Jersey up
Up to four surfers per heat, each in a colour: coral, amber, white, lagoon. Your colour is your identity for the judges — and your priority disc in the water.
About · Official Rules
The rulebook
How heats run, how waves are scored, and what gets you penalised — the short, honest version. The full PDF lives with the judges; this page teaches you to read a heat like one.
20’
per heat
02
waves count
05
judges
0–10
score scale
Format
How a heat works.
Twenty minutes
The horn starts the clock. Catch as many waves as you like — only your best two scores count toward your heat total (max 20 points).
Priority rotates
The surfer with priority has unconditional right of way. Use it, or lose it the moment you catch a wave — then the queue moves on.
Best two waves
Highest combined two-wave total advances. Ties go to the single best wave; still tied, best third wave. The ocean rarely lets it get that far.
The four heat colours — know yours before the hornScoring
The 0–10 scale.
6.5Good
Major manoeuvres with speed, power and control — or one genuinely committed moment of risk.
0246810
Interactive
You be the judge.
Your scorecard
Watch the ride, weigh the criteria, commit. Judges score instinctively first, then defend it — you have until the next wave.
CommitmentDifficultyInnovationMajor manoeuvresSpeed, power & flow
5.0
The fine print
Chapter and verse.
Priority & interference
The priority surfer has unconditional right of way on any wave. Paddling inside them, taking off in front of them, or breaking down a wave they are riding is interference. The penalty is blunt: your second-best wave is halved. Two interferences and you lose a scoring wave entirely.
| Wave | Score |
|---|---|
| Best wave | 8.70 |
| Second wave | 7.50 |
| Heat total | 16.20 |
Divisions & eligibility
- Open Men / Open Women — 16 and over, Mauritian citizens and residents.
- Juniors U18 / Grommets U14 — age on the first day of the event window; parental consent required.
- Longboard — boards 9'0" and over, traditional single-fin encouraged.
- Masters 35+ — the wisdom division. Proof of age gleefully accepted.
- All competitors register through LiveHeats and hold a current season licence.
Heat draws & seeding
Seeding follows season rankings; round one is drawn so the top four seeds cannot meet before the semi-finals. Heats run in the order published on LiveHeats each morning. Miss your heat, and the ocean does not wait — no re-runs for late paddle-outs.
Equipment & jerseys
Leashes are mandatory at every venue. Competition jerseys are provided at check-in and returned at the beach marshal's tent after each heat. Boards must be fit for the conditions — the contest director can refuse equipment on safety grounds.
Protests & appeals
Protests go to the contest director within 15 minutes of the heat result posting on LiveHeats, in writing. The head judge's scoring decisions are final; interference calls can be reviewed on video where footage exists. The panel's word ends the discussion — and then everyone shakes hands.
Safety & conduct
The contest director can hold, move or cancel any heat on safety grounds — the reef always wins that argument. Competitors are bound by the Code of Conduct in and out of the water for the full event window: respect for officials, rivals, volunteers, the crowd and the reef itself.
Rules read. Sign the spirit of them.
The Code of Conduct is the rulebook's soul — how we treat each other, the ocean, and the game. Registration lives on LiveHeats.