October 1st 2023 – April 15th 2024

Anyone can submit content for the Mavericks Awards. Be aware, Mavericks is extremely dangerous. You should not surf Mavericks unless you have extensive big wave experience and training. Minors (surfers under 18 years of age on date of wave ridden) must have the prior consent of their parent or legal guardian to enter a submission in consideration for an award.

Content from each swell is curated by Mavericks Awards Co-founders Jeff Clark and Chris Cuvelier. At the end of the season, the content is reviewed by the judges against the criteria for each category and winners are selected. If the judges are not unanimous, the majority wins!

Biggest Wave (Women & Men): The winner will be the surfer that paddles into the biggest single wave of the season based on analysis & interpretation by the judges looking at available pictures and video. The height of the Biggest Wave will be judged based on wave height at takeoff. Must make the wave.

Ride of the Year (Women & Men): The winner will be the surfer that paddles into the best single wave of the season based on analysis & interpretation by the judges looking at available pictures and video. Key criteria includes: quality of wave, location of the take off point, critical drop, intensity of the wave, how the wave was ridden, how was the wave optimized (made it look easy), full and complete wave.


Performer of the Year (Women & Men): The winner will be the best overall performance of the entire season. Key criteria includes: quality of waves, quantity of waves, intensity of waves, how the waves were ridden (takeoff point, execution, turns/carves, style points); consistent performance.

The prize money for the 2024 Mavericks Awards is $25,000. 60% of the prize money goes to the athletes and 40% goes to the photographers that submitted content and is distributed based on the number of clips used in the Awards show. We anticipate the prize money for each season will be $25,000 – $100,000, depending on sponsorships.

Our mission is to celebrate Mavericks and the brave men and women that surf it. Our values of respect, inclusion, equality, safety, environmental stewardship and community guide all our decisions and how we operate the Mavericks Awards.