A good friend of mine might have to re-locate to melbourne, oz. He wants me to ask how the waves are in melbourne and how frequent are they? Thanks.
Austin S.
well, I posted on another thread…
" Australia…for those who asked " … but since not many looked at it, I renamed it “Australia…surf spots” […hehe…] …still not too many “hits” !
… so, here’s ANOTHER part of the map, just for him ?!
As you can see, Melbourne is in a bay*…Port Phillip Bay. So , it doesn’t get waves. But if you drive south / south east or west and south…well…
Wildy would know how long it takes…he used to live near where it says ‘wonthaggi’ on the map.
I hope this helps
ben
oh yeah, and it’s the SOUTHERN ocean…colder than the Pacific , or Indian…but if your mate’s from maybe northern cali , he may not notice too much of a difference in water temps ?
*SYDNEY , however, is right on the coast…50 miles of surfable beaches from the north to the south…
living in melbourne is 3 hours of driving to reach the surf.
wow thats quite a drive to get some surf. thanks for the responses. chipfish i live on the east coast of the united states. our water temps vary from 75-32 F. Thanks again.
Austin S.
Hey Austin, I replied but it swallowed it somehow.
Three hours is a bit extreme, unless there’s lots of traffic.
From the inner city, I’ve driven to Point Leo on the Mornington Penninsula in a bit over an hour, not the best waves.
An hour and a half to the bridge on Phillip Island. I spent years there and there are lots of waves, one of the most consistent places I 've ever lived. Not always quality but rarely small, and 360 degree weather conditions.
Or an hour and a half to the west coast, Torquay, Bells etc.
Of course you can drive further and be further from the crowds.
Melbourne has lots of surfers, most surf mainly weekends on any of these coasts, and many rip considering they only surf weekends.
Cold, but I’m sure no colder than norcal. Lots of secret spots if you are willing to go off track and search. A great state to surf
If you want more specifics PM me, no probs, and although I haven’t been or lived there for quite a while, I’m sure some places haven’t changed much.
Austin,
Wildy has pretty much covered it - Melbs is on a bay (no surf) and is 1 - 1.5 hours to the eastern beaches of Mornington Peninsula (Wildy covered some options here) and 1.5 hrs (in good traffic) to the west for the surf coast (Torquay, Bells, Winki and many other places… also home to Rip Curl, Quiksilver Aust. and many fine surfboard manufacturers)
Different people have different prefs on which way to go for surf and most will tend to go one way or the other (I tend for the west and go to the surf coast) Both ways have quality breaks with varying levels of experience and it usually just comes down to where you grew up surfing. Being a new comer, your friend will have the benefit of trying both coasts and sampling the many breaks before deciding on a favorite… tell him not to worry, there is a lot to choose from 
If your friend is working in Melbs, it is a little hard to get down for a surf in the morning before work due to traffic for the usual commuters but weekends are a good option.
My main word of advice is GET A WETSUIT Water gets down to 10 or 12 degress celcius in winter (not sure on farenheit conversion) but it is bloody cold and the winter conditions are the best, so a wetsuit is a must… many good options for wetsuits once he gets here though… after all, Rip Curl started making wetsuits in Torquay so that they could surf the breaks down here all year round
There is also a book that will help out called “Surfing Victoria” by Richard Loverage. Your friend will be able to pick it up at book shops or surf shops once he gets here. If he can’t find it, let me know as I know of a few places in Melbourne that stock it.
Hope this helps.
-Cam
conversion of F to C in degrees.
they tell me you double it and add 30. always works for me.
12 = 24 + 30 or 54
Chip says to add 15 then double it, it’s the same thing anyway but it is just the way you remember it easiest.
i don’t like the cold, i surf in Newcastle and wear a wetuit on summer mornings mostly.
to clarify…
12 degrees celsius = 12 + 15 x2 = 27 x 2 = 54 degrees fahrenheit…
this works as a ROUGH guide…looking at the thermometer in front of me at the moment , I’m seeing that
38 degrees celsius = 100 degrees fahrenheit [ by the other ways 38 + 15 , x 2 = [ 106 degrees fahrenheit, so you can see…it’s not 100% accurate], or other [Luke’s] way: -
38 X 2 , +30 = 106 degrees fahrenheit...yep, same 6 degrees hotter than the thermometer says....
anyway , not to get too anal about it…the aussie attitude of she’ll be right mate predominates, and you’ll probably be right with :
" **** mate…pretty ******* hot , isn’t it ?"
ben
(Celcius X 9/5) + 32 = Fahrenheit.
(Fahrenheit - 32) X 5/9 = Celcius
50F sounds better than 40F.
I’m with chip on that one.
In Vic it can be pretty ####### hot, pretty ####### cold, and sometimes pretty ####### windy.
In general the west coast is better in winter, others have lots of beachies in summer, but I am generalising.
But Vic has very consistent waves compared to most parts of the world, the roaring forties is a good swell generator.
Have fun, and in winter no laces or buttons, helps getting dressed after a cold surf.
Coldest water I’ve ever been in was at Phillip Island in Spring. The wind and water comes straight up there from Antarctica. Not what a Queensland boy was ready for. Absolutely awesome waves at Flynn’s Reef though. Worth putting up with the cold water for a couple of days before scurrying back to the sub tropics to thaw out.
Quote:
Coldest water I’ve ever been in was at Phillip Island in Spring. The wind and water comes straight up there from Antarctica. Not what a Queensland boy was ready for. Absolutely awesome waves at Flynn’s Reef though. Worth putting up with the cold water for a couple of days before scurrying back to the sub tropics to thaw out.
Theres no such thing as winter on the goldcoast!
Wildy is right, Vic is very consistant. If you are in Melbourne and have time for the drive you can get quality waves on west coast or east coast 3-4 days out of a week. www.swellnet.com.au is pretty accurate 5 days out from any given forecast, so if you’ve got the kind of job that allows you to get a morning off at short notice you’ll be doing a lot of surfing - get the book metioned earlier Bells/winki isn’t the full story by any means. Get a top of the line 4/3 with hood and booties for June- Aug. Summer - you still need a 3/2 most days.
When you get to oz, go to a book store and buy Mark Warrens atlas of Australian Surfing travellers edition . It will tell you everthing you would like to know