Wild winds canceled the event in 2019. Then the pandemic and restrictions on gathering kept the beach bash from happening.

And last year, lingering concerns about an oil spill off Huntington Beach and a big rain that dirtied the water caused the Surf City Splash to once again be canceled.

But this year organizers are gearing up for what they hope will be an epic return for the long-running event, a decades-long tradition that brings people from near and far to take a chilly plunge into the ocean as a way to kick off the new year.

It started 23 years ago on a dare between a few church friends, a wild and wacky way to wash off the old and bring in the new. Then, others took notice and started showing up year after year.

Early years drew 100 people, then 200. More and more came until it become the must-do event on New Year’s Day, now considered one of the biggest across Southern California.

A similar big dip is held in San Pedro, a gathering put on by the Cabrillo Beach Polar Bears.

The Surf City Splash in recent years – when the event has been held – has drawn upward of 1,000 people who rush the surf and plunge into the saltwater bath, screaming and screeching at the cold shock.

The event has changed hands through the years, benefiting everything from the city’s Kiwanis Club to the Huntington Beach International Surf Museum; this year the torch has been handed over to the Surfrider Foundation.

It’s the first big event to mark the merger of the Huntington Beach/Seal Beach and Newport Beach chapters to form the new North Orange County Chapter, a move that will allow the nonprofit to have a greater reach inland and a collaboration that aligns the coastal cities to battle environmental issues that impact beyond their borders.

“This will be the very first event with the new chapter, we are reaching out to as many people as possible all throughout Orange County to have them come on down,” said KC Fockler, who served as acting chair for Huntington Beach’s chapter, but will now take on a role in education for the newly merged chapter.

In 2020, just a few weeks before the pandemic hit and changed the world, Surf City Splash had one of the biggest turnouts ever, he said. Some people still showed up the following year, when it was officially held as a “virtual” event, and a few last year despite the dirty water warning. 

“So many people came year after year, and then it was canceled. And then it was canceled again,” Fockler said. “Our big thing is trying to get people to come back like it never halted … we’re hoping to get some traction back.”

The event kicks off with breakfast burritos for purchase and signups for people who want official certificates. Unlike past years, participation won’t cost anything, but the Surfrider Foundation will be registering people on site who want to become members.

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Many of the revelers come decked out in crazy costumes. Pirates, mermaids, people still wearing pajamas and New Year’s Eve hats gather on the sand, with contests handed out for craziest costume, for the oldest and youngest plungers and for the participants who travel the farthest distance.

Spectators who don’t dare brave the toe-numbing water cheer from the pier and sand, while those who show up stampede into the sea after a countdown to noon.

“People do it to check off their bucket list,” Fockler said, noting the water here is much warmer than other places with much colder plunges. “People want to do it to wash off the old and bring in the new. Get in the ocean – the ocean rejuvenates you, the ocean makes you feel fresh. You do that on the first day of the year, it sets up your whole 2023.”

A beach cleanup with be held from 8 a.m. to noon on Dec. 31 by the Surfrider Foundation leading up to the event.

LA Island Radio will be broadcasting live from the sand on Jan. 1 and a ribboncutting ceremony happens at 11:30 a.m. with the splash at noon.

More information: thelocalhb.com