Ocean dash makes a New Year’s splash in Surf City

Continuing a two-decade tradition in Huntington Beach, a crowd of people not content with New Year’s Eve revelry descended on Pier Plaza on Wednesday to celebrate the first day of 2020 with the Surf City Splash — a dash into the chilly Pacific, sans wetsuits.

The event, a fundraiser for the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum, included a pancake breakfast, a costume contest and an artist and vendor fair.

The ocean temperature was around 60 degrees, but getting a little cold in the water was preferable to the splashing crowd to what happened last year, when the festivities were canceled twice because of weather conditions.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.