On Pro Tour, Surf’s Up Inland!

Who says you have to be in Southern California to enjoy the region’s much-envied lifestyle?

Since the late 1980s, the world’s top professional beach volleyball players have been digging, setting and spiking in sand-filled parking lots in inland cities from Phoenix to Cleveland.

Now, the world’s top surfers are getting ready to move their sport inland, too. They’ll be riding eight-foot waves generated by wave-making machines at water parks in Japan, South Africa and the United States.

The plan calls for an initial round of inland surf contests at Walt Disney World in Florida, Palm Springs, Tokyo and Sun City, in the Bophuthatswana region of South Africa. The inland tour eventually will be expanded to other water parks in the United States, Europe and Asia.

The Australian-based Assn. of Surfing Professionals has identified 38 inland “beach venues” where it will stage “rock ‘n’ roll” surfing events that feature live music and light shows along with top surfers.

“We can erect huge stages for the world’s top rock bands,” said Bob Pritchard, a Santa Monica marketing consultant who is helping to arrange the inland events. “With this combination of music, light shows and surfers, we can create a combination music-lifestyle event.”