Caroline Marks (USA) surfs in women's Round 1 competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games. Andrew Nelles-USA TODAY Network

See the 'floating village' 2024 Olympic surfers will live on

By Austen Bundy | Last updated Jul 23, 2024 4:48 PM ET

Olympic surfing is getting its sophomore rendition at the 2024 Paris Games, but you won't see any surfers catching swells on the Seine River or even in the choppy English Channel.

Instead, athletes competing in the event have descended upon the small Pacific island of Tahiti in French Polynesia.

Competitors will be staying aboard an innovative "floating village" named the Aranui 5 just offshore.

NBC Sports shared video from German athletes as they explored their new home for the next couple of weeks.

The Olympic Village for surfing athletes is onboard the Aranui 5, A cruise-liner based in Tahiti #ParisOlympics
(:TT/camilla_kemp) pic.twitter.com/KT3E3fsKsh
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 23, 2024

Tahiti has a population of roughly 306,000 and with Paris organizers aiming to make the Games the most environmentally sustainable, it was decided no temporary Olympic village would be built on the island to house athletes.

Despite organizers' efforts to avoid clearing trees and protect Tahiti's wildlife, environmental protestors still took issue with a decision to build the judges' observation tower on top of a coral reef.

The surfing competition begins on Saturday at 1 p.m. EST with the preliminary rounds. Fans can read more about that and other little-known sports at the Paris Games here.

Austen Bundy

Austen Bundy is a journalist and sports junkie from the Washington, D. C. area

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