It’s official – surf’s up in Orange County as the host of the 2028 Olympic surfing events.
“Following a thorough analysis of all available options, LA28 has narrowed its search down to two locations for the 2028 Olympic surfing venue, Lower Trestles and Huntington Beach,” a LA28 spokesperson told the Business Journal.
International Surfing Association (ISA) Executive Director Robert Fasulo confirmed the options as well.
The decision pits two of surfing’s most iconic spots in a duel.
Huntington Beach, which has trademarked the moniker “Surf City USA,” has a 10-mile-long beach break that features consistent waves and has hosted international events that often attract hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Lower Trestles, located near the southern border of San Clemente, is considered one of the best waves in California.
A final decision is expected to be made later this year.
“We’re ready and able to host,” San Clemente Mayor Steve Knoblock told the Business Journal.
The LA28 Olympic Games is scheduled to run from July 14 to July 30 and the Paralympic Games will follow in August with 15,000 athletes expected to compete.
“It’s only three years away,” Kelly Miller, chief executive of Visit Huntington Beach, told the Business Journal. “Regardless of the choice, I think it’s really good news that surfing will ÂÂÂbe in Orange County.”
The HB Edge
A key to which surf spot hosts the Olympics will be the ability to watch it up close, said Miller, who noted that the first two Olympics to host surfing didn’t attract many fans.
The first surfing Olympics during the Tokyo games was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the second contest at the Paris Games in 2024 was held at a remote surf spot in Tahiti that wasn’t available for many fans on land, he said.
Huntington Beach has proven it can attract more than 100,000 to its surfing contests including the wildly popular US Open of Surfing. Trestles can also deliver thousands to its shores.
“So, for the first time that surfing has been in the Olympics, there will be thousands of people who will be able to watch,” Miller said.
Surf experts and city officials note that another key factor is the local infrastructure.
Having gone to the Tokyo and Paris Olympic games, Miller said “the closer you are to where the action is, the better.”
He pointed to the accessibility of the beach in Huntington with several parking garages and lots, the four-star hotels lining the sand and multiple viewing options downtown.
With three and a half miles of flat beach and “from a programming point of view, what we can do there is really important,” Miller said.
San Clemente being the closest town to Lower Trestles means visitors regularly stay in the city to surf at the iconic beach spot, according to the city’s Administrative Services Director Brian Brower.
About 250,000 to 300,000 visitors trek to Trestles each year, nonprofit Open Architecture Network estimated in 2010.
“We’re a destination in the surf world because of that,” Brower told the Business Journal.
Huntington Beach’s Miller notes the best venue has “consistent and contestable” waves.
Brower agreed: “It’s a significant factor in the decision making.”
Miller noted that the city would consider holding the games on the north side of the pier where “there’s a swell that comes in in the summer, and the waves can be a little better.”
“It’s about profitability too,” he added. “With a larger venue and a larger beach footprint, I think there’s a possibility that there can be more tickets sold and certainly more activations for sponsors and other entities.
“We think it’s an ideal recipe for happy guests, happy fans, happy sponsors and happy athletes,” Miller said.
Welcoming the World
Orange County is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of the surfing apparel industry, which has also led to the evolution of action sports. Several surf and skate brands such as Quiksilver, Hurley and Vans got their start in the county.
Huntington Beach officially earned the moniker Surf City USA in 1991. The song’s author, Dean Torrance, said it was written with Huntington Beach in mind. He has donated the rights to the song to the Visit Huntington Beach organization.
The city, which hosts 50 surf contests a year, is already used to hosting large-scale events across multiple days on the beach, according to Miller.
Surf City is home to the US Open of Surfing, operated by the World Surf League (WSL), which has returned to the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier since the 1990s. Over 750,000 people attend the nine-day event to watch surfing, BMX, and skateboarding, according to Visit Huntington Beach.
