Virtual meetings for 2026 South Shore Surf Events
To gather input on how to make the application process easier for the second year of specific permitting for South Shore Surf Events off City beaches, the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is hosting two virtual meetings open to the public and event organizers.
The meetings are scheduled for Monday, April 14, 2025 beginning at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. (HST), and can be accessed by using the following Zoom link: bit.ly/SouthSurfMeeting
The goal of these meetings is to gather feedback on proposed changes to make the application process clearer, more accessible, and easier to complete for all surf event organizers for Shore Water Events along O‘ahu’s South Shore. Particularly as the deadline for permitting South Shore Surf events for the 2026 season (May 1 to September 30, 2026) approaches.
We appreciate the patience and understanding of event organizers interested in facilitating surf events from the shores of City beaches. This is the second year of specific permitting guidelines for South Shore Surf Events following the adoption of revised Shore Water Event Rules in late 2023. Those revised rules establish specific requirements for surf events on O‘ahu’s South Shore, while also providing a transparent process on how applications will be ranked through clearly described criteria. That criteria includes plans to mitigate the impact of surf events on the community, and how event organizers will encourage diversity amongst their participants.
The final adoption of these rules followed several outreach and coordination efforts to balance the general public’s free access to ocean recreation, create equitable use of public resources for permitted events, broaden the types of events permitted and the user group they serve, and improve DPR’s ability to manage these events and resources in conjunction with other government agencies. Those efforts included a public survey, event organizer meetings, input from the City’s Shore Water Advisory Group and Honolulu City Council, and a public hearing on October 20, 2023.
North Shore Surf Event Calendar
The Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) has posted the triennial calendar for North Shore Events scheduled from January 2025 through May 2027.
The posting of this calendar represents the third triennial calendar organizing surf events along the popular North Shore coastline of O‘ahu. This triennial calendar system first began in fall 2018, followed by the second posting in summer 2021, for surfing events held at Sunset Beach Park, Ehukai Beach Park (Pipeline), Waimea Bay Beach Park, and Hale‘iwa Ali‘i Beach Park.
“This most recent triennial calendar process has been illuminating regarding the variety of events being held, and whether they were providing opportunities for a more diverse demographic of participants, such as women and amateur surfers,” said DPR Director Laura H. Thielen. “In fact, this is the first time all of the applications were fully ranked and scheduled according to their ranking. In years past the ranking of event applications was only taken into account when a conflict arose amongst the event organizers, particularly scheduling. We have worked tirelessly with new and legacy event organizers to create a fair and transparent ranking process, following rules aimed at maintaining a balance between these world-class surf events and the public’s right to ocean resources and recreational opportunities.”
South Shore Surf Event Calendar
With the adoption of Shore Water Event Rules in 2024, specific requirements for surf events on O‘ahu’s South Shore including and event calendar:
Along with establishing the South Shore Surf Event calendar from May 1 – September 30, the new rules also provide a transparent process on how applications will be ranked through clearly described criteria. That criteria includes plans to mitigate the impact of surf events on the community, and how event organizers will encourage diversity amongst their participants.
The rules are available online by accessing the following link: bit.ly/shorewaterrules
The final adoption of Shore Water Event Rules followed several outreach and coordination efforts to balance the general public’s free access to ocean recreation, create equitable use of public resources for permitted events, broaden the types of events permitted and the user groups they serve, and improve DPR’s ability to manage these events and resources in conjunction with other government agencies. Those efforts included a public survey, event organizer meetings, input from the City’s Shore Water Advisory Group, Honolulu City Council coordination, and a public hearing on October 20, 2023. We appreciate the participation of all of the various stakeholders throughout this rule-revising and permitting process.