Tucked inside Southern California’s Redondo Beach King Harbor is a family friendly space known as the Redondo Beach Seaside Lagoon. It’s a small saltwater lagoon just inside the breakwater with a water slide, picnic area, and a luau shelter. The lagoon is more than 80 years old now, so it is due for a “rehabilitation project,” and one of the proposals to revamp the space is to bring something the South Bay already has plenty of: waves.
A proposal for a $10-million wave pool project was made to the Redondo Beach Harbor Commission this week, with another proposal to City Council, pointing out that maintenance for the aging facility has become expensive.
“The lagoon relies on an unusual system that brings seawater into the facility, chlorinates it for swimming, and then removes the chlorine before the water is discharged back into King Harbor. As the infrastructure has aged and water-quality requirements have become more stringent, that system has become harder and more costly to operate,” says Raised Water Research, a group pushing for the wave pool project. “Those problems have already had real consequences. The City recently reported about $175,000 in water-quality penalties over a two-year period. In 2025, a pump failure also forced the lagoon to close for roughly two weeks during the summer season and cost about $60,000 to repair.”
The group’s proposal is to upgrade the existing swimming lagoon and add a “small but fun” wave pool to the site. While they don’t mention a specific wave-making technology in the plans, the group says it will “create right and left waist- to head-high waves that provide ~12 second rides.”
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At least judging by social media response and even the city’s e-comment portal reserved for sharing public comments with council members, the idea of a wave pool isn’t one that’s being fully embraced. A main point of contention is that the lagoon is public property, of course, and there are residents who don’t want that land privatized for profit.
“Seaside Lagoon is one of the very few affordable, safe, and truly family friendly saltwater facilities in our region. The Phase 1 plan delivers exactly what our community has asked for across years of public workshops: modernized, compliant water filtration, zero-depth entry for kids and seniors, and year-round green park space open 365 days a year,” Jennifer Jones, a Redondo Beach resident points out. “Halting this project for up to two years to explore private commercial concepts is unfair to local families and fiscally reckless. We cannot risk forfeiting our secured $10 million state grant to statutory deadlines, nor should taxpayers continue paying environmental fines for an outdated facility.”
The South Bay Boardriders haven’t made a public recommendation either favoring or opposing the pool proposal.
“For the record, the South Bay Boardriders Club is not endorsing any plan until more details are shared at which point our Board of Directors will vote on whether to publicly support any proposal. At this point we can confidently say that we support all efforts to improve our local shoreline, increase access for all, help our local businesses thrive, and give area residents and visitors the amenities they want to use,” the group said.
