There will be walls. Oscar Langburne making Manu Bay look worthy. Photo: Screenshot
In a surprise announcement, revamping its 2026 schedule, the World Surf League says it is replacing Jeffereys Bay, South Africa with the famous left-point of Manu Bay in Raglan, New Zealand. The event will go off on the North Island’s west coast May 15-25, deep fall in the Southern Hemisphere and an ideal time for waves at New Zealand’s most famous wave.
“We love J-Bay and the community there, and we’re really grateful to them for welcoming us for so many years,” said the WSL’s CEO Ryan Crosby in a press release. “It’s undoubtedly one of the best waves in the world, and we will continue to explore ways to return in the future. That said, we have made the difficult decision to pull Jeffreys Bay from the 2026 CT calendar. We did our very best to make J-Bay work in 2025 but the financial support isn’t there to make it viable this year. Our goal is to set professional surfing up for long-term success and make sure the world’s best surfers have the platform to keep advancing the sport for many years. Achieving this goal requires making decisions that prioritize the health of the overall business.”
Straightforward wording from the League. And adding another left in a world of rights is never a bad thing. Adding Raglan (Manu Bay) means the CT now features four true lefts, including Teahupo’o, Fiji, and Pipeline. Saquarema in Brazil and Portugal’s Supertubos are solid beachbreaks, which evens out the tour a bit with the loss of J-Bay.
“I’m very happy with the addition of a rippable left on tour,” said Yago Dora, in the WSL release. “It’s been a long time asking to have one on the schedule, and we finally got it! I’ve never been to New Zealand, and I’m very happy that I will get the chance to go there for the first time and experience what seems to be a very beautiful part of the world. The place looks amazing so I’m truly excited to go there for the first time and compete at Raglan.”
Raglan seems a solid replacement for J-Bay if the region gets waves within the comp window, which is always an issue. Either way The Raglan Surf Report will have content for months.
