10th Annual Ocean Beach Pier Surf & Skate Classic 2026

About this event

The Ocean Beach Pier Surf & Skate Classic is a two-day, community-run surfing and skateboarding competition held at the foot of the Ocean Beach Pier in San Diego, California, about 120 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Presented by the Hodad’s Foundation and AWOL Productions (with JockoFuel), the 2026 edition marked the event’s 10th anniversary (2016–2026) and ran Saturday May 2 and Sunday May 3, 2026, keeping its “old school, keep it local” spirit while drawing amateur and professional surfers and skaters of all ages. Saturday opened with surf preliminary heats at 7:30 a.m. in chilly, overcast, small-wave conditions (best-of-two-waves, roughly 15-minute heats), while vendors set up on the Veterans Plaza grass, Hodad’s cooked burgers, and crews built the skate ramps in the pier parking lot. Sunday delivered the surf finals in the morning, a live-music festival in the parking lot (Wapacheros, Nice & Swell, Most Hated and Nihilist), a beer garden, bounce houses, and the skateboarding contest, which began at 9 a.m. and ran through 12 & Under, 13–17, 18 & Up and Open/Pro divisions plus a Best Trick jam. The skate course — built by Jim Bell Skateboard Ramps and designed by former pro skater Kanten Russell — combined a small halfpipe, two medium ramps, a vertical ramp and street/transition obstacles; skaters rode heats of 10–20 with two 45-second runs, and the pro session spilled over into a block-party jam. Surf divisions spanned Family, Groms (U10/U12), Boys/Girls (U16), Junior Boys/Girls (U18), Retro Single Fin, and Men’s/Women’s Shortboard and Longboard (Open and Masters). Custom trophies shaped like the OB Pier and made partly from reclaimed pier wood were awarded. This record documents the completed 2026 event; there is no active registration or ticketing. Any net proceeds benefit the Hodad’s Foundation, which supports veterans and people struggling with alcohol and substance abuse and mental illness. Spectating and the festival were free and open to the public.

At a glance

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