The annual Surfing Santas event in Cocoa Beach brought more than holiday cheer to thousands of attendees this year — it also carried a life-saving mission.

A board meeting like no other, the 16th annual Surfing Santas event is almost here!

Surfing Santas, the annual Christmas Eve event that draws thousands to Cocoa Beach, returns for its 15th year.

After announcing last month that Surfing Santas 2023 would be moving locations, organizers have made a cutback and promised another wave of holiday fun on the event’s original beach.

Surfing Santas, the annual Christmas Eve tradition in Cocoa Beach, will have a new home in 2023.

Traditional surfing session held every Christmas Eve

Thirteen years after starting the biggest Christmas party on Cocoa Beach, George Trosset expects Saturday to be coldest Surfing Santas yet.

Surfing Santas typically draws national television coverage with colorful images of costumed surfers joy-riding across a sun-splashed Florida beach — while most of America shivers amid wintry December weather, according to News 6 partner Florida Today.

Crowds of people gathered at Cocoa Beach on Christmas Eve to watch as surfers donning their best Santa attire made waves on the Space Coast.

Surfing Santas will once again return to Cocoa Beach after going virtual last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

COCOA BEACH, Fla. – The tradition of dressing up like St. Nick and hitting the waves continues in Cocoa Beach for the 11th annual Surfing Santa event in Cocoa Beach. “I saw them surfing... Santa Clause,” said Mason, a child watching from the shoreline Thursday morning. The event usually draws tens of thousands of people to the Space Coast and hundreds of surfers from across the globe. Although the event was held virtually this year, hundreds of families still decided to show up and continue their Christmas Eve tradition. But he said the experience is unlike any other with families bringing the Christmas spirit to life.

COCOA BEACH, Fla. – On Thursday, organizers of what’s been the largest holiday party on Cocoa Beach the past decade plan to break up the crowds for a change. Thousands traditionally watch hundreds of “Surfing Santas” on Christmas Eve at Coconuts on the Beach. Trosset said the decision to cancel received criticism from Surfing Santas fans who anticipated the full-scale event would go on. “Out of an abundance of caution, we chose not to have a gathering of Santas, but people love Surfing Santas,” Trosset said. They may go to another spot.”Dan Sheehan, from Fort Lauderdale, is in Cocoa Beach for Christmas and said he’ll be surfing Thursday.