Does anyone here know the best surf spots in Australia? I'm looking for both specific and general areas (there may be a consistently good spot at some town in Queensland, but some other state/territory may be better overall, for example).

http://www.altavista.com/r?ck_sm=4b90ca41&ci=4939&av_tc=null&q=where+to+surf+in+australia&rpos=6&rpge=1&rsrc=U&ref=200020080&uid=c4b11453b090e03&r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.killersurflinks.com%2F

Originally posted by Galt
Does anyone here know the best surf spots in Australia? I'm looking for both specific and general areas (there may be a consistently good spot at some town in Queensland, but some other state/territory may be better overall, for example).

There are many places that can be classified as good surf spots in Australia. However the weather does play a big part in the surf conditions and it's always advisable to check the weather report as they will tell you where the best places are for each day.

Places where the surf is usually good on the southeast end of Queensland:
Most of the open beaches of the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast Queensland (eg Coolum, Sunrise Beach, Sunshine Beach, Kings Beach at Caloundra, etc - on the sunshine coast)
Greenmount (Gold Coast - Queensland)
Kirra Beach (as above)
Burleigh Heads (as above)
Currumbin Beach on the open beach side (as above)
The Spit (also known as the sea way spit or sea world spit (as above)
Back beaches of the Tweed coast (Gold Coast - Queensland and New South Wales border)
Byron Bay usually the back beaches have the best breaks and other open beaches (northern New South Wales).
The Mid North Coast of New South Wales also have some good spots. I spent a couple of weeks at Port Stephens in NSW last year and the open beaches there were pretty good as well.

Victoria:
Sorrento back beaches have been known to have good breaks from time to time.
Bells Beach and Torquay
Open beaches on the Bellarine Peninsula
Flinders Beach
Sandy Point (been there a few times and the surf was good)
90 mile beach can also bring up some good breaks
Woolamai


Those are the beaches I've been to while I lived in Victoria and the surf was pretty good each time and the Queensland beaches I am there most free days since I moved here... lol. I hope it helped.




:eek:

and us brits just have to make to with bloody Cornwall:( .....no disrespect to Cornwall (which is actually a gorgeous part of England) but Bondai beach it ain't.

Is it hard to learn how to surf? I've always wanted to try it.

Hey Wraith :p

Is it hard to learn how to surf? I've always wanted to try it.
No it's not hard at all. Just need to have some semblance of balance and basically practice makes perfect. The hardest part at first is actually catching the wave, it's all in the timing really. And then the second hardest part is actually standing and keeping balance at the same time as it does wobble and you can find yourself slipping and sliding on the board lol.

You start off on the really small waves and after a few goes, you start to find yourself staying upright for longer and longer. After that you just keep practicing and gradually going into bigger breaks. You need to know how to swim very well as would be expected.. lol. But it's all really in the timing and maintaining balance. And the majority of people get the hang of that in a day or so.



:eek:

Watch out for the GREAT WHITE SHARKS while your learning, they like newbees!!

For foreigners It seems in australia surfing is really survival of the fittest

Cheers for the list! I'm headin up to QLD after new years. Only just learnin, I can stand up but I cant get enough speed up. I think the waves are too small where I'm from (thats right, blame the waves) Caught a few though and that is enough to make me keep tryin! Gotta get a rashee, damn them sore nipples!

Originally posted by Vortexx
For foreigners It seems in australia surfing is really survival of the fittest
It could be worse. Try going for a swim in some rivers in South East Brazil and you could find yourself losing chunks of flesh to piranhas (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3346301.stm).

Now it appears that many people, including tourists, like to go swimming in the river and also in streams, however, due to the damming of the river Rio Mogi Guacu, these charming toothy fish now have the perfect conditions in which to breed in large quantities.
But four years ago, injuries due to piranha bites began to be recorded in the town. They reached a peak in the late summer of 2002. Over five weekends in 2002, 38 piranha attacks were recorded.

The rise in attacks has occurred since a dam was built on the river.

Makes you want to just dive in don't it... lol

Professor Sazima says damming rivers may cause as much as a ten-fold increase in piranha numbers.
Oh my. And it appears that just walking or wading at the river's edge can cause you to lose some flesh...

