Jax Beach Is Getting Ready for a Double Shot of Surf Competition

Professional surfers, classic longboards, local legends, live music, and two very different celebrations of Jacksonville Beach surf culture are about to collide on the First Coast.

Jacksonville Beach is preparing for two major surf contests on back-to-back weekends, bringing professional surfers, longboard specialists, local competitors, surf veterans, music, and plenty of beach-town energy to the shoreline.

For anyone who follows Jacksonville's surf scene, this is more than just two contests.

It's a reminder that Jax Beach has a surf culture worth paying attention to.

🏄‍♂️ First Up: Justin Quintal's Loggerhead Classic

September 25–27 — Jacksonville Beach

Justin Quintal's Loggerhead Classic Longboard Festival is bringing a distinctly old-school flavor to Jacksonville Beach.

Built around the culture of traditional longboarding, the event promises nearly a full week of activities surrounding the competition, with a $20,000 purse, live music, art, vintage boardswap activities and plenty more.

And if the event poster is any indication, this isn't simply a surf contest.

It's a celebration of the characters, equipment, music and lifestyle that surround traditional surfing.

The lineup includes names such as The Mystery Lights, The El Camino Beat, Timmy Belts & Chiller, Howdy, Seagate, Panther, Brett Staska, Lee Mahers, East Coast Jazz, The Mets, Surf Slumming, Haze Brothers and Kelp.

That's a pretty good recipe for a weekend at the beach.

A Longboarder's Dream

The Loggerhead Classic embraces something that sometimes gets lost in modern competitive surfing: style.

Longboarding isn't simply about getting from one end of a wave to the other.

It's about trimming.

Walking.

Positioning.

Patience.

Flow.

And knowing when not to do something.

That's part of what makes traditional longboarding so visually and culturally different from high-performance shortboarding.

And Jacksonville Beach provides an interesting backdrop for that kind of event.

🌊 Then Comes WaveMasters

October 3 — Jax Beach Pier

Just one week later, the focus shifts to another long-running piece of Jacksonville surf history:

The 43rd Annual WaveMasters Pro/AM Surf Contest, presented by FaverGray.

The event is scheduled for October 3 at the Jax Beach Pier, with divisions including professional and amateur competition.

The flyer also announces the 13th Annual King of the Hill Pro/AM, held in memory of Bruce Callahan, along with youth divisions and other competition.

And there's an opportunity for surfers who want to get involved:

Enter at Sunrise Surf Shop or Aqua East.

The entry flyer lists divisions for men, women and youth competitors, along with longboard competition.

The Weekend Starts Before the Contest

WaveMasters isn't waiting until Saturday morning to get the party started.

A pre-contest party is scheduled for Thursday night at Neptune Baptist Church, featuring:

• Free food

• A panel discussion

• Local surf stars

• A chance to connect with Jacksonville's surfing community

That last part might actually be one of the most important pieces.

Because contests like WaveMasters aren't just about who wins.

They're about who shows up.

The people who have been surfing these beaches for decades.

The younger surfers coming up behind them.

The shops.

The photographers.

The shapers.

The families.

The beach businesses.

The people who remember what these beaches looked like before they became what they are today.

That's surf culture.

Two Contests. Two Flavors of Jacksonville Surfing.

What's particularly interesting about having these events on consecutive weekends is the contrast.

Loggerhead Classic:Traditional longboarding. Classic boards. Style. Music. Art. Vintage surf culture.

WaveMasters:A long-running Jacksonville competition featuring professional and amateur divisions, youth surfers, longboards and a celebration of local surf history.

They're different events, but together they tell a bigger story.

Jacksonville Beach still has a surf identity.

And it's an identity that goes well beyond simply having waves.

This Is Jacksonville Surf Culture

For Sandbar Sofa Surfers, that's the really interesting part.

Jacksonville's surf history isn't confined to a trophy, a contest poster or a list of professional surfers.

It's found along the coastline.

From The Poles to Hanna Park.

From Mayport to the Jax Beach Pier.

From the old surf stories told by longtime locals to the kids paddling out for their first wave.

The contests are simply highly visible moments when all of those pieces come together.

And for a few weekends in September and October, the First Coast gets to put its surf culture on display.

So grab a board, grab a camera, grab a lawn chair—or just come down to the beach.

Because Jacksonville Beach is about to get busy.

Loggerhead Classic

📅 September 25–27📍 Jacksonville Beach💰 $20,000 purse🏄 Traditional longboarding🎶 Live music • Art • Vintage Boardswap • More

WaveMasters

📅 October 3📍 Jax Beach Pier🏄 Pro/AM Surf Contest + King of the Hill🏆 Youth & Longboard divisions📋 Entries at Sunrise Surf Shop or Aqua East

The First Coast is surfing.

And Sandbar Sofa Surfers will be watching.

Event details and dates are based on the promotional materials provided for this post; check the organizers' social pages for final schedules, registration information and any weather-related changes