Opinion: The WSL Needs a New Dream Tour
In 1998, former world champion Wayne Rabbit Bartholomew took over what was then known as the ASP and was handed a World Tour that was going into cardiac arrest.
The majority of surf contests were being held in urban surfing centers, often in sub-par waves. Six times world champ Kelly Slater had lost interest and left the building. Derek Hynd was fomenting revolt with the Rebel Tour and had a young upstart named Andy Irons on board, while the ASP had become the subject of derision by surfers worldwide.
Bartholomew performed CPR by introducing the “Dream Tour”, a formula that sounds deceptively simple and put the world’s best surfers in the world’s best waves.
By 2002, he’d miraculously managed to right the ship and the tour went on a decades-long tear, with a pioneering webcast that opened the door to any location on earth with an internet connection. What followed was historic Tahiti, pumping J-Bay, Keramas, Cloudbreak, Mundaka, G-Land, Mexico and more.
Since then, streaming technology has evolved at breakneck speed and the webcast has become a well-oiled machine with A-grade production values. The WSL is backed by a billionaire with very deep pockets and surfing has exploded around the globe. Yet somehow, 25 years later, we seem to find ourselves back in 1998.
The schedule is peppered with lackluster locations that haven’t kept pace with the quantum leaps in performance. Finals Day is more focused on a “bums-on-the-beach” mentality than pitting surfers against each other in the absolute best waves possible. Arguably the best surfer in the world appears to be frustrated and losing interest, along with much of pro surfing’s core fan base.
It’s easy to criticize from the sidelines. Putting on a WSL event is a $3 million dollar-plus juggernaut subject to the vagaries of tide, wind and sponsorship dollars. Then there are the endless logistics, insurance headaches and politics to navigate. But surely if it’s been done before, it can be done again?
With this in mind, let’s imagine a schedule for a genuine Dream Tour. Gone are Sunset, Bells, Rio, Margaret River and Lemoore. Trestles is up in the air. There are no sacred cows here – only the best surfers in the (actual) best waves. Feel free to chime in below.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY
Current event location: Pipeline, Oahu, Hawaii /Billabong Pro Pipeline
Proposed event location: P-Pass, Pohnpei, Micronesia
Palikir or P-Pass used to be the poster child for gaping right-hand tubes early in the 2000s but has fallen off the radar in recent years. The waves, however, continue to pump.
January is a prime month for the big double-up roll-ins that have drawn comparisons to a tropical Shipsterns, but Palikir can be surfed at almost any size and is ultra-consistent. When it’s smaller (and by smaller we mean three-to-six-feet), perfectly tapered walls wail down the reef for a couple hundred yards, and the trades blow pretty much straight offshore.
Logistics aren’t your friend here: P-Pass is located offshore of Pohnpei island and is one of the most remote locations on Earth. But then again, it’s not like Cloudbreak or Teahupoo are just around the corner from the WSL HQ.
If P-Pass is too much of a stretch, Honolua Bay is beckoning. January into Feb is the most consistent window for Hawaii’s premiere pointbreak and the wave is steeped in surf lore. The picture-perfect inside bowl is renowned for catapulting surfers out of the barrel and into the next section, making it ideal fodder for the world’s best surfers to go berserk.
FEBRUARY
Current event location: Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii/Hurley Pro Sunset Beach
Proposed event location: Safi, Morocco
Morocco is studded with right-hand pointbreaks, none more majestic than Safi, a few hours south of Casablanca. This combination of sand and rock has arguably created the best right-hand pointbreak in the world, with a strong local contingent that would make for some excellent wildcards.
January and February are traditionally the prime winter months, when the sand has been knocked into shape. The clifftop provides a spectacular amphitheater and the wave in full cry looks like a combination of J-Bay and Skeleton Bay in reverse, with bottomed-out tubes and big carving walls. Plus, surfing is booming in Morocco and even has the backing of the King.
