Beachfest 2025: Skimboarding takes over Dash Point State Park

Published 12:18 pm Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Federal Way has a near 20-year history with the sport of skimboarding, a legacy that has continued now with Logan Davidson as he is preparing to host Beachfest for the fourth year in a row after filling a void back in 2022.

On July 12, fans and around 40 participants will flock to Dash Point State Park to compete across three divisions. The first division consists of under-16s, followed by amateur, then professional. The director Davidson will be competing in the professional division.

“People of all skill levels come out. The U-16 and amateur divisions are pretty chill. Nobody is taking it too seriously. But the pro division is a little bit more serious, but we all know each other so it is a fun time,” Davidson said.

Davidson graduated from Decatur High School in 2010, and along with friends and classmates, took up the board sport in the perfect location.

“I’ve been going down to Dash Point to skimboard for like a couple decades now. There are a still people saying, ‘Look at them boogie boarding or surfing,’ but then I’d have to say, ‘No this is something different.’ It’s a good way to reach out to people and let them know it is a thing,” Davidson said.

What’s unique about Dash Point is that it gives “flatland” skimboarders the chance to be creative. Ramps, boxes and rails are obstacles that skimboarders can use on their runs. Flatland skimboarding is best with one to three inches of water, which the participant will use to throw their board and “skim” right on the thin layer of water.

It’s the perfect mix between skateboarding and snowboarding, creating an interesting avenue for tricks and competitions.

“Skateboarding you can flip and shove your board, but you can’t spin on a box or a rail. A snowboard allows you to do that, but you can’t shove or flip your board. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy it because there is a such a variety of tricks that you don’t get in anything else,” Davidson said.

Skimboard culture is uniquely Federal Way, and for such an underrepresented sport, it is important to have Beachfest and give the community a chance to see what skimboarding is all about, he said.

“The sport brings people together. I make friends every year and we end up skimming together over the summer. For the sport it is really good, it’s bringing people together and it doesn’t even need to be a competition for that,” Davidson said.

DB Skimboards, a company that began around Dash Point, used to host skimboard competitions in Federal Way. From 2003-2016, the DB Dash Point open was the marquee skimboard event in Washington state. But this year, the company is a sponsor for Davidson.

“DB helped flatland skimboarding become what it is today. There are a lot of people who influence it, but DB had a massive influence on the sport, especially locally. Most people are riding a DB board around here,” Davidson said.

Along with DB, Davidson has assembled a couple of other sponsors for the event and they are contributing to the prize pool for the winners this year.

“This year we’ve got a decent amount of sponsors, so we’ve got some cash prizes and other fun little prizes for people. We’ll have music playing and an emcee. We are trying to make it fun and family friendly,” Davidson said.