The Rip Curl GromSearch, presented by The Royal St Andrews Hotel and supported by Sea Harvest, will return to Port Alfred over the Easter weekend from April 3 to 6, reaffirming its position as one of the anchor events of the Port Alfred Easter Festival.
Now in its fourth year, the Rip Curl GromSearch remains the original event that shaped the broader festival.
Its growth has closely tracked the expansion of the fest, establishing Port Alfred as a key destination on the junior surfing calendar.
The contest is a Surfing SA event and will feature boys’ and girls’ divisions in U12, U14, U16, and U18 age groups.
The U16 division is the premier division of the Rip Curl GromSearch series and continues to attract the strongest field of emerging talent from across the country.
The top surfer in both the U16 boys and the U16 girls will be eligible to surf in the Rip Curl GromSearch International Final, to be held later this year.
Competition will take place at East Beach, positioned at the mouth of the Kowie River.
The venue is known for its hollow, right-hand sand-bottom waves that break off the pier, offering a performance-focused setup that rewards commitment, timing, and technical precision.
The official opening function for both the Rip Curl GromSearch and the Rip Curl Cup will be held at the Royal St Andrews Hotel on Thursday, April 2.
Since 1999, the series has introduced more than 40,000 surfers aged 16 and under to structured, high-level competition.
Past winners include WSL world champions Caitlin Simmers, Caroline Marks, and Gabriel Medina, along with Championship Tour standouts Erin Brooks, Brisa Hennessy, Samuel Pupo, Leonardo Fioravanti, and one of the sport’s most distinctive free surfers, Mason Ho.
The long-term impact of the series continues to shape elite surfing.
More than 60% of the 2025 WSL Championship Tour athletes were former competitors.
Five of the six medallists at the last two Olympic Games have competed in the series, and the last 18 WSL Women’s World titles have been claimed by surfers who progressed through GromSearch finals. – Rip Curl SA
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