Beginner family looking for surf destination tips

[JDEE]

hi!

I will be traveling with my family (my wife and two daughters aged 13 & 9) for an extended period and are planning to learn to surf and i'm hoping you may have some recommendations.

We currently plan to be in Bali/Indonesia area around March, Australia in April/May and Costa Rica/Central America May/June. My family are all beginners having surfed a couple times. On a good day i might be a low intermediate but my concern is mostly their enjoyment.

Would love any family friendly tips on:
- Good beaches to learn at those destinations and/or nearby?
- Surfing conditions for beginners during those months?
- Recommendations on affordable places to stay, surf schools?
- And any other tips you are willing to share!

Thanks!
J

[dtc]

Australia and Costa Rica have more surf beaches suitable for your level than you can ever hope to surf. Esp east coast Australia. Bali has one or two but they are generally not great - still, Kuta beach has are plenty of surf schools (the best itself is ok for white water level beginners but not always best for 'just above beginner' level) and there are a couple of slightly out of the way camps that may be suitable. Costa Rica has some of the best live in surf school in the world, if you are able to pay a little bit more; or some more basic schools. You arent going to be short of options.

There are quite a few Australians on the forum (including me); if you let us know where you plan to be then we can give you more than enough suggestions - its a big place, no point in giving you suggestions for Victoria if you are planning to be in Western Australia or Queensland. Will you have your own gear? How are you planning on moving around (car, public transport etc).

April/May is one of the best times for east coast Australia at your level; the waves havent built up to winter swell yet, the water is at its warmest for the year and the air temp is often still really good, but often the strong summer offshore winds are not there. April is probably my favourite time to surf.

[JDEE]

thanks dtc,

appreciate the response! Our loose plan is to make our way from South (Victoria) to North (Queensland) with some surfing stops along the way. Ideally something laid back and family friendly where we can settle in for a while. Thought was to rent a campervan or car and make our way up so we have some flexibility on where we go. For gear, the thought was to rent as we moved along if that made sense? any particular towns, beaches or companies come to mind?

Thx,
J

[dtc]

Mate, from Vic to Noosa in Qld is basically all beaches! I'm going to recommend places that will be interesting places to stay as well as having surfing.

Your problem is probably going to be renting equipment. Some, but not many, surfshops along the way will probably have gear to rent, but outside of the bigger towns/cities there wont be much, at least until you get to Nth NSW and then to Noosa, where you can rent things very easily. Other than coughing up for some boards at the start and then trying to sell them at the end, I'm not sure how you get around this. Getting a second hand board, or a cheap pop out new board, wont be hard; and may well work out cheaper (eg a pop out might cost you $500; a second hand board $300; renting a board for a day might cost $50). You might be able to sell a board for $50 to $100 at the end, around Noosa etc. I guess it depends on whether you want to surf a lot or just here or there.

I don’t know Victoria all that well, but from Melbourne I would go to Wilson's Promontory. Beautiful nature park, lots of birds, hikes and beaches. If you are there over Easter its probably booked out but outside of school holidays it should be fine, esp mid week.

From there around to the NSW border there are beaches but they are a bit wild and isolated and not always the best for surfing (90 mile beach has a massive sideways sweep, for example). You might want to head inland a bit or just treat this as a non surfing part of the trip. Bairnsdale and the Vic Lakes district (eg Lakes Entrance) are worth a visit. You can surf, but just watch out for rips etc.

Once you hit close to NSW its game on. One of our regular posters, Jaffa, knows the southern part of NSW really well and may chime in. I would suggest looking at Croajingolong National Park - again perhaps not for the surf but its beautiful. Mallacoota is the main starting point.

From the NSW/Vic border up to Wollongong is beach after beach with little towns, a lot of national park area and lots of tourism infrastructure. Almost all of these places are worth staying at, have suitable beaches for beginners (note: obviously the surf/swell will go up and down, so pick the right time; watch out for rips which every beach will have). I'm skipping over the area from the Vic border to Broulee because I don’t know it, but there are places worth visiting - Eden, Tathra, Moruya all have beaches and pretty/sort of pretty towns.

Heading northwards: Tuross/Broulee area is touristy but has some good beaches and lakes etc. Batemans Bay is the biggest town in the area, but not much there for surfers - stock up and drive through (or, if you are planning to go to Canberra, its about a 2hr drive from Batemans Bay ).

Pebbly Beach is highly recommended as a stay (or Depot Beach, the beach next to it). Not so much for surf but they are deep in national parks and lots of wildlife, kangaroos, birds etc - the birds will eat out of your hand and the kangaroos just laze about all over the place. Depot Beach allows camper vans, not sure about Pebbly but it has huts to rent. Durras beach, just down the road a bit, has plenty of surf if you need it. Depot Beach is a great spot to stop off for several days

A bit further north and Kioloa is a nice stop. Mollymook/Narrawalee both have good beaches and there are surf schools if you want a quick lesson. A few caravan parks around this area to stay in. There is a largish town here (Ulladulla) which is a good place to stock up. Milton, just 5km up the road, has some great restaurants.

A prize location is Benadalong/Manyana, which has a swell magnet beach plus a point wave that can still be quite good for beginners in the right conditions (Green Island). Great campground on the point. Again, this town is deep in a national park. Lake Conjola is just next door, also has a big campground. Good spot for several days, although a bit isolated.

