Perth

Queensland Holidays

The sun is shining, the golden sands are glistening and the water is cool and blue. Your surfboard is waxed and ready. The waves are breaking just offshore in an enticing crash of foam. Surf’s up in Australia.

You can take surf lessons across the nation, from Sydney’s Bondi Beach in the east to Perth’s Scarborough Beach in the west. But for a real adventure, why not try a surfing safari?

Experience golden sandy beaches on a surfing safari

Several companies offer multi-day trips with the most popular area being the run north from Sydney to beachside Byron Bay. 

One of the major surfing operators on this route is MojoSurf http://www.mojosurf.com/ which runs a series of surf camps, surf adventures, surf stays, and advanced training courses.

Their most popular trip is the five-day Great Aussie Surf Adventure, which starts off at Sydney and ends in Byron Bay. In the opposite direction, the trip leaves from either Brisbane or Byron Bay.

Setting out from Sydney, the first stop is their remote Crescent Head camp, where you stay for three days and two nights. Guests used to stay in tents, but these days there is a modern four-star, hostel-rated surf hut just a few steps from the sand. There are four to eight beds in each dorm room.

“It’s a lifestyle thing, you wake up on the beach, hang out on the beach all day and it’s a real good isolated camp feel,” says Ian Lennie, a surf instructor with Mojosurf. “Then at night you sit around a fire-pit area, have a few beers, sing a few songs, someone gets out a guitar…” 

From Crescent Head the coach heads north to Camp X, located in “a secret spot somewhere north of Coffs Harbour and south of Byron Bay”, where you spend two nights.

There are seven surf lessons in all, each lasting between two and three hours each. The first couple of lessons focus on ocean awareness, and at the end of the trip “ninety-eight per cent of people are standing up on their board and catching waves,” Lennie says.

“But it’s not just about surfing,” he continues, “it’s more about enjoying the Australian beach and surf lifestyle.”

Between 20 and 30 people take the five-day trip with MojoSurf every week, with the numbers increasing in summer when up to 50 people – mostly backpackers – head off at the same time. 

Also following the route up to Byron Bay, which was blazed by Sydney surfers in the early 1960’s after the introduction of the Malibu surfboard, is Surfaris http://www.surfaris.com/.
  
Their five-day adventure is also the most popular, though the company also runs four-day and six-day safaris. The only stop on the five-day trip is at its comfortable lodge at Crescent Head. The lodge has dorms sleeping either four to six people, with an average of 15 to 20 guests. Surfers can also opt for a motel room.

The company has the use of up to 12 beaches, which each has their own character. “We surf at places depending on the wind, tides and swell and actively search out the best conditions,” says the company’s director, Ross Kessler. 

“Because we surf off national park beaches we get to see plenty of wildlife. We always see kangaroos, and plenty of reptiles and dingos,” he says. “We spot dolphins about 95 percent of the time and we often surf on the same waves with them. We also have close encounters with whales in the bay too and some of the nature walks are stunning.”

It’s always a “happy family” that arrives in Byron Bay, he says, and they all go out and party afterwards.

Another company that runs surf trips on this route is Waves Surf School, based in Byron Bay. Again, their most popular trip is the five-day Sydney to Byron Bay trip, though they also run four-day and seven-day trips to and from the same places.

The company takes around 30 people on each trip, spending two nights in cabins at Seal Rocks, two nights in similar accommodation at Scotts Head and one night in a pub at the fishing village of Maclean, which calls itself The Scottish Town in Australia.

“People get  a sun tan and find some new mates, when they arrive into town they’re all set up,” says Matt Goodall, the company’s Managing Director. “You get to surf remote, beautiful sandy beaches that are learner friendly. You might look at some place like Bali and think that it sounds exotic, but there you are surfing over coral reefs and you come out all cut up.”

The use of remote beaches means you don’t have to worry about getting in the way of more experienced surfers either, he says. 

You can travel the NSW North Coast living the surfer’s dream of freedom, travel, good waves and good times with Travel Aust http://www.travelaust.com.au/ too. This company also runs tours from Sydney to Byron Bay, and vice versa. 

The company’s instructors will take you through the basics of standing up, paddling, turning, taking the drop, and cutting across waves. At night you stay in comfortable cabin accommodation, including a purpose-built surf camp at Seal Rocks – a place reached by dirt road, and long considered to be one of the last coastal frontiers in New South Wales.

Over the border in Queensland, Ride On Tours http://www.rideontours.com/ offers several great surfing adventures, including trips around North Stradbroke Island off Brisbane, and to the iconic Surfers Paradise. Packages are available that include surfing, snorkelling and diving activities and each can be tailored to suit all styles and budgets. 

Meanwhile, Beach Bum Australia http://www.beachbumaustralia.com/ offers surf safaris lasting up to three days between Noosa, Brisbane, Surfers Paradise and Byron Bay.

In Victoria, Great Ocean Road Surf Tours http://www.gorsurftours.com.au/ offer multi-day trips to Torquay, the home of Australian Surf Culture.

Torquay is the birthplace of iconic surf brands Rip Curl and Quiksilver. It’s also the home of the longest running professional surfing contest, the Rip Curl Pro. This has been held at the world-famous surfing hotspot of Bells Beach every Easter since 1961.

Great Ocean Road Tours arranges small-group surfing lessons and accommodation in Torquay.

Elsewhere, Surf Culture Australia does surf safaris to the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia,  and Surf and Sun run three, four and five-day surf camps on the Fleurieu Peninsula, leaving from Adelaide. 

In Western Australia, Discover West offers a South West Surfing Safari Tour. The four-day trip starts off with a bus journey from Perth to Albany, before heading back via some of the best surf beaches along the beautiful coastal route. (Written by Marc Llewellyn, photo:Tourism Australia)