surf

Sept. 30 (UPI) — Forecasters early Wednesday were warning of dangerous surf and “life-threatening” rip currents at beaches of the northern Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda and much of the U.S. East Coast as Hurricane Humberto continued its way north across the Atlantic.

With maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, Humberto remained a Category 1 hurricane as of 5 a.m. AST Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said in its morning update.

The storm was located about 280 miles north-northwest of Bermuda and was moving northeast at 14 mph, the NHC said.

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, though forecasters continued to warn that its swells could persist for the next few days.

It is expected to move faster toward the east-northeast over Wednesday and remain “a powerful cyclone” until Humberto merges with a developing frontal boundary Wednesday night.

Humberto is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic season and became the season’s third hurricane on Friday morning.

Forget Malibu or the North Shore. Next summer, you can catch a wave in Palm Desert, 100 miles from the nearest ocean.

After years of delays, DSRT Surf, the Coachella Valley’s second surf destination, is expected to open to the public in the summer of 2026. The new complex will offer inland surfers a steady stream of machine-powered waves in a 5.5 acre surf pool embedded in the sprawling Desert Willow Golf Resort.

The complex, which will eventually include a 139-key hotel and 57 luxury villas, is the latest addition to a growing number of surf resorts opening across the country and the world that don’t require proximity to a coastline. Surf pools may not have the romance and drama of the open ocean, but fans say they can provide beginners and experienced surfers alike consistent waves for working on skills as well as introduce the sport to people who lack easy access to natural waves.

A rendering shows visitors riding machine-powered waves in a 5.5 acre surf pool.

(Beach Street Development)

And at least in Palm Desert, it also helps that the weather is significantly more predictable than at a seaside resort where a surf trip might be ruined by a week of rain.

“We often say if you could pick a place in the world to do this, this is absolutely the best place in the world,” said Doug Sheres, a partner at Beach Street Development, the company behind DSRT Surf at a ground-breaking ceremony in 2024. “Literally right here in Desert Willow, surrounded by the greens, surrounded by the lake, surrounded by the mountains, and 350 days of sunshine a year.”

The project, which was delayed by COVID and a complex permitting process, has been in the works since 2018 and was approved by the Palm Desert City Council in 2019 despite some residents’ concerns about water usage and questions about the wisdom of building a surf park in the middle of the desert.

The wave pool holds 7 million gallons of water and, because of evaporation, filtration and maintenance, it is expected to go through roughly 25 million gallons of water a year. However, as part of its agreement with Palm Desert, Beach Street Development has committed to replacing 1 million square feet of existing turf in the Desert Willow Golf Resort with native plantings, a move that is projected to save 35 million gallons of water a year while not impacting game play on the courses.

“Through this initiative, our surf pool will not use any incremental water above or beyond what is currently already being used today at Desert Willow,” the developers wrote on DSRT Surf’s website.

In addition to the wave pool, DSRT Surf will also offer pickleball courts, a swimming pool, jacuzzi, yoga classes, a restaurant and a skate bowl.

The opening of DSRT Surf comes just two years after the reopening of Palm Springs Surf Club 10 miles down the road. That club is built on the site of a former water park and features a 1.5 acre wave pool, a lazy river and water slides. It hasn’t always been popular with guests and neighbors — its wave pool was plagued with mechanical issues in its early months, and its machines and events have generated dozens of noise complaints, though management has said noise-reducing solutions are in the works.

DSRT Surf’s massive surf lagoon will be larger than four football fields and will accommodate 70 surfers at once. Although prices for hour-long surf sessions have not yet been set, Sheres said they are committed to making surfing in the desert affordable for the local community.

“We consider this very much available to all income levels and demographics, ” he said in an interview. “It’s wide open to everyone.”

Sept. 7 (UPI) — Hurricane Kiko, packing winds in excess of 110 mph, is forecast to approach the Hawaiian islands early this week, but is predicted to pass to the north, meteorologists said Sunday.

“The forecast track currently for Kiko is to pass north of Hawaii,” the National Weather Service said in a public advisory on social media. “It is still too soon to determine the exact location/magnitude of potential impacts from Kiko. Interests in the island should continue to monitor Kiko’s progress.”

