When the Desert Delivers Perfect Peaks
California just got its second Wavegarden-powered surf park, and it's sitting in the Coachella Valley — about 100 miles from the actual ocean. DSRT Surf officially opened its doors this week, and early testers are saying the tech has come a long way since the short-lived NLand park in Austin. We're talking 1,000 waves per hour, a menu of 60+ wave types, and a dedicated aerial ramp setting that pumps out air-friendly sections every 30 seconds. Jacob "Zeke" Szekely, who got early access, called it "the best wave pool in the world" and highlighted the "Twister" — a barreling setting that's apparently powerful enough to let you take a conscious breath inside the tube. John Luff from Beach Street Holdings put it simply: "This facility is an absolute machine for making people happy." Sessions are expected to start around $60 an hour, which undercuts Palm Springs Surf Club's $100 entry point. No public booking date yet, but "late summer" is the target. For photographers, this means consistent, predictable light and wave shape — a studio session with Mother Nature's cooperation. You can dive into the full specs over at The Inertia.
Maui's Wind Warriors Own Cloudbreak
While the pool scene heats up, Maui's windsurf crew just reminded everyone that raw ocean power still writes the best stories. Bernd Roediger and Morgan Noireaux went 1-3 at the Fiji Surf Pro, held in 13-foot Cloudbreak conditions that competitors called the most demanding in pro windsurfing history. Roediger took the win with an 18.07 final score — despite a strained ACL and a month off the water. "It's like a blessing," he said. "So many things have to go your way." Noireaux dropped the highest single wave of the event, a 9.5-pointer, but inconsistent winds left him chasing a backup score. France's Antoine Martin slotted into second. On the women's side, Australia's Jane Seman ran the table, winning all three finals and reclaiming her 2022 Cloudbreak crown. Four rigs destroyed, one broken foot (Australia's Jaeger Stone), and a week of proper heavy-water drama. Full results and photos via Maui News.
From Cox's Bazar to the Asian Games
Half a world away, two surfers from Bangladesh are chasing a different kind of wave. Mohammad Mannan, 25, and Fatima Akhter, 16, train out of a weather-beaten shack on Cox's Bazar — the world's longest beach — with their sights set on surfing's Asian Games debut in Japan this September. In a cricket-obsessed nation where the sport has zero infrastructure, their journey is pure grit. Akhter, who's faced intense stigma as a teenage girl surfing in a Muslim-majority country, says: "The moment I step onto the board, I forget everything else. When I successfully ride a wave, I feel happy and fulfilled. The feeling is impossible to describe." Mannan, who once sold seashell jewelry to support his family, learned technique by studying John John Florence on YouTube. His first trip to the Maldives was a wake-up call: "Surfers from other countries are different, because they have better boards, bigger waves, and travel frequently. It's impossible to understand an ocean if you've never surfed there." Their parents wanted them to quit. They didn't. Read their full story in The Daily Star.
Three different corners of the surf world. One shared addiction to the feeling only a wave can give. Whether it's engineered in the desert, earned at Cloudbreak, or chased on a 120km beach in Bangladesh — we're all just looking for that next ride.
