Gold Coast’s Snapper Rocks returns to World Surf League Championship Tour in 2025
Snapper’s back! The world’s best surfers are returning to the Gold Coast for the Championship Tour in a lucrative four-year deal. Subscribe and read the details.
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UPDATE: The return of the cream of the world pro surfing crop to the Gold Coast’s famed Snapper Rocks break will last at least four years, estimated to bring 14,000 spectators and inject $3 million in the economy annually.
In a swell boost to the southern Gold Coast, the World Surfing League (WSL) has confirmed the Snapper Rocks Superbank willbe a tour stop again from next year annually to 2028.
The confirmation came on Friday morning, after the Bulletin revealed building excitement amongst the surf fraternity aboutit’s well-rumoured return.
The World Surfing League (WSL) chose to announce the addition of the Snapper Rocks Superbank to its 2025 tour - locked inannually through to 2028 - on the eve of the Gold Coast Pro, set to be held at Snapper Rocks from Saturday.
The WSL main tour event return is in partnership with new Gold Coast mega-entity Experience Gold Coast, and Tourism andEvents Queensland that will see the event locked in from 2025 to 2028 on the Championship Tour (CT) schedule.
Snapper Rocks was last used as a Championship Tour event back in 2019 before it was wiped out by Covid in 2020. Snapper andthe Gold Coast were left off the calendar in 2021 due to an alleged stoush over Covid quarantine requirements between thegoverning body and Queensland Government.
Gold Coast-based eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore who has won the CT at Snapper Rocks six times said she can’twait to paddle out on her local break when the tour returns next year.
“It’s obviously my home break and one of my favourite waves on the planet, but it’s incredibly high performance and offersa bit of everything, which is fun for both the surfers and the fans,” she said.
“There’s really nothing like having that perfect canvas in front of you with a huge crowd cheering from the beach just metresaway.
“It belongs on the Championship Tour, and I can’t wait to compete there again next year.”
Champions at the Snapper Rocks even in the past have included hometown hero and three-time world surfing champion Mick Fanningwith others including Carissa Moore and newly-retired legend Kelly Slater, with hopes the announcement could draw him outof retirement.
WSL APAC President Andrew Stark said the iconic Snapper Rocks break is one of the favourite stops for both fans and competitors.
“The WSL is absolutely thrilled to see Snapper Rocks once again become a stop on the elite Championship Tour,” Mr Stark said.
“It’s an event with a fantastic history, held in a location that has professional surfing in its DNA.”
Isabella Nichols fell short of the cut line in Margaret River for a second year running but is confident she is in the right headspace to get back on Tour by year’s end.
“These last few weeks have been like a yoyo for me,” said Nichols.
“There have been lots of ups and downs, but I’ve been here before, and I know I can do what needs to be done, so I take a lot of confidence from that. I’m also in my favorite place in the world. I love it here, so I’m just excited to get the Challenger Series happening at this amazing wave with a great forecast for the next few days.”
Mayor Tom Tate said: “We look forward to showcasing not only the Gold Coast’s renowned surf breaks but all that the southernGold Coast has to offer, and I encourage all Gold Coasters and visitors to come down and enjoy the action.
The CT stop at Snapper was taken off the calendar after 2021. It was a blow for Gold Coast and Queensland tourism at the timebut many businesses across the city are expected to thrive from the return with a whopping $2.9 million set to be injectedinto the economy.
Queensland’s Minister for Tourism and Sport Michael Healy said: “It’s terrific that after five long years, we’re able to welcomeback this iconic leg of the World Surf League Championship Tour to its spiritual home on the Gold Coast in 2025.
“Not only will this event bring a wave of excitement and lift community spirits on the Gold Coast, but it will also delivera boost for local accommodation, hospitality and event providers, supporting good Queensland tourism jobs.”
Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn called resecuring the rights for the CT stop at Snapper was a massive coup for the GoldCoast.
“The Championship Tour is the absolute highest level of professional surfing, so we can expect to witness the world’s biggestnames in surfing competing here each year while the global broadcast showcases one of the Gold Coast’s most spectacular destinations.For surfing fans and aspiring Tour contenders this is an incredible coup.”
Dates for the Snapper Rocks competition and the full 2025 WSL Championship Tour schedule will be released later this yearfollowing the WSL Finals.
Slater, the 11-time world surfing champion, has announced his retirement but continues to show up with wildcards and willcompete in Tahiti and Fiji later this year.
The WSL runs what’s considered the elite surf tour globally attracting the best of the best and has been crowning world championssince 1976.
The Snapper Rocks stop adds to CT events in Australia at Bells Beach and Margaret River.
EARLIER: Surfing’s top-tier world tour will return to Gold Coast’s famed Snapper Rocks in 2025 following a six-year hiatus.
It’s understood the World Surf League will announce the addition of the Superbank contest on Friday ahead of the start of the Gold Coast Pro, set to be held at Snapper Rocks from April 27.
It is believed next year’s Snapper Rocks Championship Tour competition will be held following the Bells Beach event in Victoria.
Former world tour competitor and Currumbin resident Bede Durbidge lives within 10km of the famous break and added to the chorus of top-line surfers who have called for the event’s return in recent years.
“I always thought it was one of the premier events on the tour and it is sad it isn’t on there,” Durbidge said.
“I would love to see it back as a fan now.”
Fellow Australian Sally Fitzgibbons, who will compete at the Pro from Saturday, said Snapper Rocks was in the top five breaks in the world and deserved to be lifted back into the top tour.
“It is such an iconic location and it is part of Aussie surfing folklore,” Fitzgibbons said.
“I have competed at that event for 15 years, surfing with the likes of Steph Gilmore and the greats who grew up here.
“It was such an amazing inception to the (world) tour.
“You showed up and the crowds would start to build on the beach and on the low tide they would nearly be out to where you were sitting and out on the rock.
“There is nothing like it. It needs to live on (through the tour). To watch the best surfers go at it I don’t think that will ever get old.”
Snapper Rocks was last used as a Championship Tour event in 2019. It was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid and left off the calendar in 2021 due to an alleged stoush over Covid quarantine requirements between the governing body and Queensland Government.
In 2022 the WSL cut it completely amid a format shake-up that included a new three-tier competition framework.
Formerly known as the Quiksilver Pro before it was rebranded to the Corona Open in 2020, the event that traditionally kicked off the Championship Tour had been relegated to a new Challenger Tour from 2022.
Bells Beach and Margaret River in Western Australia have since remained the only two Australian events in the top tier.
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