While watching the highlight reel from the World Surf League’s Abu Dhabi Longboard Classic held at the tail end of September, one might assume this was one of the best stops out of the four Championship Tour locations. At first glance, they are not wrong. The event in Abu Dhabi certainly had a few solid — great, even — waves and performances from its competitors. However, this contest came with serious issues for me as a spectator on the counts of its poor entertainment value, the lost potential of the wave pool as a venue, and the sportswashing issues associated with holding this event in the United Arab Emirates.
Firstly, it is worth mentioning that Hudayriat Island in Abu Dhabi became one of the four stops of the Longboard Championship Tour late in the game as opposed to being slated as the third stop all along. When the WSL put out the Championship Tour schedule earlier this year, the plan consisted of three international locations and one final location.
The original plan was for the tour to start out at Bells Beach in July, go on to Huntington Beach in August, and then Stop Number 3, the third and final stop of the tour before the final event, was “to be announced” for September, followed by the one-day, winner-take-all finals event in El Salvador in October (won this weekend by Rachael Tilly and Taylor Jensen).
This mystery third stop became Surf Abu Dhabi, the wave pool on Hudayriat Island. If this seems random, it is actually far from it. Surf Abu Dhabi was created by Abu Dhabi developer Modon in partnership with Kelly Slater Wave Company (KSWC). Like Kelly’s other wave pools, this wave system earns WSL Certified designation, allowing the waves to be used in WSL competitions.
Before discussing the wave pool further, there’s something worth noting about the Longboard Championship Tour: the odd choice of locations. There are only four stops on the tour. There are far more stops for the Longboard “Regional Events.” The real conundrum is that these regional events often happen at great longboarding waves. For example, regional event locations this year include Ala Moana Bowls in Hawaii and New Pier in Durban, South Africa.
In other words, there are plenty of good waves utilized by the WSL, especially for longboarding, which can already get away with less powerful waves as opposed to shortboard-specific stops for these types of events. Now, I’m not saying that Bells or El Salvador are bad locations, but why not hold one of the Championship Tour stops at Ala Moana Bowls or in Durban instead of at Huntington Beach?
If I were to theorize why the third stop became a wave pool in Abu Dhabi, it would seem as though the WSL was looking for an interest factor to bring viewership to the Longboard Tour. Yes, the official reasoning given by Jeff Fleher, Kelly Slater Wave Company President, in a WSL press release for this choice of location was “to help grow an entirely new Surf Community in Abu Dhabi” and to create “a platform to showcase the world’s best surfers to both new and existing fans”, but, let’s face it: the real reason is likely to gain views.
Competitive longboarding, especially from the WSL in the form of a Longboard Tour, is hard to stomach for most people. Surfers who enjoy longboarding themselves don’t want to watch other people longboard unless those people are really pushing the limits of what’s possible. Think: Bonga Perkins at Makaha. That leaves the potential audience to the WSL shortboard fan base, which likely isn’t interested in watching longboarding to begin with, let alone in a contest format where the waves are often small, blown out, and overworked by surfers attempting noserides in places they aren’t necessary instead of turning unrideable slop into something beautiful.
What is the WSL to do? Bring in another element of intrigue: a strange venue in a strange location. Wave pools were initially utilized by the WSL to turn surf contests mainstream and appeal to a wider net of viewers. This didn’t work. But up the ante by holding a contest at a wave pool in the middle of a desert in the Middle East, and boom, you’ve ginned up some serious interest.
Judging by the numbers, it seems like this strategy paid off. Day one of the Surf Abu DHabi event received a whopping 41,000 views on the YouTube Live Stream. Finals day had almost half a million views. For comparison, the WSL Finals Day for the shortboard Championship Tour at Trestles had only 261,000 views, about half of the views the longboard event in Abu Dhabi received. Views are one way to measure success. For the WSL, this is probably the most important way: views pay, and money talks. Is this why Surf Abu Dhabi has already been named as a stop on the 2025 Longboard Tour and the regular CT? It certainly seems possible.
But what about the WSL’s values? Supposedly, the WSL “prioritizes the protection of the ocean, equality, and the sport’s rich heritage.” Forget the environmental offenses committed by building and using wave pools. (Worse, even, than the jet fuel burned to go around the world to compete on the tour. According to the lead engineer at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch, “on a hot day… a quarter of a million gallons of water can evaporate from the lagoon.” WSL Pure, who?)
The largest issue brought on by utilizing Surf Abu Dhabi as one of the stops on the Longboard Tour is the jab to the WSL’s stated value of equality. Three years ago, a Forbes article revealed that “it costs approximately $3 million to put on a large-scale surfing event like those in the WSL’s Championship Tour.”
In other words, the WSL is dumping money into the location of wherever a contest takes place, supporting this place financially. Equally bad is the signing off on a place by partnering with the company on location and drawing attention to it. The filming and attention brought to Surf Abu Dhabi from the marketing and filming of the event is almost worse than the financial issue.
The WSL headquarters are located in California, a progressive state. But no matter where you personally stand on the spectrum of U.S. politics, it seems unsavory to support some of the views the United Arab Emirates enforces. The UAE continues to push for the expansion of fossil fuels, minimizes freedom of expression, has played a part in military abuses in Yemen, and has extremely outdated laws for women which have been criticized by much of the world.
Human Rights Watch published a recap of the the United Arab Emirates actions during 2023, writing that the UAE “invest[ed] in a strategy to paint the country as progressive, tolerant, and rights-respecting while carrying out its zero-tolerance policy toward dissent.”
What may this dissent be about? Perhaps the UAE’s law that “a woman is not allowed to move residence with her children without their father’s permission.” Or perhaps it comes from disagreement with women students “requiring a male guardian’s permission for off-campus activities such as joining field trips or leaving campus accommodations.” Or maybe it stems from “the 2021 penal code criminaliz[ing] consensual non-marital sex between men and women prosecuted on the basis of a complaint by a husband or male guardian with a minimum sentence of six months’ imprisonment.” Or perhaps it comes with anger related to the general, strict criminalization of the LGBTQ+ community.
Unfortunately, the WSL is more or less signing off on all of the above by holding an event in Abu Dhabi. To a lesser extent, we are all supporting this by voting with our attention and our views, indirectly paying for the WSL’s sponsors.
There is some serious cognitive dissonance going on here. Either the WSL needs to revoke their claims of “prioritizing equality”, or they need to cut the venue from the 2025 Championship Tours. Will officials at the WSL league ever issue an explanation behind supporting Surf Abu Dhabi and, indirectly, the outdated and oppressive views held by the UAE? It seems unlikely. Then again, if enough people cause enough of a ruckus, you never know what is possible.
