Along a sandy sliver between the cobblestone-lined ocean and a dense shrub habitat, a miniature beach festival appeared, built in just a few days to welcome the world’s best surfers.

Scaffolding and tenting created makeshift buildings for judges and athletes, along with their coaches and friends, at the Lexus Trestles Pro contest. Fans hauled in beach chairs and towels, in lieu of grandstands, filling in whatever sandy space they could find. The ocean, at times, soaked belongings and sent people scrambling as the tide pushed higher.

Creating the temporary arena on the sand at Lower Trestles, just south of San Clemente and north of Camp Pendleton, is no easy task, but the World Surf League has successfully done so for decades — and with the Olympics on the horizon in three years, the WSL is sharing its insider knowledge with Summer Games organizers who hope to create a similar footprint at the delicate beach.

The contest last week drew thousands of people, a chance for Olympic officials to study how a surfing event can be set up and operated at San Onofre State Beach, which was announced in April as the choice for the 2028 competition. Though the officials weren’t available for comment, their appearance indicated the early planning for the event still three years away.

“As things progress, more will come to light,” said Graham Stapelberg, president of the WSL, who has worked with State Parks on events at the surf break since 2001. “The good thing is, to their credit, they are thinking along the lines of how we run our events here. And that’s really important.”

The announcement came in April that the surf break wedged between Orange and San Diego counties won the bid to host the surfing portion of the 2028 Olympics.

Picked for the quality of its waves, Lower Trestles is a bit off the beaten path. When the news dropped, many people worried the Olympic competition would be a sprawling event bringing massive crowds and impacting the protected landscape.

Monthly meetings are already gearing up between Olympic organizers and State Parks officials to discuss ideas for the first-ever Olympic surfing in the United States, said State Parks Superintendent Kevin Pearsall.

“The majority of the site will be similar to the World Surf League event,” said Pearsall. “A lot of it will be incredibly similar, but the reality is it’s the Olympics.”

Organizers of World Surf League contests and contractors who put booths on the sand typically have six days to set up the event infrastructure, said Stapelberg.

“There’s a lot that goes into it — how we have to squeeze into the area, take into consideration some of the sensitive environmental areas,” he said. “We have a long involvement working with the State Parks, understanding their needs, understanding the needs of the community and making sure we can still deliver for all of our key stakeholders.

“I think it’s the reason we get to come back every year. I think we take it to heart and we take it seriously. We respect all of those stakeholders,” he said.

His group shared with the Olympic crew that came down for the tour the logistical challenges they deal with, such as how to haul in materials to create two-story structures while navigating a 12-foot-tall bridge that doesn’t leave much room to bring in large pieces.

“You literally have to build everything from scratch, with relatively low-impact equipment,” Stapelberg said. “It’s a huge undertaking, so it’s a testament to the team that gets involved, but also speaks to the experience in being able to do it. Every year, we get better and better.”

The setup has had to evolve with the changing landscape over the past 20 years. Once, the structures were set on the front side of the dirt access road, with plenty of sand in front as a buffer from the ocean’s waves.

Now, with erosion impacting many Southern California beaches, including Lower Trestles, buildings are set behind the access road, Stapelberg noted.

To make room, the WSL is allowed to cut back invasive plant species taking up space but must leave native habitat alone, he added.

One big difference will be access. To get to surf contests, fans can mosey down the trails, walk up or down the shoreline or even watch from a boat. That likely won’t be the case for the Olympic surfing, which is expected to be a ticketed event with stringent security.

And the surf break may be shut down for a period of time, unlike during World Tour events or other contests where the ocean is open except when competitors are in heats.

“That’s going to be important, how you approach that, and I think what’s key is communication with the community,” Stapelberg said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it’s never going to happen again in any of our lifetimes — that’s just the reality of that. So I think there has to be some appreciation and understanding.”

The site also has parking challenges. A lot above the beach that opens just for contests holds 186 spaces. With 36 surfers competing at the World Tour event, the WSL can only give one parking spot per athlete. But for the Olympics, teams are joined by coaches, medical staff and others in their entourage.

There’s talk of a temporary platform for trains that already pass by to stop. That way, just people with tickets can access the beach and attendance figures can be counted, Pearsall said.

A train stop would help solve the parking issue and also help mitigate the illegal — and dangerous — problem of people crossing over the tracks to access the park, Pearsall said.

“Everyone is excited to have a possible train stop. I think everyone is really enthusiastic about that opportunity,” he said. “What a cool and unique experience to be able to take a little train ride to watch the Olympics of surfing.”

A train track would also bring people directly to the beach, rather than having to hike down the steep dirt trail.

San Clemente photographer Sheri Crummer, 74, watched last week’s surf contest with her long lens fixated on the surfers. She used a small dolly to get her gear to the beach, navigating the steep dirt trail and across the tracks.

“That was a little testy; this is heavy,” she said. “I crashed a couple times.”

Surfing fan Veronica Wold said she hopes Olympic attendees won’t be “corralled,” since fans are accustomed to being able to approach their favorite surfers for photos and autographs.

“Just to have access for the fans,” she said. “I think that’s important.”

The intent for the surfing portion of the Olympics is, for the most part, for spectators to watch remotely, Pearsall said.

“It’s not intended to be a highly visited event-on site,” he said. “This isn’t football or a game, it’s the Olympics of surfing, so everyone is going to be able to catch it incredibly well online or on TV.”

Alex Mignogna, coastal adaptation manager for the Surfrider Foundation, said protecting the beach, with its coyote bush, coastal sage, beach primrose and other natural landscape, is “of utmost importance.” During the 2024 Olympics in Tahiti, there were protests when a large scaffolding was built on a delicate reef.

She was glad, she said, to hear WSL officials were working with the Olympic organizers to understand the delicate habitat.

“With WSL, they’ve done this with State Parks so many times, they clearly care — they have the WSL One Ocean program geared at protecting this place, and they do it well,” she said.