A great deal of surf history has been written in this lineup. Photo: Cestari//WSL
Bells Beach will remain on the WSL’s Championship Tour schedule through at least 2028. This weekend, Minister for Tourism, Sport, and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos announced Victoria, home to the world’s longest running surf competition at Bells, will continue its affiliation with the Word Surf League for at least the next four years.
The first competition was held at Bells in 1962 and soon became the Easter Bells classic, establishing the contest as a mainstay on every calendar over Easter weekend. By 1973, Rip Curl took ownership of the event and combined the contest’s rising popularity with an injection of prize money. They offered $1,000 of the $2,500 in total prize money to the winner — a legitimate purse in the 1970s from a four-year-old wetsuit company, nonetheless. Years later, a women’s division was added as well.
Those developments helped raise the Rip Curl Pro’s platform from a popular Australian competition to one that drew the best talent from all over the world. With Hawaiians and Californians in the mix, Bells Beach is in many ways home to professional surfing as we know it today. The establishment of the Rip Curl Pro as a must-see annual event is a pivotal moment in professional surfing history, and ringing the bell has been a bucket list item for every professional surfer in the 50 years since.
“We are pleased to confirm one of the events for the 2025 Championship Tour and beyond, Bells Beach,” said Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL Chief of Sport. “Bells Beach holds a revered place in the surfing world, embodying the spirit and legacy of the sport. Its inclusion as a multi-year stop on our tour reflects its iconic status and the profound impact it has had, and will continue to have, on surfing culture.”