On the downside, Safi only really gets going on huge swells, which would make even a 10-day waiting period a gamble. But the payoff would be huge.
MARCH
Current event location: Supertubos, Peniche, Portugal/MEO Pro Portugal
Proposed event location: Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
Like it or not, Brazil has become the de facto home of professional surfing, with more men’s world titles in the past decade (a staggering seven out of ten) than any other nation on Earth, along with ravenous public support. The country is probably deserving of more than one WSL event. That said, Saquarema (and more specifically Ipanema, the southern stretch of beach where the contest is usually held) has no business being on the schedule if the criteria is world-class waves.
Cacimba do Padre is also a beachbreak but unlike Saquarema, it has the potential to deliver truly exciting waves and has the perfect mix of ingredients: big wedges, ramps and tubes.
Located on Fernando de Noronha, a tiny island offshore mainland Brazil, this stretch of sand has a long history of hosting surf comps and the setting is spectacular: thick jungle dripping down to the shoreline and cliffs jutting into the sea make it look like something straight out of Jurassic Park.
Unlike most of Brazil that gets its swell from the southern hemisphere, Fernando works best from November to March, when North Atlantic swells regularly bombard the island. The trades blow straight offshore on the west and northwest facing coast and can hold surprising size. It’s the kind of place you dream about visiting and surfing someday, which is exactly what a world tour location should be.
APRIL
Current event location: Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia/Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach
Proposed event location: Cloudbreak, Fiji
The holy grail off offshore reef passes, Cloudbreak needs no validation as to why it should be on Tour. The South Pacific swell train kicks into gear as early as March and April is historically a stellar month for Fiji, with consistent swells and favorable lighter winds before the trades reach peak force.
Cloudbreak is one of those rare beasts that test a surfer’s ability on every level. The lineup is a wide-open playing field that requires an intimate understanding of the ocean, while the wave churns out powerful tubes and huge turn sections that require an equally committed approach.
It’s not surprising that Cloudbreak has produced one of pro surfing’s most memorable events, and the tour is noticeably poorer off without it.
Current event location: Main Break, Margaret River, Western Australia/Western Australia Margaret River Pro
Proposed event location: North Point, Margaret River, Western Australia
The WSL is halfway there already with North Point having served as a backup venue in 2017 where we got a glimpse of what could be, and there’s talk of attempts to get it back on the cards for 2024. But really, it should be the other way around with Margarets as the backup and North Point as the ultimate goal.
Besides the obvious drawcard of thundering barrels over multiple sections, no other wave in the world offers a better tube-to-air setup than North Point. The thick, wedgy ramp has hucked the world’s most progressive surfers into some of the biggest air combos ever documented over the past decade, making it the perfect canvas for the modern judging criteria.
MAY
Current event location: The Surf Ranch, Lemoore, California / Surf Ranch Pro
Proposed event location: Lakey Peak, Sumbawa, Indonesia
Located in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, Lakey’s mechanical A-frame is about as close to a wavepool as you’re going to get without pouring concrete. Both the left and right offer spitting tubes and shreddable sections on tap that have made it a favorite location over the past decade for hi-octane surf edits. Throwing the best surfers in the world together on the peak and having them push each other heat by heat would be a sight to behold.
Lakeys hoovers up any swell in the vicinity and May is a good month for lighter winds before the sideshore afternoon trade wind pattern kicks in with a vengeance. Even so, the trades blow directly into the right bowl, making it a top-tier air wave that would provide a spectacular show.
JUNE
Current event location: Punta Roca, El Salvador / Surf City El Salvador Pro
Proposed event location: Kanduis, Mentawais, Indonesia
If you had to draw up a blueprint for the perfect island setup, good chance you’d end up with something that looks like Karangmajet, a small island off Siberut that’s home to Kandui Left and Kandui Right (AKA NoKanduis and Rifles respectively), two of the best waves in Indonesia.
