This May, Raglan’s legendary surf breaks will help place the Waikato on the international stage as the World Surf League Championships come to town.
For a destination renowned for its surf culture and natural beauty, hosting a major global sporting event is an exciting opportunity, but behind the scenes, events of this scale require careful planning to ensure they run smoothly for competitors, spectators and the wider community alike.
That’s where CKL came in.
Planning for a world-class event
CKL provided transportation assessment support for the upcoming World Surf League Championships at Manu Bay, working Feathers Planning and the wider project team to help support the planning framework for this significant event.
While transportation engineering may not be the first thing that comes to mind when people think about international surf competitions, it plays an important role in ensuring major events are accessible, functional and well-prepared.
For the World Surf League Championships, one of the key challenges was the event’s unique format.
Unlike many sporting events with fixed schedules, surfing competitions operate within a 10-day event window, with competition days determined by weather and swell conditions. That means planners must prepare for large visitor numbers across multiple possible days, while ensuring transport systems can adapt to changing conditions.
Managing uncertainty through smart planning
From a transportation perspective, this kind of flexibility requires detailed planning.
CKL’s role focused on helping create a framework that could support significant visitor movement into Raglan while considering site capacity, access and the broader impact on local transport networks.
By taking a proactive approach, transportation engineering helps major events function more effectively, supporting both visitor experience and local communities.
Building on regional event expertise
This project also reflects CKL’s broader experience supporting large-scale events in the Raglan region, including transportation assessment support for Sound Splash, where similar principles around visitor access, park-and-ride systems and traffic flow management are essential.
While each event is different, the goal remains the same: helping create practical, well-considered solutions that allow communities and events to thrive together.
Collaboration that supports regional success
As with many successful projects, collaboration was key.
Working as part of a wider team led by Feathers Planning, CKL’s involvement highlights the value of bringing together specialist expertise to help deliver successful outcomes for both organisers and host communities.
Helping enable opportunities for Waikato
For CKL, projects like this are about more than transportation assessments. They’re about supporting the infrastructure and planning that help communities host significant opportunities - whether that’s a housing development, major industrial project or world-class sporting event.
As Raglan prepares to welcome athletes and visitors from around the world, CKL is proud to have played a role in helping support the planning behind the scenes.
