The Maitland Toyota Open, part of the ASP World Qualifying Series and the wider annual Surfest, is Australia's largest surfing event, held at Merewether beach in Newcastle. Four-time world champion and local resident Mark Richards is the event's patron.

With the town only 162km (100 miles) north of Sydney, there is always a high level of competition, and pro surfers from all over Australasia and the rest of the world thrash it out in the water. Other events featured during the week include women, indigenous and junior competitions, as well as scholastics and long-boards.

Competitive surfing is organised by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) along a two-tier system. The highest level is the World Championship Tour (WCT), where the top men and women compete for the crown of World Champion throughout the year.

The second tier is the World Qualifying Series (WQS), which has about 40 competitions per year. The top WQS surfers strive to make enough championship points to break into the following year's championship tour, but the events are also a great opportunity for local surfers to showcase their skills.