With two strong competition finishes, Encinitas surfer Ella McCaffray will be starting off the new World Surf League Qualifying Series season later this summer in the number two spot. After taking third place in Barbados to close out the 2024-25 season in March, McCaffray reached her seventh-career Qualifying Series final and was the runner-up in the Vans Jack’s Surfboards Pro in Huntington Beach, April 3-6, making the best of some slow SoCal waves.
“It feels so nice to start the season with a result. I had a rough year last season and didn’t really make it past the Round of 16 so this is good to start with a final,” said McCaffray, 21. “Now I’ll enjoy the time off and just do some traveling and free surf. I’m looking forward to getting back in the jersey in a few months and the goal is ultimately get to that Challenger Series.”
This is McCaffray’s sixth year on the Qualifying Series, she has also qualified as a top surfer into the Challenger Series twice. In the WSL, the highest rated surfers on the Challenger Series can make it onto the Championship Tour, the highest level of competitive surfing.
The 25-26 Qualifying Series is off until August, picking up again with about a dozen events around the country and world for the women. “I will pick and choose my events this season…some are higher-rated, some have more points or more money. I want to be smart with my time and choose waves that suit my surfing.”
Breaks with bigger waves like Morro Bay and Puerto Rico are where McCaffray feels most confident in herself, her boards and her ability. She may opt to avoid competitions in Virginia Beach or Outer Banks (North Carolina), which have “smaller grindy waves.”
Born and raised in Encinitas, McCaffray got her start in the water at the Eli Howard Surf School in San Elijo. “I went to surf camp every summer as a grom and just fell in love with it.”
She attended Santa Fe Christian School in Solana Beach until middle school when she transitioned to homeschooling to give her the flexibility to better balance her time in the water and school. The more she surfed, the more opportunities opened up and she decided to pursue surfing as a career.
As Ella still likes to learn, she has taken some college courses online through MiraCosta, dipping into subjects that interest her like philosophy, world history and creative writing.
While her 2024-25 wasn’t her best results-wise, she had a great time surfing and exploring new places such as Portugal and Puerto Rico. She is fortunate to share these experiences with family, who often travel with her on the series. Her dad came along and surfed with her in Puerto Rico; her mom was in tow for the two-and-a-half weeks spent in Barbados. As a bonus, her younger brother Cole is also on the Qualifying Series and they travel together: “He inspires me…he pushes me to be better.”
With the Van’s Jacks Pro being so close to home, she was able to do something a little different and travel with friends, staying together in a house in Huntington Beach. She soaked up all the good energy around her, which she said helped with her competing, finishing the season strong and having her best-ever start for 25-26.
“I just got a lot of new boards that feel really good and I felt good going into Barbados. I also have a new coach Jake Halstead from La Jolla who is awesome,” McCaffray said.
McCaffray is on the road for the majority of the year, spending only four months at home in Encinitas. She loves being home, surfing local waves and spending time with her two huskies who she misses dearly when she’s away (she once tried to take them surfing and they hated it but they do like the beach). She will be staying in Encinitas at least through her 22nd birthday in May.
This summer she plans to work with her coach and travel, “free surfing” in Mexico or possibly returning to Indonesia, where she has spent the past three idyllic summers.
Traveling to compete on the Qualifying Series is pretty expensive, it pays well if you’re getting good results and her last two helped, she said. McCaffray gets help from her family and sponsors such as Body Glove and SharpEye Surfboards. One of her longtime sponsors is Sambazon—the açaí bowls from their Cardiff cafe are one of her favorite post-surf snacks after a morning at Swami’s or Seaside. “They’ve been a huge to my career,” said McCaffray who takes their energy drinks on the road.
Heading into this coming season, her goal is to surf well enough to get back into the Challenger Series and eventually make it onto the Championship Tour.
“I’m really grateful that this is my job, it’s incredible getting to travel, to see new places like Puerto Rico for the first time,” said McCaffrey. “I love it, it’s such a good life.”
