Surfing Santas Set Guinness World Record On Bondi Beach For Christmas 2015 [Videos]
The Surfing Santas were recently out there riding the crest of the wave in Bondi Beach, Sydney, and the U.S. version will soon be featuring in Cocoa Beach, Florida. While in both instances it looks like a huge wave of fun, the Australian version, with 320 participants, has just set a Guinness World Record for the biggest surf lesson ever.
As reported by Mashable, the previous record was a mere 250 Surfing Santas. Their website also has an amazing array of photos of the event.
While northern climes experience cooler weather and look ahead hopefully for that famed White Christmas, down in Sydney, Australia, it is the perfect weather for getting out there and surfing. There’s even a Christmas carol, sung by Aussies and written by Lesley Sabogal, that goes, “Christmas where the gum trees grow, there is not frost and there is no snow.”
With the summer heat, residents in and around Bondi Beach, Sydney’s most famous surfing spot, head to the beaches to cool off.
320 surfing #Santas set record at Australian beach to help break stigma of mental health https://t.co/YH0c70NQX1 pic.twitter.com/Mk4dimnZBX
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) December 16, 2015
As they do every year, Australia’s version of the Surfing Santas headed to Bondi Beach Tuesday and became a sea of festive red and white as the 320 surfers hit the waves for a 30-minute surfing lesson, aimed at raising awareness to mental health issues.
One Surfing Santa told BBC News, “It’s good, it’s awesome, a lot of people, a lot of fun, a lot of energy, (it’s) exciting,” and of course, all in a good cause.
Reportedly, the same group who are responsible for the Surfing Santas surf lesson also runs what are dubbed “Fluro Fridays,” where surfers wear outrageous and colorful outfits while surfing the waves to help break the stigma of mental health.
Watch the Bondi Beach Surfing Santa action in the video included here.
Now heading to Cocoa Beach in Florida, where another group of Surfing Santas is set to show off their skills. While the Bondi Beach event is over and done, there is still the chance to watch the Cocoa Beach Surfing Santas live in action on Christmas Eve 2015.
According to the description on their promotional video (included below), the Cocoa Beach version of the Surfing Santas started back in December 2009, when George Trosset, along with his wife Britteny and George Jr., paddled out into the water for a Christmas Eve surf.
Over the last six years, the idea has really caught on, and the event now attracts over 300 Surfing Santas, all in the waves at the same time.
There are, apparently, several surfing tribes in the area, but they all get together on Christmas Eve each year for a little Christmas magic. The seventh such family event happens on December 24, at 8 a.m. EST at the end of Minuteman Causeway in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Reportedly, thousands of people attend the event, watching the hundreds of Surfing Santas in their red and white riding the waves and having fun in the sun. Who knows? Maybe the Cocoa Beach event will attract more than 320 Surfing Santas this year and break the Bondi Beach Guinness World Record.
Santas take largest surfing lesson in Australia https://t.co/28rLTNKhDH pic.twitter.com/rKxL30aWnD
— GuinnessWorldRecords (@GWR) December 16, 2015
It is important to note that the Cocoa Beach Surfing Santas do it all in a good cause too, with proceeds shared between the Grind for Life organization, who help cancer sufferers by assisting them financially in traveling to get treatment, along with the Florida Surf Museum, who aim to preserve the surfing history of eastern central Florida.
Enjoy the Cocoa Beach Surfing Santas promotional video below, to the tune of “Surf It Off.”
[Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images News]
