentum and was never built. The city approved a supplemental report for Ocean Kamp, based on the report completed for the previous project. A recent traffic study showed the resort will generate 19,000 vehicle trips a day, significantly down from the 32,000 daily trips expected from The Pavilion.
Grading began in 2019 at the site, which is along the San Luis Rey River three miles east of the ocean. Contractors trucked in 450,000 cubic yards of fill material to raise the property above the flood plain. The site was the home of the four-screen Valley Drive-In theater for almost 50 years. The drive-in closed in 1999 and the screens were demolished in 2016. A weekend swap meet held for many years continued there until it was shut down in 2019.
Encinitas-based Zephyr Partners bought the property in 2018 and developed the Ocean Kamp plan based on the artificial wave concept. Zephyr announced in November 2020 it had sold the project to its former partner N4FL Worldwide, also known as N4FL Development, which has offices in Encinitas and Rancho Santa Fe.
Planning commissioners said most of the concerns raised Monday have been addressed already or will be dealt with as the project progresses. “This is not a public project, so there’s no requirement for minimum wage or union work,” said Commissioner Tom Morrissey. “That’s not our sphere of influence. We don’t go there.” He called it, “The greatest project I’ve seen here in a long time,” adding, “It just fits in with our Oceanside history.”
Commissioner Kevin Dodds urged the developer to hire local workers and said, “There is a plethora of talent here in Oceanside.” “It’s exciting to see such a unique project on a piece of ground empty for so long,” said Commissioner Louise Balma. “I can’t wait.”
The commission voted 6-0, with Commissioner Jeff Symons absent, to certify the supplemental environmental impact report and to approve a tentative map and conditional use permit for the project. The commission’s approval is final unless appealed to the Oceanside City Council.
No timeline has been given on its opening but since grading has already been started, I'm guessing summer of 2024? So what about something sooner for all of us wanting to jump in the pool after we've just eaten the hype? Well, we do have the 4 'projects' in various stages in the greater Palm Springs area. Here's Wave Pool Magazine with a quick rundown this past spring:
As late spring brings hotter temperatures to the desert so does anticipation and interest of the status of four planned wave basins in the Coachella Valley. Of the four projects, two are going to be open to the public and two are going into private communities.
- The Thermal Beach Club is a residential development described as a “private paradise” featuring a beach for club members. The developer is planning to build 326 dwelling units including a 22-acre lagoon with wavemaking technology for surfing and water recreation and 34,400 square feet of clubhouse buildings that include a restaurant and bar. Developers have stated that they intend to allow local schools to utilize the wave pool in a way that gives back to the community. This project has been fully approved by Riverside County and is expected to start construction but no exact date has been announced.
- The Coral Mountain private development slated to be built in La Quinta is still in the process of final approval. If the proposed project receives final approval it will have the Kelly Slater wave technology similar to the existing pool in Lemoore, California which has helped fuel the development of wave basins throughout the world. There has been much opposition to this project and there were two hurdles that needed to be approved before the project could move forward. First is the certification of the environmental impact report and general plan amendment to add tourist commercial status to allow a hotel to be added to the resort along with private residences. As of this writing, the planning commission of La Quinta has approved these changes and the final approval from the city council will take place at the next council meeting.
- Desert Wave Ventures received final approval for their DSRT Surf Resort in Palm Desert and will have a 5.5-acre lagoon and feature the Wave Garden technology, a 92-room luxury hotel and 83 residential villas. This public development will be built next to the city’s Desert Willow Golf Resort and will have a surf academy for lessons, rentals and all things surf related. DSRT has also addressed the issue of water usage. They are implementing a unique “Surf for Turf” to offset the surf lagoon water by converting 20 acres of turf on the golf courses to drought tolerant landscaping. Construction is expected to begin this summer with an opening date of the end of 2023.
- The Palm Spring Surf Club got the jump on all the other projects when it purchased and took over the old Wet’N’Wild water park in Palm Springs. They had the advantage of having an existing pool basin that made little waves for tourists to play in back when it was Wet’n’Wild. They were able to utilize the space to add new equipment and use the old pool to test the new equipment. There have been much-publicized videos, and many of the world’s top surfers have been out to the desert to test their new wave. The old pool footprint has now been removed and a new much larger wave basin is in the process of being built. No date has been given for an opening but it will for sure be the first working wave basin in the Coachella Valley open to the public.
So there you have it. One big and long winded story about the immediate future of wave pools in Southern California. Start booking your hotel rooms!
PIC OF THE WEEK:
Can't wait to play 18 holes in the desert, surf this in the evening, then grab a steak at Mastro's. Who's in?
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Overly Confident
I Could Eat Taco Bell Everyday (But My Body Won't Let Me)
Using Candy Corn Now Instead Of Surf Wax So I Can Snack In The Line Up
