Recently, a Pokémon-shaped Cheeto sold for nearly $90,000 at auction. Why? We’re not sure but things like this (and crop circles) happen and there are loads of Quora pages explaining it. Cheetos, created in 1948 by Charles Elmer Doolin, led to the formation of Frito-Lay and later became a PepsiCo brand in 1965. So are Cheetos, like, a thing again? We’re not sure.

At this point, you’d be correct to tell us that our website is all about wave pools and surf parks, not brightly colored snack food, “so WTF WavePoolMag?” you might ask.

Wave Park local Euna Kim was amping for the coming surf season. Consequently she listed her costs for the upcoming surf season in a unique way, the Cheetos Index, offering a lighthearted way to measure the cost of surfing in South Korea—one bag of Cheetos at a time. The idea is simple: how many bags of Cheetos does it take to cover a surf session at Wave Park, Korea’s premier artificial wave facility?

Before diving into the numbers, let’s establish the Cheetos conversion rate:

• 1 bag of Cheetos (82g) = ₩1,600 (~$1.20 USD)

The Cost of a Two-Hour Surf Session at Wave Park

Wave Park, located in Siheung, South Korea, is the world’s largest surf-dedicated wave pool. It caters to many minmool surfers—a term that means “freshwater only surfers” in Korean. The facility features adjustable wave settings, a controlled environment, and a surf-centric atmosphere that makes it a prime location for beginners and seasoned surfers alike.

Here’s how a single two-hour session for Euna added up in Cheetos and USD:

• Surf session: ₩123,000 (77 bags of Cheetos) (~$92)
• Red Bull for a paddling boost: ₩4,000 (2.5 bags of Cheetos) (~$3)
• Coffee for an unpaid filming buddy (friendship tax): ₩4,000 (2.5 bags of Cheetos) (~$3)
• Towel rental (because I forgot mine again): ₩5,000 (3.1 bags of Cheetos) (~$3.75)
• Fin screw (because I always lose them): ₩1,000 (0.6 bags of Cheetos) (~$0.75)
• Surfboard storage membership: ₩2,000 per session (₩700,000/year) (1.2 bags of Cheetos) (~$1.50)
• Surfboard ding repair (from hitting the cement wall): ₩80,000 (50 bags of Cheetos) (~$60)
• Shortboard rental (let’s be a pro): ₩40,000 (25 bags of Cheetos) (~$30)

Total: 162 bags of Cheetos (~$193).

The Cheetos Cost of Ocean Surfing

For those opting to surf in the ocean, the costs are noticeably lower. Surf shops often provide cold showers, a towel, and a coffee, making for a much more budget-friendly alternative.

• Ocean session + surf shop shower package: ₩5,600 (3.5 bags of Cheetos) (~$4.25)

While time driving, gas, tolls and surf condition anxiety are harder to quantify with a bag of Cheetos, we can all agree that the joy of surfing is, as they say, priceless.

Going Big: How the East’s largest human-made surf spot came to be in this exact, undoubtedly surreal location