2026 Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico, Episode 06

100 points decide our first finalist.

cinema // Aug 10, 2026

Words by Holden Trnka

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Watch Episode 01 here.
Watch Episode 02 here.
Watch Episode 03 here.
Watch Episode 04 here.
Watch Episode 05 here.

Welcome back to Episode 06 of the Surf100 Challenge Series Presented by Pacifico, the sixth of our eight-part $100,000 surf match.

If you’ve been watching the series up to this point, you’ve already seen Kyuss King eliminated at Blacks Beach in Episode 01, Benji Brand in Oceanside in Episode 02, Ryan Huckabee at Steamer Lane in Episode 03, Jackson Bunch in Santa Cruz in Episode 04, and Finn McGill in the Outer Banks in Episode 05. That leaves just three surfers in contention for the $100k: Zeke Lau, Dakoda Walters, and Dimitri Poulos.

Of these three, only two surfers will survive into our classic Surf100 finale*, where they’ll face off against two mystery invitees for a chance at the six-figure prize purse.

One of those is decided today.

Fueled by Pacifico, Taco Bell, and gas station snacks. Photo by Billy Watts

Our sixth challenge?

The rules are simple, and exhausting:

Three surfers, 100 minutes, every wave counts
Waves are scored with whole numbers on a scale of 1 to 10
Two ways to win: be the first surfer to reach 100 points or have the highest total when time is up
One surfer advances to our Surf100 Finale, the other two will face off for the last spot in Episode 07

It seems like each episode we say that this was the most exhausting challenge.

Well, turns out, this was definitely the one.

After their cross-country strike from Santa Cruz to the ice-cold Outer Banks, our crew once again packed their bags the night after the challenge and caught an early morning flight to Florida.

“We drove out to Raleigh after Outer Banks, stayed in an Airbnb that night, and got on a flight at 6:30 the next morning,” said Surf100 director Will Stiles.

The same swell that had delivered numerous visions to the crew on Pea Island continued to pulse in Florida. Photo by Billy Watts.

Thanks to a late night in OBX, the fellas literally got three hours of sleep before arriving to Florida.

“Let’s not beat around the bush here,” laughs Surf100 Producer Garrett James. “Finn [McGill] lost in OBX and was trying to get everybody on the party train with him. And he was pretty successful, to be honest, but we eventually ran out of Pacificos and that was the end of that.”

“By the time we got to New Smyrna, the surfers and crew were running on fumes,” laughs Garrett. “We went from being in a really dry, cold place to a really humid, warm place, which kinda kicks your ass when you’ve had hardly any sleep and you’re ten-plus days into a trip like this. People started feeling pretty rundown, to be honest. The guys who surfed the Outer Banks said that they legitimately couldn’t get warm for like a full day after.”

Best way to deal with the exhaustion? Go catch upwards of 30 waist high Florida wedges and surf as hard as you can on every single one of them.

“I think that’s the most tired I’ve ever been,” said Dakoda, after the challenge.

Pretty much Emma Wood. Photo by Billy Watts

So how do our elite athletes refuel after such an exhausting endeavor?

“Half of the crew went to Prime IV for an elixir of vitamins thanks to the help of our guest judge Michael Dunphy. Then we followed it up with Thai food takeaway for dinner, naturally. Of course, Dimitri decided to stay home and order Taco Bell,” cackles Garrett. “And, I think we’ll just say that Yadin had himself a night with Evan Geiselman after the challenge as though the entire series was complete.”

So, who will get the first Golden Ticket to our Surf100 Finale?

It’ll take you about 24 and a half minutes to find out.

Is this the face of relief after being given a spot in the final, or the face of resignation after realizing he has to surf one more challenge? Click above to find out. Photo by Billy Watts.

Release Schedule

The second season of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented by Pacifico goes live June 17 on YouTube, but Premium members get to watch each episode two days early (watch your email).

Here’s the full YouTube release schedule:

Ep 1: Wednesday, June 3
Ep 2: Wednesday, June 17
Ep 3: Wednesday, July 1
Ep 4: Wednesday, July 14
Ep 5: Wednesday, July 29
Ep 6: Wednesday, August 12 (above)
Ep 7: Wednesday, August 26
Live Finale: Wednesday, September 9*

*Watch the finale online exclusively on Stab Premium, or join us in person for the big song and dance (all comers welcome, details TBA) on September 9.

The pure, unadulterated joy of a yellow can.

New Smyrna Beach premiere

Finally, an important shoutout to the entire crew at Red Dog Surf, guest judge Michael Dunphy, and all the amazing people who came out to our episode 6 world premiere this past weekend.

For those who don’t know, we sent Surf100 director Will Stiles and our editor-in-chief Michael Ciaramella to celebrate on the east coast, and they came back with plenty of good things to say.

“I met a Premium member who’s a comment section star,” explained MC. “He asked me not to dox him, which I’ll happily respect, but getting to meet a bunch of our members in person and put faces to handles was both fantastic and hilarious.”

“There was one guy who went on a wild Stab rant at the end of the episode. Kinda calling us out but also hyping us up. Florida is pretty classic. Also, thanks to Red Dog for the shirt!” Will concluded.

The event started outside, ended inside, and saw us running to grab additional Pacificos on more than one occasion. We can say with confidence that no one went home thirsty.

Also, thanks to Turtlebox to keeping the energy high on the audio front all night. Couldn’t have done it without you.