While surfers have been competing in wavepools for decades with varying degrees of public interest, overall technical capabilities have changed dramatically in recent years. New facilities continue to open across Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and the Americas, creating new surfing hubs and bringing the sport to places once considered far beyond surfing’s traditional reach. The result? A new wave pool dedicated tour was recently launched.
According to organizers, the Wavepool Surf Tour has been created to connect surf park communities through competition with a string of events that follow the same format.
“We’ve watched wavepools grow from isolated projects into a global network of venues and surfers,” said Mark Fessler, founder of the Wavepool Surf Tour. “Today, world-class facilities are operating across multiple continents, with more opening every year. We believe the time is right for a competition format built specifically for wavepool surfing and the people who are helping drive its growth.”
In a press statement organizers said the Wavepool Surf Tour has been designed to be inclusive from the outset, bringing together surfers across multiple ages, disciplines and abilities within a shared competitive format. The group said the season will unfold online and culminate at the Wavepool World Finals, where the leading surfers from every division come together for the first live event of the year and the crowning of the year’s global champions.
Additional details regarding divisions, event formats, participation opportunities, and future events will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information, check the tour’s FAQs below.
What is WPST?
WPST stands for Wave Pool Surf Tour. It is a global surf competition platform built specifically for wave pools. Surfers compete at participating wave pools, submit their best waves online, and are ranked on WPST leaderboards.
What makes WPST different from a normal surf contest?
Traditional surf contests usually require surfers to travel to one beach or one venue on one specific day. WPST allows surfers to compete over a longer event window from an official wave pool location. The format is designed for scale, fairness, repeat attempts, digital judging, and global ranking.
Is WPST a live event tour or an online tour?
Both. The foundation is online-first competition, where surfers submit verified wave pool footage during an event window. The top performers can then progress toward live finals at selected wave pool venues.
Why wave pools?
Wave pools create repeatable conditions, clear performance comparison, strong video capture, and a more accessible pathway for surfers who cannot travel constantly for ocean contests.
Is WPST only for elite surfers?
No. WPST is designed to be competitive, but accessible. The main requirement is that the surfer can ride the official wave setting safely and with enough control to submit a left and a right.
Is WPST tied to one wave pool technology?
No. WPST is technology-neutral. The goal is to work across different wave pool systems and video providers, as long as the event requirements can be met.
What is the long-term vision?
To create the global competition layer for wave pool surfing: a fair, scalable pathway where surfers can compete locally, rank globally, and qualify for major finals.
