2025 SurfAid Cup Santa Cruz

Competing in a surf contest is typically a pretty self-indulgent activity. Whether it’s for the sheer love of competition, or simply to gain notoriety or admiration for your skills, at the end of the day, it all boils down to comparing your own surfing with that of others. There are exceptions, such as team events such as the Scholastic Surf League or Boardriders Club events, where your contribution goes to towards a collective effort, but for the most part, competitive surfing isn’t set up to benefit anyone other than the individual.

At the 2025 SurfAid Cup Santa Cruz, held last weekend at Pleasure Point, however, proving how hard you rip isn’t the measure of success, although it doesn’t hurt. It’s more of a communal celebration, a chance to enjoy some uncrowded waves at the culmination of a fundraising effort that brings resources to those less fortunate.

“This is not a competition that’s only open to professionals,” said Elan Enriquez, Development Manager for SurfAid USA. “It’s open to anybody, regardless of your skill. You just have to have the courage to get out there and want to do it.”

SurfAid is a non-profit that was founded 25 years ago by a doctor who took a surf trip to the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia, where he was invited to visit a local village to treat their sick and malnourished population. During his visit, he noticed that a lot of the villagers were suffering from things that were completely preventable, such as chronic malaria and water-borne illnesses such as diarrhea and intestinal parasites. He saw that, with a little bit of early intervention, done very cheaply with things such as mosquito nets, access to clean water and adequate nutrition, he could help prevent a lot of these ailments from happening. 

If you ask any surfer, Indonesia is one of the dreamiest destinations on Earth to score perfect waves, so having a foundation such as SurfAid is a great way for surfers to give back to the economically challenged populations who call it home. SurfAid first came to international attention after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, when it provided medical aid to its victims, and has been doing great work ever since. In fact, in the past year alone it’s reached 47,860 people through their programs, established 104 new and revitalized health centers, trained 634 community health volunteers and midwives, established 1,211 clean water sources, and built 1354 nutrition gardens.

The SurfAid Cup Santa Cruz is technically a surf contest, but at it’s heart is just a celebration to mark the completion of a fundraising effort, which began this year in January, to help fund their programs throughout remote communities in Indonesia. Participants can fundraise a number of ways, typically starting with asking friends and family to donate, but there’s also opportunities for local businesses to get involved as well.

“If you’re a local business owner and you have a surf team, you can do an activation in your store, whether that’s a roundup at the register, or maybe have a special promotion on a specific product— there’s a host of ways you can fundraise for it,” explained Enriquez.

“Some people will offer things such as a bake sale, or offer to do some chores in order to create funds for donation. Really, the sky’s the limit—we encourage creativity.”

The team that raises the most money gets the first pick of the pros that SurfAid has available to go on their team. There are also individual prizes, such as a prize for the person who raises the most money, as well as a prize for the person who introduces the highest number of individual donors.

This year’s event saw local pros such as Austin Smith-Ford, Shawn Dollar, Ashley Held, and Tessa Timmons join the teams of fundraisers to take advantage of the playful three-four foot waves on offer at Pleasure Point. With the relay tag-team format, each contestant had the ability to catch two waves per heat, after which they paddled to shore to tag their next competitor into the lineup. After the event, everybody met up at Traveler Surf Club On 41st Avenue for an awards ceremony where the stoke was through the roof.

For her part, Enriquez was really pleased with how the contest played out. “We are absolutely stoked that we had such fun waves on offer today! Even though it was raining this morning and the sunshine was scarce, I didn’t meet anybody down there today with a bad attitude. For events like this, the weather never really matters, the stoke is always here when our group is getting together for a good purpose.”

Local pro Austin Smith-Ford agrees. “This was my fifth or sixth year competing in the SurfAid Cup. I really love when this event comes around every year because they do a lot of good in helping villages in Indonesia get supplies, so it feels good to contribute to their cause. Plus, it’s just a really fun day of surfing and community.”

To support SurfAid, visit their website and consider giving a charitable donation. www.surfaid.org

And follow them on Instagram! @surfaid