2024 Mavericks Big Wave Awards: Here Are the Nominees

Alexander Haro
·2 min read

Well, the nominees for the 2024 Mavericks Big Wave Awards are in, and they’re vying for a cash prize of $25,000.

It’s an interesting event. Instead of donning a jersey and competing for judges in a certain contest window, Maverick’s surfers submit videos with their best waves through the entire winter season, which runs from October 1-April 15 each year.

Then, a panel of big-wave surfers, photographers, and judges review the clips. They cast votes for Biggest Wave, Ride of the Year, and Performer of the Year. In order to be considered, a surfer must make the wave, not just drop in. Both the awards for Biggest Wave and Ride of the Year must be paddle waves, and tow waves are only considered for the Performer of the Year in case of a tiebreaker.

“The prize money for each award is split between the surfer (60 percent) and the videographers that submit content (40 percent, split between videographers based on the amount of content captured and used for the competition),” the Mavericks Awards team writes. “The winners are announced and celebrated at the annual Mavericks Surf Awards, held every May in Half Moon Bay. The party is open to all fans and community members that want to join us in celebrating Mavericks, the surfers and videographers.”

It certainly was quite the season for Maverick’s surfers. Pete Mel, it could be argued, had the best time of anyone, but the sheer number of swells that ran into Half Moon Bay was pretty staggering.

Maverick’s is one of the world’s most-feared waves for good reason. It’s not only huge, but it can be basically perfect. The peak, which lies about a half-mile off Pillar Point, is marked by giant boulders on the inside. Huge open-ocean swells run into a shallow shelf made from boulders and reef before standing up and creating that wave that is chased by big wave surfers around the world.

The nominees mostly consist of a few dedicated Maverick’s surfers, including Jojo Roper, Colin Dwyer, Wilem Banks, Zoe Chait, Sage Burke, Ryan Augenstein, Alo Slebir, Bianca Valenti, Jack Akrop, Rolando Ozuna, and Hunter Murison.

Editor’s Note: The Inertia uses Maverick’s with an apostrophe, as the wave’s name comes from a dog that once roamed the area. The Mavericks Surf Awards uses the plural form for its branding.

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