Credit: Dean Treml / Red Bull Content Pool
The water’s not that deep around the St. Pete Pier, but some of the world’s most extreme athletes will dive into it anyway this summer, because Red Bull.
Today, the energy drink announced that its “Cliff Diving World Series” has plans to come to St. Petersburg in June for two days of buttcheek-clenching leaps into Tampa Bay.
The event is the only U.S. stop in Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series’ six-date 2026 season.
This marks the series first foray into the Gulf Coast of the U.S.—and from where divers will jump remains to be seen. We’ll update this post when a rep from Red Bull gets back to us.
The United States Geological Survey says the average depth in most of Tampa Bay is only about 11 feet deep, noting the dredging for shipping channels has created spots as deep as 43 feet.
St. Petersburg-based charter captain Tyler de Jong told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the water around the base of the pier can be extremely shallow, especially given the about 2.5-foot change in depth that comes with the tide. It gets a bit deeper as you head out to the bay.
“The water around the pier is between 12-14 feet,” Capt. de Jong told CL, noting that depths reach about 20 feet about a half-mile from the pier, with other spots in a channel that runs from Vinoy basin into the Bay reaching 15 feet in depths at certain spots.
Red Bull says that in St. Pete, women athletes will jump from 69 feet while the guys go from 89 feet.
“In the two to three seconds of freefall between take-off and entry, the world’s best cliff divers execute complex multi-axis twists and somersaults before hitting the warm waters of the Gulf Coast below at close to 85 kph (53 mph),” the company added.
Red Bulls’s Cliff Diving Series is no stranger to seeing athletes plunge into shallow water, however, and has constructed platforms attached to piers and connected to rocky ledges.
Social media posts from Red Bull Cliff Diving say that athletes typically dive into water that is 3-5 meters in depth (about 10-16 feet). The spectacle also involves safety divers, inspections, a controlled environment and meticulous construction of platforms.
UPDATE 05/29/26 The company says the dive tower will face the North Yacht Basin. Spa Beach, Bayshore Drive NR, North Straub Park and the pier itself will have public access viewing points. “Large video screens will also be in place at North Straub Park, the Spa Beach area, and on a floating screen off Bayshore Drive. Spectators are also welcome to watch from the water.
Based on the company’s language about the basin, it’s safe to assume that Red Bull will build a platform somewhere north of the pier and east of nearby Spa Beach. Aerials of the location show that the space creates something of a natural amphitheater.
Athletes confirmed for Red Bull Cliff Diving’s St. Petersburg stop this June include Dutch diver Ginni van Katwijk, American Kaylea Arnett, Canada’s Molly Carlson, plus dudes like Spanish Diver Carlos Gimeno, Frenchman Gary Hunt, American James Lichtenstein. Without wild card entries, 15 divers are on the bill.
The event is obviously not Red Bull’s only foray into water-based activities, with Tampa hosting the infamous Red Bull Flugtag flying machine competition in 2008, 2011 and 2024. Should the cliff diving go well, don’t be surprised to see St. Pete claim the event next time its in town.
This is a developing post.
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This article appears in Mar. 26 – Apr. 1.
