Malia Ilagan qualified to compete in the World Surfing League's longboard division of the competition.
"Something that makes it personally special, I would say, is growing up and watching this contest a lot and really trying to learn from the people that were surfing here," Ilagan said.
She'll be going up against women she grew up watching.
"It's really special to me that I get to surf with them and compete against them especially and I feel like it's going to help my surfing a lot," Ilagan said.
This largest surf competition in the world is expected to bring in up to 450,000 visitors to the city over the nine-day event which begins on Saturday.
The south side of the Huntington Beach Pier will also host motocross shows and sunset music concerts.
"Everyone comes from everywhere and all shows up to the beach. Gorgeous weather, cool booths to come check out so I think it's a good environment just for people to come and watch. Even if they're not watching surfing," said Reid Van Wagoner, who is competing in the WSL Challenger Series. She has her eyes set on the prize.
"I've been surfing since I was 3 years old. There's just such a cool feeling to it and you get to meet so many new people, travel to so many cool places and doing it at such a young age is such an amazing feeling," Van Wagoner said. "I turn 16 in a couple weeks so it would be nice to win and get a car. That's the goal."
Surfers are hoping conditions are prime throughout the event to catch some good waves.
"I'm going to do my best to navigate the challenging surf and hopefully it gets better but if not it is what it is," Ilagan said.
"I hope it's good for us because Huntington definitely can get a little wonky sometimes but super fun, super exciting waves so I can't wait," Van Wagoner said.
The 2025 U.S. Open of Surfing is free and open to the public. It runs through Aug. 3.