The left that bookends the northwestern tip of the island has become one of the most coveted tubes in Indonesia, ever since it was made famous during the OP Pro Boat Challenge back in 2000. Initially deemed too fast and treacherous to surf, NoKanduis typically fires in June and July when there is swell on tap and the wind consistently clocks offshore on the lefts.
In the same way that G-Land was the iconic Indo tube of the 90s, NoKanduis has become a focal point for the best surfers in the world visiting the archipelago nowadays. It’s typically a heart-in-the-throat affair and the end section, where the wave jacks up onto a shallower coral slab, is guaranteed to keep things interesting.
Rifles – or the plethora of other waves scattered around the Playgrounds area – make for pretty decent backup locations.
JULY
Current event location: Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa / Corona Open J-Bay
Proposed event location: Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa
J-Bay has been a saving grace for the WSL for the past few years, consistently delivering some of the best waves on tour. In fact, Supertubes makes a compelling case why only waves of this caliber should be considered for the schedule.
Each year that Supertubes fires, there is a discernible leap in performance that drives surfing forwards.
It’s simple, really: a peak wave produces peak performances that set the bar and live on in surfing lore.
AUGUST
Current event location: Teahupoo, Tahiti / SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro
Proposed event location: Teahupoo, Tahiti
Another top-tier location, Teahupoo in full-cry is a no-brainer. This is the pinnacle of modern surf performance for different reasons than J-Bay. When Teahupoo pushes beyond six feet, it comes down to pure grit and a willingness to commit. The 2014 event, and specifically the John John Florence vs Kelly Slater’s semi-final matchup, lives on as one of the defining moments in pro-surfing history.
The WSL has been unlucky to come up short here the past couple of years but by packing the tour with stellar locations, you’d narrow down the odds and have a far more forgiving audience when the forecast doesn’t deliver.
SEPTEMBER
Current event location: Lower Trestles, California, USA/ Rip Curl Finals
Proposed event location: Lower Trestles, California (but not as a finals event)
Opinion remains divided on the final five and winner-takes-all format, but the question remains: is Trestles worthy of a spot on tour?
In short, yes: the event represents mainland USA and produces skatepark-like lefts and rights that are a great canvas to showcase high-performance surfing. As an event, Trestles is consistently entertaining and worthy of inclusion. But it’s an absolute travesty that this is the wave that decides the world champ.
As many pundits have pointed out, the final event – in whatever iteration it occurs – should be reserved for the holy grail of waves or, at the very least, a wave that barrels.
Having a wave of no consequence decide the world champ comes at a cost to the credibility of surfing as a sport, and the champ themselves.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
Current event location: None
Proposed event location: Supertubos, Portugal
Supertubos ticks the box of having a European location on Tour and is a better call than tide-sensitive Hossegor, or the ephemeral Mundaka.
The wave picks up plenty of swell, can handle size and breaks mere meters from the shoreline, which makes for exciting viewing. The tourism department here has deep pockets and loves surfing, all of which makes it a sensible call.
Historically, the best time to score A-grade Supertubos has been Fall, when light offshores and regular swells conspire to deliver some of the best beachbreak peaks in the world.
DECEMBER
Current event location: None
Proposed event location: Pipeline, Oahu, Hawaii
The North Shore remains the Valhalla of surfing and no amount of manufactured hype can replace the drama and excitement of a season finale at the gladiator pit of Pipeline and Backdoor. Ironically, the final five format is ideally suited to Pipe: the one day needed to run would almost ensure epic conditions; the Pipe/Backdoor split favors both goofyfooters and naturals; and the spectacle of them dueling it out in booming waves would be perfect fodder for the mainstream masses, which the WSL is so desperately trying to reach.
Regardless of where you stand, we should at least all be able to agree that the best surfer in the world needs to be able to commit when the horizon turns dark and a set starts feathering on Third Reef. Bringing the final back to Pipe ensures there are no questions left unanswered when a world champ is crowned.