"Single bites are caused mainly by the people walking and wading in the waters nearby a piranha nest," says Professor Sazima.

The fish usually bite their victims once, ripping a chunk out of the person and leaving a round, crater-shaped wound with accompanying loss of tissue and bleeding.

One of the people bitten during the outbreak at Santa Cruz of Conceicao had to have their toe amputated. But there are even worse tales of aggression by the fish.

Worse tales of aggression by such a tiny fish???

Over the years, numerous stories of people being attacked and eaten by ferocious schools of piranhas have surfaced.

The authors of this paper claim there is little scientific evidence to support such behaviour.

They say at least three of the people supposedly killed by schools of piranhas actually died from heart failure or drowning and were only feasted on by the creatures after they expired.


Hmmm they were feasted on. Charming.

And yes, I'm quite aware that some of you will point out that in our northern rivers here in Australia we have crocodiles. But I was only pointing out that it's not just in Australia that water sports is seen to be the survival of the fittest:p. Sigh... I best shut up now before I dig a bigger hole for myself lol..

also, I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that in certain parts of south America men are warned against urinating in the river because of a type of fish which is attracted to urea, and have been known to swim up the urine sream into the man's urethra, casusing pain which is said to be "undescribable" (No shit sherlock!!!!) and the fish have to be "extracted" from the penis.................

sweet mary mother of jesus!!!!!

fu-huck that!!!!

:D

Now that would be a story for the grandkids:D...

'Grandpa once had a fish swim up his peepee'... 'it made Grandpa cry'..:p

hehehehehe



:eek:

The candiru is a member of the catfish family and can be found in lakes and streams of the Amazon region. It's tiny – only about an inch long – and, according to the Enyclopedia Britannica, "has been known to enter the urethras of bathers and swimming animals." That's hardly the worst of it.

"Once in the passage," the Britannica continues, "it erects the short spines on its gill covers and may thereby cause inflammation, hemorrhage, and even death to the victim." And the little bugger can only be removed by surgery.

bloody hell!



http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa071900a.htm

Originally posted by Wraith
The candiru is a member of the catfish family and can be found in lakes and streams of the Amazon region. It's tiny – only about an inch long – and, according to the Enyclopedia Britannica, "has been known to enter the urethras of bathers and swimming animals." That's hardly the worst of it.

"Once in the passage," the Britannica continues, "it erects the short spines on its gill covers and may thereby cause inflammation, hemorrhage, and even death to the victim." And the little bugger can only be removed by surgery.

bloody hell!



http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa071900a.htm

Wraith, jesus, you've made me cross my legs after reading that:(.

Just the thought of it...:(



:eek:

yup.

Somehow good Ol' Cornwall doesn't seem quite so bad now.......

:D

heh...

I don't think I'll ever complain about getting dumped in the surf again. I don't think I'll ever complain about the blue bottles either after reading that. They seem almost pleasant in comparison. The only treatment required if stung by one of those is an ice-pack for about 5 minutes. It does not impede on peeing :(....


:eek:

yeah but Bells you guys in Oz have some serious bugs and creepy crawlies.

Yeah we do. Ugh... Some of the spiders we get out here can get pretty big. I ran screaming from the garage the other day after there was one that was as big as the span of my hand sitting on my car. My skin crawls just thinking about it:(. Unfortunately I live right next door to what can be classified as bush/forest and I get all types of wildlife... from cute and cuddly to ones I run screaming from in fear and terror. But you get used to it and move on. And when you see the non cuddly wild life you either walk or run (like me) in the opposite direction... lol..

But we can see them. They're big enough to see. They don't lurk in the water and crawl up places that require surgery to remove them and nor do they cause pain while peeing...:p



:eek:

White tipped spiders are pretty nasty, what with the gangrene an all that. I know someone who got bitten on the hand. It healed ok but every year on the anniversary of getting bitten the place where the bite was swells up and goes red. How weird is that! :confused:

hmmm true, but not everyone has that reaction to them. A friend of mine was bitten and nearly died while another friend had been bitten by one and had no problems at all. I'm just glad that in Queensland where I am we dont get them. In the 7 years since I moved here I've never seen one. Seen everything else but not the white tail:D.



:eek:

I killed one about two days ago on my shower curtain rail!