For four days in October, Villajoyosa’s Playa Centro becomes the centre of world sea kayaking. The Canoe Ocean Racing World Championship 2026 runs from 8 to 11 October, and it’s the first time this world championship has been held on mainland Spain — or anywhere on the Iberian Peninsula. More than 750 paddlers from 36 countries are expected, racing surfski over roughly 20 km off the town’s beach, with the whole event livestreamed with aerial coverage.
What the Championship Is
The Canoe Ocean Racing World Championship is the International Canoe Federation’s world title event for surfski, the long, narrow ocean-racing kayak used in downwind paddling. In 2025 it was held in Durban, South Africa; 2026 is its first edition in Spain, and the first anywhere on the peninsula. Villajoyosa’s Club Náutico, which the town says has extensive experience organising major sea kayaking competitions, is running the event with the Real Federación Española de Piragüismo and the Generalitat Valenciana.
Dates and Schedule
6–7 October: official training sessions
8 October, 18:00: flag parade, starting from Parque de la Barbera
8 October, following the parade: opening ceremony at Parque del Censal, with delegations from all participating countries
9, 10, 11 October: the downwind racing window
10–11 October: medal ceremonies by category
11 October, afternoon: closing ceremony
The race itself covers roughly 20 km, contested in individual (SS1) and doubles (SS2) categories, with a relay event also on the programme. Races are livestreamed with aerial coverage and paddler tracking from both sea and land.
Who’s Racing
Among the men, Australia’s Cory Hill, a four-time world champion and the reigning 2025 champion, is the athlete to watch, alongside Portugal’s Bernardo Pereira (third in 2025 and 2026 European champion) and France’s Pierre Vilella. On the women’s side, South Africa’s Kira Bester, world champion in 2024 and 2025, is among the favourites.
Villajoyosa has its own paddlers in the field: Andrea Jiménez, 2025 world junior SS1 champion who recently won gold at the 2026 Spanish Championship, along with Pau Sánchez and Sara Mengual, both world medallists. Athletes from Portugal, France, Germany, New Zealand, the UK and Spain are among the 36 competing nations.
Watching From the Beach
Playa Centro is the main venue, and the town expects around 800 people connected to the championship in total. Training begins on 6 October, so activity around the beach will build in the days before the racing window opens. For visitors planning around the event, the guide to Villajoyosa covers the colourful old town and the free chocolate museum a short walk from the centre, and the beaches and coves guide covers the town’s other beaches if Playa Centro is busy with the competition.
Getting There
Villajoyosa is about 8 km from Benidorm and reachable by the Alicante–Dénia TRAM, which stops at Creueta. See the guide to public transport on the Costa Blanca for routes, and Alicante–Elche Airport is the nearest airport.
More on the Coast This October
The championship lands in the same window as Villajoyosa’s Setmana de l’Arròs, 19–25 October, so anyone visiting for the kayaking has a second reason to plan a return trip later in the month. Further along the coast, Calp’s Moros y Cristianos also falls in October.