Photo: International Surfing Association
The International Surfing Association and Surf City El Salvador announced dates for the 2027 World Surfing Games. It will be the first ISA event to qualify surfers by name for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, taking place at Surf City’s twin breaks of La Bocana and El Sunzal from May 22 through May 30, 2027.
“Surf City El Salvador has become one of the great destinations for international surfing, and this partnership is incredibly meaningful to the ISA. Since 2019, we have shared 11 amazing events together, and every edition has strengthened our bond with the Salvadoran people, their government, and this beautiful nation,” said ISA president Fernando Aguerre.
As mentioned, El Salvador has become a staple in the ISA’s competitive itineraries, hosting 11 ISA events since 2019 and two editions of the World Surfing Games, which served as Olympic qualifiers. The 2027 World Surfing Games will qualify eight surfers (four male and four female) for the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, with one male and one female competitor in that event qualifying directly for LA28. There will also be important Olympic team slots at stake at the World Surfing Games. The highest-ranked men’s and highest-ranked women’s teams at the World Surfing Games will be awarded an extra qualifying spot for their nation’s National Olympic Committee.
That extra spot up for grabs has been an overlooked factor in the tug of war between the ISA and WSL. As The Inertia’s Evan Quarnstrom pointed out, the push by WSL athletes to make more Olympic qualification slots available to CT surfers came at the cost of a reduction in the country quota.
“The new system increased the number of spots reserved for the Championship Tour from five surfers per gender to eight, but it also reduced the per-country quota from three to two. Now, similar to 2024, the only way to get an “extra” third slot is if your team ranks highest at the 2026 or 2027 World Surfing Games,” he wrote. “The ISA did not change the rule limiting each country to one surfer per gender qualifying through the CT. For the countries with many surfers on the tour — USA, Australia, and Brazil — these new rules reduced the likelihood that they would qualify for LA 2028.”
The WSL recently announced the Philippines and Cloud Nine would be added to the 2026 tour. But those dates clash with this year’s World Surfing Games in early November with Peru as the host. This latest announcement by the ISA was likely an effort to get ahead of scheduling so CT athletes could attend.