As of Sunday morning, the Category 3 storm was about 715 miles east of Hilo and moving to the west-northwest at about 13 mph, generating what forecasters said could be life-threatening surf in the Hawaiian islands.

Kiko had intensified to a Category 4 hurricane early last week, but was later downgraded as it weakened off the coast. Forecasters said it could degrade into a Tropical Storm by Tuesday, but will still be capable of creating heavy rain, gusty winds and dangerous surf through the first half of the week.

There are currently no watches or warnings in place, the NHC said.

I’M a big fan of small and simple cars because I like value for money more than I do screens and gadgets.

This BYD Dolphin Surf is small and simple.

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Just press and go.

It’s value for money at £18,650.

And yet it’s got a rotating touchscreen and all those gadgets thrown in anyway.

Where’s the catch?

I can’t see one.

It knocks a Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03 out of the park because it’s a proper car for not much more and it’s comfortably less than the already brilliant-value Renault 5.

Finance from £269 a month with £269 deposit. Or £199 a month with about £3k deposit.

It’ll cost pennies to run.

I reckon many will be bought as second cars but end up being the one owners use the most.

Dolphin Surf has four seats, three with ISOFIX anchor points for the kiddlywinks, and a surprisingly practical boot that’ll swallow the Friday big shop.

Properly comfy seats by the way. Made of “vegan leather” whatever that means.

Big drink holders. Phone storage tray.

Apple CarPlay. Reversing camera.

Adaptive cruise control for your out-of-town runs.

All things that please and all included in the price.

You can even use your little BYD bud as a mobile power bank – running everything from party lights to a fridge.

Now I should spell out that Dolphin Surf comes in two battery sizes.

The entry-level Active gets you a 137-mile battery by the WLTP test and a big enough e-motor to keep you swimming in quick traffic.

Then there’s the £22k Boost nudging 200 miles from the 43kWh battery.

‘BRIM THE BATTERY’

Both use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry for higher levels of durability and safety.

So you can “brim” the battery every time without depleting it.

Both roll on Hankook tyres. Another positive.

Even the lime green paint job is free.

How safe is it? It’s engineered to attain a four-star safety rating.

The body uses 68 per cent high-strength steel and the car is brimming with anti-crash gear.

The car will be made in Hungary soon – and avoid tariffs.

I told you BYD would quickly chime with UK drivers and the Chinese are already outselling Honda, Citroen, Fiat and more.

There are a load of plug-in hybrids coming next, including a junior SUV and a pick-up truck called Shark.

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What Felix Mallard has grown to appreciate about living in L.A. is that there’s a pocket of town to match every vibe — even if that vibe is “Aussie,” which his proudly is, having moved from Melbourne seven years ago.

“There are a lot of places that remind me of home,” says the 27-year-old actor, who plays tough-shelled Marcus in Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia,” which returns for its third season next week. “The coastal cities and certainly some parts of Silver Lake and Echo Park feel very Melbourne. They feel very hipster. I mean, that word has changed so much — I don’t know if bohemian is the right word either. But there’s a sense of wanting to engage with good food, good coffee and good art. That kind of thing is very important to people from Melbourne.”

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

As he carves his own space in Los Angeles, Mallard has been captivating Gen Z audiences with his nuanced roles, ones that tend to resonate with young men amid all of the distinct pressures they face. Last year, he starred in the romantic drama “Turtles All the Way Down,” the film adaptation of John Green’s young adult novel that explores the complexities of obsessive-compulsive disorder. He’s now set to headline “Nest,” a movie about a young family whose home is invaded by deadly arachnids. (“It’s a quiet meditation on masculinity and being a father, wrapped up in a really fun spider horror movie,” he explains. “A real one-two punch.”)

For Mallard, a perfect Sunday in L.A. involves surfing (a must), playing music loudly (he knows his way around the guitar, bass, piano and drums) and trekking from West L.A. to the Eastside in the name of adventure. Here’s a play by play.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

5:30 a.m.: Chase the waves
I’d get up early and have a surf. The funny thing with surfing in L.A. is that you have to go where the waves are good. So it could be anywhere — Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Malibu or Ventura. You’ve got to check the Surfline app and kind of know the seasons as well, like how winter brings north swells and summer brings south swells. But it’s a guessing game. You kind of throw a dart and follow it, you know? There’s a nice crew of Aussies, Kiwis and Americans. We all try and surf together, which is really sweet.

