I’m concidering a relocation to either Western Australia or New South Wales but have a dilemma…
I’m pretty spoilt in Cornwall, if you forget winters single digit temps (celcius) and those two foot summer days where every beach goer in the world thinks they can surf, I can get a good wave most of the time. And it’s never far away. 10 mins too the local spots, 20 mins I have another hand full, and within 45 mins there are another 20 or so decent waves.
Will I be this spoilt in the Perth area or perhaps the Newcastle Area of NSW? I’ll happily drive 30 mins for a wave. But get a bit lazy going any further and I allways surf alone. Its my escape from humanity.
Don’t mind if I will have more longboard days than head highs, just dont want to move somewhere where I have weeks of blown out un surf able craaaaap
I’m not sure if it’s humour when you say you always surf alone. My recollection of Cornwall was anything but. Perth’s swell is blocked by Rottnest Island, which has waves, but requires a ferry to get to. Perth usually has small surf. The prime waves are further south around Margaret River or up north - both, are a lot further than a 30 minute drive. WA gets swell from the roaring 40s, so you get extremes of size and conditions. The Margaret River area has classic reef breaks. Compared to other east coast spots Newcastle, is a bit of a swell magnet, but it’s a large town with lots of surfers. It has quite a few surf spots. Driving (a lot further than 30 minutes) will get you to less crowded waves. Swellnet & Coastalwatch are sites with surf forecasts and cams, which you can check out to see what conditions look like. There are also many surf guides, that tell you about spots. Wave-finder Australia is one such book. Australia is a big place, you’ll have to re-evaluate your 30 minute limit. Seek and ye shall find, as they say.
Hey Billy, I’m from Perth, living in Bristol at the moment (almost 20years). Your move from Uk will guarantee an increase in surfers in the water and I agree with bgreen that you’ll be travelling more than 30min for waves, if you’re not walking distance to a break. Perth metro in summer has little (longboard) to no waves. However, I always found the 1-3 days after a winter storm the best waves (and fewer crowds).
I haven’t surfed Newcastle but loved the northern Sydney beaches when living there. Wherever you end up, travelling is something that you’ll want to do. Not just for a different type of wave but to see the country itself.
On another note - We’re heading back next year and will probably end up mid NSW coast (after sponging off the folks for a bit in Perth). Mainly because we haven’t lived there and there’s always a diffeent wave around the next headland.
I guess you surfed Cornwall in a school holiday or a weekend. I don’t surf at weekends for that reason! But no, I mean the process of going for a surf, it’s a solo persuit. If I see some friendly faces in the water, then great. I’ve managed to surf with a clear beach about 4 times in 3 years. Those are few and far between!
Thanks for the info, it looks like I’ll need to adjust for the travelling, its crazy how big it is and how few people there are Compared to the uk
I’d surfed from Ireland through Wales down to Cornwall, with crowds increasing as I went, though Devon was pretty crowded. I stayed at Sennen Cove for 5 days. I surfed a bay around Praa Sands that was less crowded, but generally there were quite a few boards around.