Olympic Surfers Are Living The Dream On A Cruise Ship Vacation In Tahiti

While Olympic distance swimmers will be braving the feces-filled waters of the Seine, surfers will be living it up on an all-expenses-paid vacation in Tahiti.

OK, it’s not exactly a vacation. But it sure looks like one.

Since Paris isn’t known for its gnarly swell, the surfing competitions for the 2024 Summer Olympics will take place nearly 10,000 miles away in the South Pacific. Tahiti is not only the largest island in French Polynesia, but it’s also home to one of the world’s heaviest waves — called Teahupo’o.

And, surfing fans, your eyeballs are in for a treat. Because this place is breathtaking.

An aerial view shows the athletes taking part in a surfing training session in Teahupo’o ahead of the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

(Photo by Manea Fabisch – Pool/Getty Images)

Not only will the surfers get to enjoy some killer views, they’ll also be treated to first-class accommodations. The 48 Olympic surfers — 24 male and 24 female — are staying on a cruise ship, the Aranui 5. The first-ever “floating Olympic Village” will anchor near Teahupo’o for the entirety of the surfing competition.

Team Germany surfer Camilla Kemp posted an inside look at the ship on her TikTok account.

Much better than sleeping on those cardboard, anti-sex beds with no air conditioning in Paris!

The decision to put athletes on a cruise ship came after the originally proposed plan for the Olympic site — which called for new roads, housing units and even an aluminum judging tower that required drilling into the reef — caused significant backlash from the locals. Environmental and surf communities banded together to protect the island’s culture, its corals and its marine life.

In response to criticism, the Olympic committee decided to house the athletes on a cruise ship and other staff and visitors in the homes of locals, AirBnB style. The size of the judging tower was also scaled back, and new infrastructure plans were drawn up to minimize the need for new construction.

A judging tower was constructed just for the 2024 Summer Olympics surfing competition.

(Photo by MANEA FABISCH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

If you’re not lucky enough to be in Tahiti, you can catch the surfing events on TV from July 27 to Aug. 5.