The Los Angeles area has an approved surf park. El Segundo's city council approved the El Segundo Surf Club on 15 September 2026 and adopted the second part, an ordinance amending the site's development agreement, on 6 October. The club would put a large wave pool on a 9.3-acre lot beside the Metro K Line, about a mile south of LAX. Its backers include billionaire Vinny Smith, a major investor in Palm Springs Surf Club.
What the city approved
The September vote covered the project's environmental determination and its permits, from site plan review to outdoor dining, alcohol service and a parking lot. No new environmental impact report was needed: the city relied on the one certified in December 2015 for the El Segundo South Campus, the former Raytheon campus the site belongs to. The city's Planning Commission had recommended approval first.
The ordinance drops an earlier requirement for a public walkway across the site to the Metro K Line's El Segundo station.
What is planned
The plans put a large oval surf pool at the center of the site, with a standing wave pool, two recreational pools, padel courts and four three-story buildings around it. The site is mostly empty now, with paved areas, a former helicopter pad and surface parking.
Access is split. The Founder's Club building is for members only, a restaurant and meeting building is open to non-members, and a general admission building serves as the public entrance, with check-in, a surf shop and wetsuit rental. A council member asked whether it would work like Palm Springs, with memberships plus drop-in sessions for the public, and the applicant's representative answered, "that is the plan right now." The plans also show a control tower, big screens for watching the surfing, and a beer garden and vendor kiosks beside the standing wave.
The applicant's plans and renderings use the name Palms Surf Club; El Segundo Surf Club is the name on the city's approvals.
The wave technology
No wave supplier has been named publicly. The city file points to SurfLoch, the company behind the pool at Palm Springs Surf Club: the project's water study credits SurfLoch for its wave pool information, and the plans show pump caisson rooms beside the pool. SurfLoch's system uses a row of large concrete chambers, called caissons, built along one side of the pool. The wave machinery described in the city's environmental review runs on electric servo motors rather than hydraulic fluid.
In 2025, the developers described a pool that would generate waves lasting up to 20 seconds.
Who is behind it
A company tied to Smith's Toba Capital paid $54 million for the site, in a sale that closed in May 2025. Toba Capital's development partner is Inland Pacific Companies, whose president, Colin O'Byrne, is the authorized person for the applicant, El Segundo Surf Club, LLC. Inland Pacific lists surf park developments in Oceanside and Las Vegas as upcoming, and in 2025 the partners put the El Segundo project at nearly $175 million including the land.
When could it open?
There is no opening date yet. In 2025, O'Byrne said: "We want it to be operational in time for the '28 Olympics." The timeline has since moved. At the September council hearing, the applicant's representative said opening was "two and a half plus years from now," according to the city's meeting captions, which would mean 2029 at the earliest. The comment came in answer to a question about how much of the business would come from members, which the representative said had not been decided. Nothing has been built yet.
Good to Know
El Segundo would be the first surf park in the Los Angeles area in our directory. California's three open parks are in Lemoore, Palm Desert and Palm Springs, and no prices have been set for El Segundo. Our California guide covers the open parks and the rest of the state's pipeline.
