Summary
Located just a couple hours south of Brisbane and an hour north of Byron Bay, the Gold Coast of Australia is one of the world’s most popular surfing hub, having brought up some of the best surfers of all time in Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson.
The Gold Coast has several high-quality surf spots like Duranbah Beach, Snapper Rocks and Kirra which are all very consistent throughout the year.
In the early 2000’s, the city council and surfing community decided to change the surfing scenery on the Gold Coast by pouring huge amount of sand near Snapper Rocks, in Coolangatta.
Since then, Superbank is a world-class wave that stretches all the way from Snapper Rocks to Kirra, making it Australia’s longest wave.
When to go
The best time to surf the Gold Coast of Australia is from February to April which happens to be during cyclone season bringing decent ground swells on the coast. However, Gold Coast is gifted with great waves on an annual basis making it a very consistent surfing destination.
| January-February | March-April | May-June | July-August | September-October | November-December | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suitable for: | All surfers | All surfers | All surfers | All surfers | All surfers | All surfers |
| Air temperature | 25°C 77°F | 23°C 73°F | 18°C 64°F | 15°C 59°F | 19°C 66°F | 22°C 72°F |
| Water temperature | 24°C 75°F | 23°C 73°F | 21°C 70°F | 19°C 66°F | 20°C 68°F | 22°C 72°F |
| Crowd | Very crowded | Very crowded | Fairly crowded | Fairly crowded | Fairly crowded | Very crowded |
| Swell consistency | 65% | 85% | 80% | 70% | 60% | 60% |
| Swell height | 4ft | 6ft | 6ft | 7ft | 5ft | 5ft |
Where to stay
Coolangatta, on the southern end of the Gold Coast is greatly located to get access the best surf spots in the area including Snapper Rocks and Rainbow Bay.
Best Surf Hotels in Coolangatta
Best Value : Cook’s Endeavour Motor Inn and Greenmount Beach House
High-end : Oaks Gold Coast Calypso Plaza and Mantra Coolangatta Beach
Browse our interactive map to find the best accommodation deals in Gold Coast!
Surf spots on the Gold Coast
Snapper Rocks
Wave direction : Right
Bottom : Sand
Best tide : Any
Skill level : Any
Optimal swell direction : E
Optimal wind direction : W
Snapper Rocks is the first point break at the very end of Rainbow Bay and is one of Australia’s most iconic surf spot. Every year, the World Surf League makes it one of its stop for the Championship Tour allowing the best surfers to compete at this venue. Snapper Rocks is a right-hander that breaks over superbank, a man made sand bar. This surf spot is extremely consistent and works on pretty much any easterly swell. On an epic day, the point break connects all the way down to Kirra, several hundred meters up the coast.
Duranbah Beach (Dbah)
Wave direction : Right and left
Bottom : Sand
Best tide : Any
Skill level : Any
Optimal swell direction : SE
Optimal wind direction : W
2 thoughts on “Gold Coast, Australia”
Comments are closed.