8 a.m.: Post-surf burritos
Now I’ll probably be in a raggedy flannel top and some track pants and some Birkenstocks. Really just kind of half asleep. But it’s mandatory after a surf to get a breakfast burrito. There’s a really, really good place in Hermosa Beach called Brother’s Burritos. They don’t do the typical kind of massive breakfast burrito. Theirs come in two little bite-size burritos, which is perfect for breakfast, you know? And then there’s another place in West L.A. called Sachi.LA that’s just off the Culver loop. It’s a really cool, funky little coffee shop and cafe with a little record store next door — the perfect kind of vibe after having a surf and being in nature all morning. I really try to enjoy the peace that comes after that.

9:30 a.m.: Catch up on shows
I’m going home and catching up on the week’s shows. Right now, I’m really deep into “Hacks” — obsessed with it. I feel like I came to it quite late and I’ve had to make up for lost time. And I’m really, really loving “Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney,” and “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” I feel like if you’re going to check in with the news these days, it’s got to be in a format that’s digestible. I think John Oliver has a really great way of doing that, presenting the outrage and the absurdity in a fun context.

Noon: Try to find the joy of cooking
I’ve always found it such a challenge to see cooking as the expression of love that I know it is — I just haven’t had the inspiration. But Jamie Oliver’s books have really helped me because he explains recipes in a way that teach you the fundamentals. He’s got this cookbook, “One-Pan Wonders,” with an herb-y chicken tray bake that’s really simple. You can put the vegetables at the bottom of the tray — and a lot of rosemary and a lot of lemon — and put the chicken on the bars above the tray, so that when it cooks, the chicken fat drops into the vegetables and creates this really lovely flavor in the veggies. And then you finish it off with some lemon and olive oil. So that’s the one I think I can do. But if anyone has seen that recipe, they’ll know it’s the easiest one in the book, so I’m not trying to brag here.

1 p.m.: Get lost in the music
It’s always a struggle to get up off the couch, but once there’s been some food, I’m off to play some music. There was this beautiful, really fun, cheap, grungy rehearsal studio in Culver City called Exposition Studios. It would be, like, $25 or $30 an hour, and you could rent instruments and rent a room and just play as loud and as long as you want. It’s not there anymore, but there are a few other places like that around town. I’ve gone to Pirate Studios in West Adams a couple times, and just anywhere I can play some music, really, really loud.

I’ve got an EP of songs that I’m working my way through. It’s very grungy, very emotion-based. It’s probably quite angsty. There’s a lot of anger in there, and then I think maybe a lot of sadness. It’s touching on a lot of the uglier sides of our psyche that we all have.

4 p.m.: Car entertainment
Now we start preparing the journey east. Because it’s L.A., you can’t pretend that you’re not going to spend some part of your day in traffic. So a podcast is a must. I’ll be listening to Louis Theroux. I just love how he asks questions, how he kind of gives a space for his guests to either showcase who they are or maybe unknowingly reveal parts of themselves they may not even intend to. How he holds the space for that is quite impressive, and it’s a good distraction while you’re driving.

5 p.m.: Fuel up with burgers
We’re going to Burgerlords. They do a really simple menu. You can get a smashburger, I think a vegan burger, and something else, and they’ve got a really nice selection of craft beers. And it’s kind of like a redone version of a ‘50s diner inside.

7 p.m.: Let loose at a punk show
From there, we’ll go to Zebulon. I love it. I don’t see too many venues with an indoor-outdoor kind of space. They have a big garden, so you can go and take a break outside and then come back in and enjoy that change of pace. It’s one of my favorite spots in L.A. to go and watch music, for sure.

The last time I went, we saw the Spits. They’re, you know, really proper punks. And then another time, we saw a band called Spy, and they were supported by Fentanyl, Blood Stained Concrete and Yard, which is a Polish hardcore band. So any time we’re out there, it’s usually for a bit more of a hardcore kind of scene. And they’re the most fun gigs to go to. Everyone’s there to release some tension, some energy. The fans are always super, super, super die-hard fans.

Midnight: Straight to bed

I’ll make the trek home and tuck into bed. That’s usually about midnight. I’d like to say it’s earlier and that I’m, like, healthy, but I’m not.