Professional divers will jump from a custom-built tower on the St. Pete Pier this weekend. Within three seconds of the freefall, the athletes can reach speeds of 53 miles per hour.
For the first time, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series will be brought to Florida. The free event, which is the 2026 season’s only U.S. stop, takes place Friday and Saturday.
Twenty four individuals will compete.
Men will jump from a platform 89 feet high, while women will reach heights up to 70 feet. The dive tower will be positioned facing the North Yacht Basin.
The athletes will complete four jumps over the course of the two days. Five judges will “assess each dive on take-off, position in the air and entry in the water,” according to Red Bull’s website. The dives will then receive a score from zero to 10.
Kaylea Arnett will be one of the 12 females participating at the St. Petersburg stop. In an April interview with the Catalyst, she explained that “cliff diving is growing, but it’s still under the radar for a lot of people.”
“When they see it live, it’s a totally different experience than watching it on TV or Instagram,” Arnett continued. “When you actually hear how loud it is when we go in the water, it sounds like a gunshot and to see the actual scale of the platforms, it’s not for the faint of heart.”
Initial rounds are scheduled for Friday from 12:30 – 2:15 p.m. Saturday’s activities are a pre-show at 12:30 p.m., final rounds from 1:00 – 2:45 p.m. and an awards ceremony at 2:45 p.m. Attendees can enter the event site starting at 10 a.m.
There will be a variety of public viewing areas, including points at Spa Beach, Bayshore Drive N.E., North Straub Park and on the St. Pete Pier itself.
Video screens will also be installed in North Straub Park and the Spa Beach area. A floating screen will be located off Bayshore Drive.
Guests can watch the rounds from the water as well. Boats are permitted within the North Yacht Basin on a “first come, first served basis,” according to Red Bull’s website. Additionally, paddle boards, kayaks and non-motorized vessels are allowed. However, attendees will not be able to swim in the area.
The annual Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, which was introduced in 2009 in La Rochelle, France, has a history dating back almost 30 years. In 1997, the first Red Bull Cliff Diving World Championships event was held in Brontallo, Switzerland.
Rankings were not initially a part of the experience. The sport evolved and the number of athletes interested grew over time.
According to Red Bull’s website, cliff diving originated in Hawaii. King Kahekili “first leaped from the holy cliffs of Kaunolo in the 1700s.”
The 2026 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, which previously made a stop in Bali, Indonesia, is also scheduled to hold events in Copenhagen, Denmark; Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Polignano a Mare, Italy and Muscat, Oman.
