Festive Surfs & Olympic Dreams: 2025's Top Surfing Moments
While many were cozying up by the fireplace, surfers traded reindeer for boards this Christmas Eve, turning Cocoa Beach into a winter wonderland of waves and red suits. The 17th annual Surfing Santas event drew a record-breaking crowd of over 12,000 visitors, with giddy surfers catching festive breaks under sunny Florida skies. As reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the event blended holiday cheer with saltwater stoke—think Santa hats, candy-striped boards, and maybe a cocoa-fueled drop-knee turn. But Cocoa Beach wasn't the only hotspot: this Christmas spirit spread globally, with surfers donning suits in Scotland's icy swells, Greece's paddleboard flotillas, and even a SpaceX vs. Blue Origin-themed 'surf-off' in Florida. As highlighted by AOL, what started as a 2009 family tradition now inspires worldwide wave-riding Santas proving that ho-ho-ho travels well by surfboard.
As the tinsel settles, let's ride into the past year's standout surfing moments. South Orange County delivered a season packed with philanthropy, championship swagger, and a seismic Olympic announcement. January kicked off with high surf warnings but also heart—local surfers rallied for Palisades fire relief, celebrated legends like Mike Hynson, and honored shaper Terry Senate at Doheny's paddle-out. February saw the WSL Championship Tour ignite at Pipe Pro, with San Clemente's power squad including Caroline Marks and Sawyer Lindblad charging hard. The year's peak? Paris 2024's inclusion of surfing as an Olympic event, reshaping the sport's future. As noted by DP Surf, it was a year where community, competition, and Olympic dreams collided in South Orange County's lineup.