Huntington Beach is also the hometown of the Pacific Airshow, owned and operated by Code Four, which brings millions of spectators out to the beach and its surrounding businesses.
The three-day show generates about $74 million in economic impact to the city while the US Open brings a range of $40 million to $45 million, according to Visit Huntington Beach.
It was during last year’s airshow that the LA28 team visited the event’s operational hub to see how things were run.
“We are very fortunate to have a city operational staff that are so versed in the logistics of large events like this,” Miller, who previously worked for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau as its 1996 Summer Olympic Games marketing manager, said.
“I think it’d be a revenue generator if that’s done right. It costs a lot of money to welcome the world.”
The Trestles Ride
Trestles is named for nearby support beams for trains that run along Orange County’s coastline.
San Clemente is also a regular spot on the WSL World Championship Tour each year and has hosted the finals since 2021. The final group of competitors surfed for a single day at Lower Trestles and drew almost 6,000 attendees last September, according to the city.
With even more athletes participating and larger crowds expected, “we would certainly welcome it,” Brower said.
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Mayor Knoblock said.
The Times Square of Surfing
Huntington Beach’s downtown, where Main Street meets the Pacific Coast Highway, is often known as “The Times Square of Surfing,” because of the predominance of surf shops on the street, according to surfing legend Pete Townend, also known as “PT.”
Townend, a native of Australia, has long been involved in the surfing industry, including as the first world surfing champion in 1976. In 2018, the World Surf League (WSL) recognized Townend as one of the seven founders of the WSL’s World Champion Tour.
He can often be heard announcing in his native Aussie accent at surf contests and has also been a TV commentator for Fox Sports and ESPN.
He’s been involved in the surfing apparel industry for decades, including serving as president of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association in 1998 and 1999. He was a stunt double during the famous surfing movie, “Big Wednesday.”
Townend was inducted into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame in 1998, the Gold Coast Sporting Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame in 2001.
In the current HB versus Lower Trestles race to host the surfing Olympics in 2028, he’s leaning toward Surf City, where he’s resided since 1979 and is the director of that town’s International Surfing Museum, located of course near the famous beach.
“I’m honored to hear that Huntington Beach may be included as potential surfing venue for the LA28 Games along with Lower Trestles, both located in Southern California,” he said. “It’s a recognition of the deep, unbreakable bond between our city and the sport of surfing.”
It took 100 years for surfing to get into the Olympics, according to Townend.
He said the dream started with Hawaiian Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku, known as “the father of modern surfing.”
Kahanamoku first arrived in California following his Olympic gold medal win in swimming at the 1912 game.
He surfed along the coast from Santa Monica to Huntington Beach, where a statue of the renown surfer now stands at the corner of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway. The statue is in front of Duke’s restaurant, named after the famous international surfer.
“We want people to come to Surf City” whether it’s the host or not at the Olympics, Townend said. “It’s good for the OC.”
The Importance of Surfing Olympics
“Huntington Beach and Lower Trestles are world-class waves that have shaped generations of surfers. Bringing the Olympics to these breaks would not only showcase the best of our sport but also reinforce Southern California as the global epicenter of surfing and action sports. It would be a huge win for the local economy, surf industry, and the next generation of athletes.”
— Vipe Desai, executive director, Surf Industry Members Association (SIMA)
“Orange County has long been a cornerstone of culture and having the Olympic surfing competition take place there is a testament to its global influence. As a brand shaped by the lifestyle and energy of the Southern California community, Pacsun has always celebrated its creativity and individuality. Seeing the world’s top athletes compete on these waves reinforces why OC remains such an iconic destination.”
— Richard Cox, chief merchandising officer, Pacsun
“If Orange County pulls off hosting the Olympic surfing event, it’d be a game-changer—our waves, our spirit, showcased to the world. Competing at a wave where I’ve surfed since I was a kid and going for that gold medal for the United States? That’d be an absolute dream come true.”
— Griffin Colapinto, San Clemente-based World Championship Tour surfer
