PUNTA ROCA, La Libertad, El Salvador (Monday, March 18, 2024) -The World Surf League (WSL) is excited for its return to Central America's shores of El Salvador for both the 2024 Championship Tour (CT) and WSL Longboard Tour. World-class waves of Punta Roca and El Sunzal will provide pivotal moments for the world's best competitors in their respective divisions. Stop No. 7 of the CT returns to Surf City El Salvador's beautiful cobblestone break, Punta Roca, following the Mid-Season Cut as competitors will be vying for valuable points toward World Title contention. The WSL Longboard Tour returns to El Sunzal's dream lineup, and this time, World Titles will be on the line in the one-day format to crown the 2024 Longboard World Champions.
"We are honored to stage two World Championship events at two of El Salvador's renowned surf locations in Punta Roca and El Sunzal," said Graham Stapelberg, Regional President of North and Central America. "It is fantastic to have the full support from the El Salvador Government, who understand the economic impact surfing can have on a country especially one such as El Salvador, which is blessed with a rich coastline of world class waves. The surfers and WSL Staff love coming to the region of La Libertad and we look forward to a long and rewarding partnership with El Salvador."
"El Salvador has been a stop on the WSL Championship Tour for three consecutive years, and the Punta Roca surf spot welcomes the top surfers in the world," said the Minister of Tourism, Morena Valdez. "For the first time, El Sunzal is also ready to host the Longboard Tour Grand Finale and receive world-class longboarders, reaffirming our commitment to surf tourism and our strong alliance with the WSL to be the home for the best international surfers who come not only to ride the waves, but also to play golf, fish, or hike on our volcanoes."
The dreamy righthander of Punta Roca is back to provide a high-performance spectacle. - WSL / Kurt Steinmetz
Pristine Right of Punta Roca To Host Stop No. 7 of the Championship Tour
The world's best return for Stop No. 7 of the CT from June 6 through 15, 2024 at the premier point break of Punta Roca. Located in El Salvador's Surf City of La Libertad, this high-performance wave offers a glimpse of what World Title contenders are capable of on its pristine, running righthander. Since arriving on the CT's calendar in 2022, this event has served as a taking off point in the World Title with three of four winners going on to become that year's World Champion (Stephanie Gilmore in 2022, and Filipe Toledo and Caroline Marks in 2023).
Longboard World Championship To Be Crowned at Dream Right of El Sunzal
Later in the year, the WSL Longboard Tour returns to the dream location of El Sunzal from October 9 through 13. This time, the world's best longboarders will be vying for the 2024 World Titles on the cobblestones of El Sunzal in the one-day format that crowned Soleil Errico (USA) and Kai Sallas (HAW) the 2023 WSL Longboard Champions. Competitors showcased their grace and poise under pressure under the hot El Salvador sun in 2023 with Kaniela Stewart (HAW) and Sophia Culhane (HAW) taking a Hawaiian sweep.
The one-day, winner-take-all event is similar to the WSL Championship Tour Finals format. The competitors will be seeded into brackets determined by their rankings, with priority given to the higher seed in the opening round. Match 1 and Match 2 will be three-person heats, with the winner advancing to the next Match. Matches 3 and 4 will be one-on-one, with the winner advancing. The Title Match is a best-of-three format. The winners of the Title Match will be crowned the 2023 World Champions.
Both the Surf City El Salvador Pro CT and Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships will witness a world-class level of surfing that Punta Roca and El Sunzal can provide with high stakes on the line.
Watch LIVE
The Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona, Stop No. 7 of the 2024 WSL Championship Tour, holds a competition window from June 6 - 15, 2024. Once called on, the competition will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com and the free WSL app. Check out more ways to watch from the WSL's broadcast partners.
The Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships holds a competition window from October 9 - 13, 2024. Once called on, the competition will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com and the free WSL app. Check out more ways to watch from the WSL's broadcast partners.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.