Creative Commons/Lee & Chantelle McArthur

Surfers at Ocean Beach in 2006

Some of the world’s best surfers will descend on Ocean Beach this fall for the first major surfing contest held in San Francisco in more than a decade.

The surfing brand Rip Curl announced that its annual Pro Search surfing event will be held this year at Ocean Beach Nov. 1 through Nov. 11. 

Rip Curl's competition is the only Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour event held in a different location each year. The contest has been held previously in Mexico, Chile, Indonesia, Portugal and Puerto Rico.

The high-profile surf fest is scheduled at a time of year when temperatures in the city can still be somewhat balmy and early-winter Arctic storms are whipping up large breaks.

The rugged and unpredictable conditions along Ocean Beach could lead to "big barrel" surfing — in long, tubular waves — and provide unique challenges for competitors, ASP spokesman Dave Prodan said.

"It's definitely a different kind of venue for the surfers," Prodan said. "It's projected to be big and shifty and the surfers will probably be battling the elements."

Rip Curl Marketing Director Dylan Slater told the surf news website Surfline that Ocean Beach's unique surf conditions will bring "a whole new dimension" to the annual event. “The unique energy that the city brings will make this event a very distinct part of the Rip Curl Pro Search legacy."

The event could provide a boost to the city’s tourism industry and cast a worldwide spotlight on its ocean coastline.

“There will be all the big names,” longtime Ocean Beach surfer and SurfPulse reporter Adam Berke said. “Given that San Francisco hasn’t had any events in a long time, to have one of this caliber come through is a pretty big deal.”

But the event could block local surfers' access to popular breaks during the best surfing conditions of the year.

“We only have a small window when conditions get really good here, and then to have the quote-unquote circus come to town right in the middle of it — there are definitely going to be people on both sides,” Berke said. “There are going to be people that feel like this is going to be a disruption.”

ESPN reported that Rip Curl’s selection of San Francisco as the host city for its next major surfing event follows a trend of such contests taking place in heavily urbanized areas, rather than desolate beaches.

Billabong recently shifted a Brazilian event to Rio de Janeiro, and Quiksilver unveiled a new event in New York City, according to ESPN.

Ocean Beach is owned by the federal government. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is part of the National Park Service, has provided event organizers with permission to hold the event at the beach, but permits have not yet been drafted, spokeswoman Alexandra Picavet said Monday.

Supervisor Carmen Chu, whose district abuts Ocean Beach, had not been contacted by event organizers to discuss any traffic, transit or other impacts that could be expected during the contest, her office said Monday morning.

Marketing officials at Rip Curl, who are visiting the surf brand's home country of Australia for an annual contest at Bells Beach, did not immediately respond to request for comments Monday.