How many surf parks are enough surf parks for the Coachella Valley?

"SURF" by Jose Barragan is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Have you heard? There are surf parks headed to the desert. Like, a lot of surf parks. No, seriously. So many surf parks.  And with what seems like literally all the surf parks coming to the Coachella Valley, maybe the smart thing to do here is to pause for a moment and ask: Is this too many surf parks?

The simple answer seems to be: yes, probably – because, well, that really does seems like a ton of freakin’ surf parks.

But hey, keep in mind, people aren’t exactly golfing like they used to and, well, they have to do something in between being loud in the morning and being loud in the evening at the Airbnb they packed 20 people into, right? So, perhaps, soon groups of bachelor or bachelorette parties will grab their surfboards instead of their clubs on a Saturday morning? Stranger things could happen, I suppose.  Though they may not want to drink as much as they do on the course because, you know, water and drowning and stuff.

The tourists, we are told, will probably like the surf parks, which is weird, since many of them will likely be coming from places like Los Angeles and San Diego, home to gigantic free surf parks, complete with water that doesn’t have to be pumped from a well, which seems optimal. But, then again, those beaches don’t support cool photos of someone surfing with mountains and palm trees in the background – and you just know those posts are going to get dozens of likes on The ‘Gram and that’s really what life’s all about, amirite?

So will Greater Palm Springs be able to handle all of these surf parks or will it end up being a, umm, wipeout for the cities and developers involved?

Looks like we will soon find out.