Record Turnout for Surfing Santas Presented by Orlando Health as Thousands of Santas Take Over Cocoa Beach

The beachy holiday tradition welcomed crowds to surfing capital on Florida's Space Coast, as Santas took on epic waves

COCOA BEACH, Fla., Dec. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- It was a picture perfect Christmas Eve, Florida style, as thousands took over Cocoa Beach for the annual Surfing Santas event. The 80-degree December morning along Florida's East Coast boasted clear blue skies, low humidity and to surfers' delight 3-to- 4-foot waves with a light offshore breeze. A record-setting 14,000 spectators gathered to cheer on the 400 surfers clad in Santa gear and other costumes for the traditional holiday event. Surfing Santas, now celebrating its 17th year, has become one of the world's most-anticipated Santa-themed gatherings.

For the second year in a row Orlando Health served as the presenting sponsor for Surfing Santas. The partnership was developed in 2024 as part of Orlando Health's expansion to the East Region, which brought critical healthcare services to the growing population of Florida's Space Coast.

"I am so proud of what Surfing Santas has become. It's a true holiday family tradition here in Florida and reflects the spirit of who we are on the Space Coast," said event organizer and founder George Trosset. "Every year this just grows and grows in size. It's hard to believe that it all began back in 2009 when I decided to put on a Santa suit while surfing with my family on Christmas Eve. A photographer snapped a photo, and here we are today with thousands coming together for one of the most festive, fun, holiday events."

Surfing Santas is an economic boom for Florida's Space Coast. Small businesses and the local workforce benefit from the crowds descending on Cocoa Beach on Christmas Eve to shop, eat, surf and celebrate the holiday season. As part of its ongoing commitment to the community, this year's Surfing Santas event also raised over $100,000 for charity, bringing the total raised since 2013 to more than $500,000.

All proceeds of Surfing Santas benefit the work of multiple local organizations including:

• Florida Surf Museum, which preserves Florida's unique surfing history.
• Grind for Life, which provides financial assistance to cancer patients and their families.
• Who We Play For, a non-profit with a mission to prevent sudden cardiac death that hosts life-saving CPR/AED training at the event. This year the group trained hundreds onsite and provided kids with free EKG screenings.
• Local high school and college surf and swim teams to support programs and activities.

This year, Surfing Santas went global, reaching millions around the world as the event was broadcast via a Live stream on the Surfing Santas You Tube page. In keeping the mood festive, Surfing Santas' morning event included a costume contest, a dance off and Santas jumping out of a helicopter to join surfers in the Atlantic Ocean.

For more information, including the history of Surfing Santas, visit the Surfing Santas event media page.

MEDIA KIT Photos / Video for Download 

Media Contact: 
Katie Mitzner 
kmitzner@tuckerhall.com
407.803.2499

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

About Orlando Health
Orlando Health is a private not-for-profit, integrated academic healthcare system with $14 billion of assets under management, that serves the southeastern United States – including Florida and Alabama – and Puerto Rico. With corporate offices in Orlando, Florida the system provides a complete continuum of care across a network of medical centers and institutes, community and specialty hospitals, physician practices, urgent care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home healthcare, and long-term and behavioral health care services. Founded more than 100 years ago, Orlando Health's mission is to improve the health and the quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve. The system provided nearly $2 billion in community impact in the form of community benefit programs and services, Medicare shortfalls, bad debt, community-building activities and capital investments in FY 24, the most recent period for which the information is available. For more information, visit orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X.

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SOURCE Orlando Health