The world's top surfers are stuck waiting on the ocean at San Clemente's Lower Trestles, where three straight days of high tides and lackluster swell have stalled the 2026 Lexus Trestles Pro. Competition was called off Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, with organizers eyeing a possible restart Wednesday morning as a new south swell rolls in.
The next call on whether to resume is set for around 7 a.m. PDT Wednesday, with a possible 7:32 a.m. PDT start, according to Fox 5 San Diego and KUSI News. Forecaster Renato Hickel said the incoming swell was expected to fill in Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, arriving with 18-second intervals and favorable conditions, the station reports. Remaining heats include women's Round 1 and men's Round 2, and the swell is expected to peak Thursday. Organizers say the event could stretch into a finals day Friday, or even push to Saturday if the swell lingers, per the same report.
Every Heat Now Carries Playoff Weight
The delays add pressure to what was already a high-stakes stop. The Lexus Trestles Pro is Stop No. 9 on the 2026 World Surf League Championship Tour, and per the station's report, postseason spots are on the line in every remaining heat because this is the last event of the regular season. That structural shift is itself new this year — the WSL scrapped its single-day Finals playoff format that had decided world titles at Lower Trestles from 2021 through 2024, returning instead to a cumulative season-points system that wraps up at Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii, according to Wikipedia. The 2026 tour also marks the 50th year of professional surfing championship circuits, per the same source.
Once waves return, the draw is loaded with marquee matchups. Defending women's event champion Bettylou Sakura Johnson, who won the 2025 title with a 17.00 final heat score over Molly Picklum, faces American wildcard Bella Kenworthy in Women's Round 1 Heat 6, according to the station's report. Other notable Round 1 pairings include Sally Fitzgibbons against Yolanda Hopkins, Tyler Wright against Francisca Veselko, and Caroline Marks against Kirra Pinkerton. In Men's Round 2, hometown favorite Griffin Colapinto takes on Rio Waida, while his brother Crosby Colapinto faces Kanoa Igarashi.
San Clemente's Hometown Advantage
San Clemente has built a reputation as a premier hub for U.S. professional surfing, and this year's draw reflects that, fielding hometown Championship Tour competitors including brothers Griffin and Crosby Colapinto, Cole Houshmand, and Sawyer Lindblad, according to the World Surf League. Local surfers often lean on deep familiarity with the break's unique takeoff zones, a factor that could matter once the swell fills in. Houshmand is set to face Morgan Cibilic in Men's Round 2.
Moroccan surfer Ramzi Boukhiam also returns to action in Men's Round 2 Heat 16 against Brazil's Miguel Pupo. Boukhiam received a 2026 season wildcard after missing the final three pre-cut events of 2025 due to an injury sustained at Bells Beach, and he claimed the spot after John John Florence opted to extend his tour sabbatical, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of Florence's decision to skip the season.
Free Entry and a Walk to the Waves
Fans hoping to catch the action in person won't need a ticket — the 2026 Lexus Trestles Pro is free to attend, and competition is also broadcast live on worldsurfleague.com and the free WSL app, per the station's report. Getting there takes some legwork: Lower Trestles sits inside San Onofre State Beach near the San Diego-Orange County border, and spectators and athletes typically park near Cristianitos Road before walking or e-biking roughly a mile along a paved trail to reach the shoreline, according to the San Diego Tourism Authority. The surrounding parklands remain protected state beach lands managed by California State Parks.
That access exists in part because of a decades-old fight to save the break. Before securing permanent state park protection, Lower Trestles and the San Mateo Creek watershed were preserved after a 15-year community campaign led by the Surfrider Foundation defeated a proposed six-lane toll road through San Onofre State Beach, according to Red Bull. Opponents had argued the toll road would alter natural watershed runoff and damage marine habitats.
A Wave Built for Highlight-Reel Surfing
Part of what makes the delays so frustrating for fans is what Lower Trestles offers when conditions cooperate. The break is widely nicknamed surfing's skatepark due to its cobblestone A-frame reef, which consistently produces peeling left and right wave faces ideal for progressive carves and aerial maneuvers, according to Surfer Today. The uniform wave shapes the cobblestone floor produces across varying tides have made it a favorite testing ground for the sport's best. Eleven-time world champion Kelly Slater holds the record for the most Championship Tour victories at the venue, having won there six times during his career, per the World Surf League.
The break's stature extends well beyond this week's contest. In April 2025, the International Olympic Committee and LA 2028 organizers officially designated Lower Trestles as the surfing venue for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, choosing it over rival Southern California breaks such as Huntington Beach, according to Surfer Today. The 2024 WSL Finals were held there before the Finals format relocated to Fiji in 2025, per Tracks Magazine.
For now, all eyes are on the ocean rather than the leaderboard. If the forecasted swell arrives as expected Wednesday morning, competitors will finally get the chance to turn playoff positioning into points on the water at one of surfing's most storied stages.
