Queensland

Where to surf in Queensland

Queensland encapsulates the quintessential Aussie surfing culture that has been exported across the world. Warm, sub-tropical waters, golden coralline beaches and some of the most voluptuous, coveted waves on the continent are lorded over by the most competitive frothers in the country. Even the region names of Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast leave little doubt that Queensland is truly a surfer's paradise for all levels of surfer from Noosa cruiser to Superbank tube pig, providing you don't mind sharing with 100 or so "mates"!

Northern Queensland

Above the Sunshine Coast zone there are more opportunities for regular waves before the Great Barrier Reef cuts off the swell supply. Fraser Island has some attractive righthanders over the shifting sandbars that build up in the lee of Indian Head and Waddy Point, but the shark threat is off the scale.

Around Bundaberg a number of little towns with rocky beaches hold small waves. Check around Bargara then head up to Agnes Water for a righthand point and regulation beachbreaks. 1770 has a sandspit in Bustard Bay that is great for SUPing, but keep an eye out for Tony the (large) tiger shark.

The Great Barrier Reef begins 85km due east of here and extends for 2300km northwestwards, and is the great unknown in surfing terms. Only locals with sturdy boats will ever be dropping anchor at one of the myriad passes that need summer tropical storms or strong windswell to work. The tourist frequented islands in the south have been surfed like Lady Musgrave and others nearby, but finding the right reef-line or a break in the reef, while there is swell and good winds, is unlikely without proper local knowledge.

Back on the mainland, there are probably only a handful of good surf days and a few dozen marginal ones when storm events bring messy surf to coastal towns for the desperate, willing to risk box jellyfish, sharks and maybe even saltwater crocs in the far north. Cyclones bring rain and lots of it so surfing in brown, possibly polluted waters with howling, often onshore winds is the deal.

Yeppoon and Mackay have regularly surfed waves during the Oct-March season in both SE windslop and NE-E cyclone swell. Whitsunday Island's famous Whitehaven Beach will occasionally catch NE swell. Townsville area has shifting sandbars offshore of Alva, while Florence Bay is the best of a few breaks on Magnetic Island, which picks up the most SE windswell and any N-NE groundswell. Mission Beach will have windslop at Bingil Bay and Cowley after 48hrs of continuous SE wind over 25km/h. Hinchinbrook and Great Palm islands have some opportunities for boaters.

North of Cairns check Double Island and the small beaches below the cliffs en route to 4 Mile at Port Douglas. Those heading right up to Cape Tribulation may find a righthander in front of the camp site after heavy trade winds. Cooktown has dribble at Cherry Tree, Finch Bay and Archer Point, but north of here gets very marginal.

The next stop for any regularly surfed waves is Darwin, since the Gulf Of Carpentaria and Arnhem Land offer little chance of surf. A die-hard crew of city surfers await the month of rare, wet season cyclone swells to push into Darwin's gently shelving beaches at Nightcliff Beach, Rapid Creek or Dripstone Cliffs at Casuarina. It's only rideable for a very short tidal window in brown, turbid water which doesn't help with croc, shark and stinger paranoia.