General Information

After two years of the original Rip Curl Cup at Port Alfred, the 2026 version of the Royal St Andrews Hotel Rip Curl Cup has been confirmed as a QS 4,000 event for the men and a QS 2,000 event for the women, significantly increasing the contest’s importance on the South African professional surfing calendar. Positioned as the final event of the Qualifying Series season, the Rip Curl Cup will play a key role in shaping end-of-season rankings and Challenger Series qualification outcomes.

Staged as an anchor event of the Port Alfred Easter Festival along with the Rip Curl GromSearch presented by The Royal St Andrews Hotel and supported by Sea Harvest,, the contest represents the last opportunity for many surfers to secure critical points before the close of the regional QS. With qualification scenarios coming down to final heats, performances in Port Alfred are expected to carry decisive weight.

A Pivotal Event on the Qualifying Series Calendar

As the final stop on the Qualifying Series, the Rip Curl Cup holds particular significance for surfers positioned around qualification cut-off points. The men’s QS 4,000 rating offers a substantial points allocation, while the women’s QS 2,000 rating remains a meaningful opportunity within the regional structure.

This year the Flag Ship surf event at the Port Alfred Easter Festival is the Royal St Andrews Hotel Rip Curl Cup. This is a World Surf League (WSL) rated event, with the mens event being a men’s 4,000 World Qualifying Series (WQS) contest and women’s WQS 2,000 tournament.

The waves at East Beach in Pot Alfred are well suited to an event of this status, with long, high-performance sand-bottom rights reeling down the bank for surfers to show their skills to the WSL judges to earn points to possibly qualify for the Challenger Series.

The contest will have live streaming on the World Surf League website. 

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