The best surf beaches...

Some of Australia’s best surf beaches are located on the aptly named Surf Coast. All-year-round, the beaches attract a steady stream of surfers looking for the perfect wave. Usually, if their first choice isn’t “working”, surfers can travel on to find another beach that is. If not, and that’s a rarity, there are plenty of other things to do on the Surf Coast.

Wind, tides and swell combine with beach geography to produce the waves. In different combinations, they create varied beach conditions. West, north-west and north winds with mainly south-west swells can generate the best waves on Surf Coast beaches. The Australian Surfriders’ Association has a comprehensive guide to local surfing conditions that explains in detail all the variations and what to look for in your quest for the best waves. It also tells how weather patterns work and has maps with beach locations. It is available from Surfworld Museum and Visitor Information Centre in Torquay.

Some popular surf beaches are:

• Pt Impossible: near Torquay (for beginners/medium)
• Torquay: beach and point (beginners/medium)
• Jan Juc area: beach, Birdrock (beginners/Advanced)
• Bells Beach area: beaches include Winkipop, Bowl, Rincon,
• Centreside, Southside (medium/advanced)
• Pt Addis: beach, reef breaks (beginners/medium)
• Anglesea: beach breaks (Beginners)
• Pt Roadknight: beach/reef (beginners/medium)
• Fairhaven: beach breaks (beginners/medium)
• Boundary Rd, Aireys Inlet: reef breaks (medium)
• Eastern View: beach breaks (beginners/medium)
• Lorne: point, beach (beginners/medium)

Surfing saftey/weather info

While beaches are rated for beginners, medium and advanced, the ratings are only a general indication and people unfamiliar with local conditions should check first before entering the water. Never surf alone.
Rips are among the biggest dangers. A rip is a strong current running out to sea. Rips happen when water from broken waves flows back out to sea between sand banks.

What to look for:

• A darker colour because the water is deeper
• A calm rippled surface, generally with smaller waves
• Debris or foam floating on the surface out to sea
• Waves both sides of the rip are bigger than inside

If caught in a rip, stay calm. Tread water or float. Once out past the breakers, swim parallel to shore and catch waves in. Or signal for help and wait.

Australia has the world’s highest skin cancer rate. Two out of three Australians develop skin cancer in their lifetimes and 1,000 die from it every year. The sun’s ultra-violet radiation causes the most damage between 11am and 3pm, even on cooler days. There are ways to protect yourself:

• Slip on a shirt, preferably with closely woven fabric, long sleeves and a high collar.
• Slop on SPF 30+, water-restant sunscreen at least 20 minutes before sun exposure. Reapply regularly.
• Slap on a broad-brimmed hat.
• Protect your eyes with close-fitting sunglasses.

Weather Info

The latest weather information - wind, weather, swells, maps and more - is available from the Bureau of Meteorology’s website.
Visit the Bureau's comprehensive website

Riding a wave of history

Surfing came to Australia via Hawaii in 1915. It soon captured the imagination of locals and quickly built up a legion of devotees. A Geelong man who was in Sydney the day Hawaiin Duke Kahanamoku demonstrated the sport at a swimming carnival was a pioneer of the pastime on Surf Coast beaches. Australian culture was destined to change irrevocably when surfing was introduced to Sydneysiders on Freshwater Beach in 1915. Olympic swimming gold medallist, Duke Kahanamoku visited NSW for a series of swimming carnivals. During the
visit he was invited to give a surfboard riding exhibition. He promptly shaped a surfboard out of a solid piece of Queensland Sugar Pine and proceeded to capture the imagination of sporting Australians.

Lou Whyte brought surfing to Geelong. He was there on the day when the Duke glided across the waves. In 1919 he went to Hawaii and bought 4 surfboards. Whyte and four of his friends would ride them at Lorne point. They were too cumbersome to take home so they would bury their boards in the sand ready for the next weekend.

In 1956 surfing took off with American Malibus at a surf carnival in Torquay during the 1956 Olympics. A crowd of 65,000 were "blown away". These new boards were more manoeuvrable and lighter than anything before, and the development saw surfing become more accessible and popular. Soon a whole way of life had developed around surfing and the search for the perfect wave. Long-haired surfers could be seen cruising the more popular beaches in beaten-up old cars full of friends, surfboards and good humour.

Surf competitions sponsored by large companies have helped raise the profile of the sport. It is now one of the most popular in the world.

The best place to learn more about the history of surfing in Australia is Surfworld Surfing Museum Torquay, the world’s largest surfing museum.

Dropping in, dropping out

Two of the world's biggest names in surfing paraphernalia were conceived, nurtured and now thrive in the Surf Coast's capital, Torquay. Their founders were surfers who started their businesses in back rooms, eventually dropping out of their "normal" occupations to pursue their love of the sport and its lifestyle.
Big Names and Their Small Beginnings
The surf and beach are integral parts of Australian culture, hardly surprising given that 95% of Australians live within an hour's drive of the beach. For some, surfing and the beach rule every facet of their lives; the way they dress, speak and act. It is quite a lucrative way of life for those few who saw the sport's potential when it was in its infancy. The timing was perfect for opportunistic young surfers such as Fred Pyke, Doug Warbrick, Brian Singer and John Law to carve out an industry.

Fred Pyke's small glassing bay was to provide an important start for many surfers. He eventually created Piping Hot. Some of his apprentices, Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer, began making surfboards in 1969. They came up with the name Rip Curl (rip the curl) and proceeded to expand their business from surfboards to wetsuits. In 1970 they realised that while many people were now shaping boards, only two companies were making wetsuits to combat the cold. Today Rip Curl has become Australia's largest surf goods maker with licensees in the USA, France, South Africa, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Peru & Chile.

Quiksilver began with Alan Green and John Law in the late ‘60s chasing a dream, "to live and work in Torquay and go surfing". They started a small operation making good quality boardshorts designed for surfing. Quiksilver creates quality surf, snow and street wear throughout Europe, Brazil, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Turkey, Indonesia and Australia.

Today the Torquay surf industry has an annual turnover in excess of $400m and generates more than $40m in export income a year.

Learn to surf

Would you like to learn how to surf? It is easier than you think. Beginner boards are very stable, small swells are available everywhere and the experts are ready.

There is no better place to master the art of surfing than Torquay, the Surfing Capital of Australia. Skilled instructors from local surf schools - Go Ride a Wave, Southern Exposure, OffShore Surf School, Torquay Surfing Academy and Westcoast Surf School, and - will soon have you standing on a board, looking like a professional. Age is no barrier to learning to have fun on a surfboard.