COCOA BEACH, Fla., Dec. 24, 2024 - Surfing Santas returned to Cocoa Beach, Florida for a 16th year, a traditional costumed extravaganza on Florida's Space Coast that has become one of the world's most-anticipated Santa-themed gatherings at the surfing capital of Florida's East Coast.

2024 by the numbers
More than 12,000 spectators flocked to Cocoa Beach Christmas Eve morning to cheer on over 400 surfers, taking to the Atlantic Ocean decked out in their St. Nick outfits. This year's event raised a record setting $100,000 for charity, bringing the total raised since 2013 to more than $400,000. All proceeds benefit the work of local organizations including Grind for Life, which provides financial assistance to cancer patients and their families when traveling long distances to for their healthcare, as well as the Florida Surf Museum, which preserves Florida's unique surfing history, and several local school sports teams.

"Surfing Santas has been call the 'Greatest show on Surf'," said event organizer George Trosset, who got the craze rolling somewhat innocently on Dec. 24, 2009, when a news photographer captured him wearing a Santa getup while surfing with his family. "Watching this explode into one of the largest and most-talked about holiday events has been nothing short of phenomenal."

This year marks the inaugural year with Orlando Health serving as the presenting sponsor for Surfing Santas. The partnership, developed as part of Orlando Health's East Region expansion, has brought the two non-profits together to support multiple community events over the year, including Surfing Santas. Orlando Health's Chief Financial Officer for the East Region, an avid surfer, Daniel Hodges participated in this year's Surfing Santas event. Orlando Health expanded into Brevard and Indian River Counties this past September with acquisitions of Orlando Health Rockledge Hospital, Orlando Health Melbourne Hospital and Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital.

Also this year, Who We Play For, a non-profit with a mission to prevent sudden cardiac death, hosted life-saving CPR/AED training at the event, and trained more than 400 people onsite. In addition, Who We Play For provided more than 40 kids with free EKG screenings.

More information, including the history of Surfing Santas, can be found on the Surfing Santas event media page.

Media Contact:
Katie Mitzner
kmitzner@tuckerhall.com
407.803.2499

George Trosset
Surfing Santas
surfingsantas@gmail.com
321-223-6400

SOURCE Orlando Health