You then get to Jervis Bay, which doesn’t have surf but is worthy of a few nights or more with lots of campgrounds around. A particularly beautiful area.

Stock up in Nowra and head north. There are some pretty towns in this area (Berry, for example) but nothing you havent already seen to the south.

Wollongong is a large town (few 100,000) but is quite beautiful I reckon. Lots of beaches. Stanwell Park is a nice one and I know there is a campground right across from Thirroul beach. Not much to see tourist wise, so probably just a stop over point or skip it and drive onto Sydney (another 1.5hrs).

Wollongong to Sydney is a national park, a few campgrounds but not so much surf. Great place to hike.

Sydney is, well, Sydney.

North of Sydney there are places like 'The Entrance', although by this time you may be over small coastal towns with beaches…Newcastle is similar to Wollongong in many ways; probably not worth stopping for specifically but a nice place.

Head to north NSW and surfing mecca (also crowded mecca). Byron Bay and its surrounds - this is surf central for Australia, at least historically. it's also firmly on the backpacker trail (which basically runs Sydney to Cairns), so campgrounds, surf schools and all the rest are plentiful. Around the NSW/Qld border/Gold Coast are some of the best and most famous - but most crowded - surf spots in Australia, like Snapper Rocks, Burleigh, Kirra (all point breaks) - plus wall to wall beaches. Another poster, Drowning bit by bit, surfs here so might have some thoughts. You might want to aim for a week or more around this area, even if you dont want to surf; its quite stunning.

In QLD. Skip Brisbane but you could try Stradbroke; instead drive on past and get to Noosa/Sunshine Coast. There are very few waves north of Noosa because of the Barrier Reef, so Noosa is about the last hurrah. But its also a famous surf spot. Noosa is quite upmarket but fun.

if you just wanted to surf now and then, renting equipment, I suggest focusing on Sydney (Bondi and Manly will have rental places) and then around Byron Bay, the Gold Coast and Noosa. But if you want to surf some fantastic and uncrowded surf, then focus on the NSW coast between the Victoria border and Wollongong - meaning you many have to buy stuff.

[jaffa1949]

JDee, when you start in Victoria , coming east, you can visit Phillip Island and the Mornington peninsula. But not all that beginner friendly , meaning. More for experience surfers, Lakes Entrance and Then Bastion Point in Mallacoota, The first surf spot in the south of New South Wales is Pambula and then Merimbula, on the same stretch of beach, at either end and just off the Princes highway ( read winding road not motorway) well sign posted.
PM me as you go through your journey, I try to be available to meet you in my home town Merimbula.
Merimbula can generate a classic wave which can be beginner friendly or a walling classic .
I'll fill you in as to all the beaches north to Wollongong.

North of Sydney is the pacific highway and that is becoming a divided motorway all the way to Queensland.
Bear in mind the drive from Melbourne to Sydney is at least 15hours and about 24 Sydney to Queensland .
Big driving.
Look forward to having fun

[JDEE]

thanks dtc and jaffa!!
... a lot of great info to dig into.

[drowningbitbybit]

Around the NSW/Qld border/Gold Coast are some of the best and most famous - but most crowded - surf spots in Australia, like Snapper Rocks, Burleigh, Kirra (all point breaks) - plus wall to wall beaches. Another poster, Drowning bit by bit, surfs here so might have some thoughts.

That'll be me

Yup, so far everything jaffa and dtc have said.

Almost anywhere on the northern NSW coast will provide a surfable wave - just rock up at the beach and you're away.

Once you get to QLD, you've got the whole of the Gold Coast and the water starts to get proper warm. The south end of the GC has just got wave after wave after wave... but also a huge crowd of very talented surfers... when Mick Fanning is one of the local crowd, you know there's some talent about

The points are crowded, but plenty of spots in between, and even the points when it's not going off. Currumbin, or "The Alley" is the safest spot for newbies in the area. Forget Surfers Paradise (at least for surfing) - despite the name, its a very ordinary beach break.

Then Stradbroke island, and the sunshine coast... all good
Once you get beyond about Hervey Bay, you're into stinger territory and surfing is basically out

Not a huge number of rental places on the Coast - as dtc said, you'd be better off picking up a cheap secondhand board.

Oh... and before you get too excited about the campervan plan, check out the prices! They can be startlingly expensive!

[JDEE]

thanks Drowning!

good tip on the campervan. i will look into that. i guess renting a car and some airbnb or something along those lines will work as well.

so are stingers persistent or a seasonal thing, all times of day? i've run into light ones but i have heard about the ones out there...

[drowningbitbybit]

In summer, the stingers (bluebottles for the most part) get blown towards the beach on the seabreezes in the afternoon. They effect NSW the worst (not sure about Vic - anyone know?). Many a summer afternoon has been ruined in Sydney due to the little buggers

Out of summer, you rarely see them, and you're usually okay first thing in the morning. The pain of a bluebottle can range from 'mildly irritating' to 'agonisingly painful', so best avoided!

As you go further north, they're not so much of a problem around northern NSW and the Gold Coast and you rarely see them

A bit further north still (Hervey Bay upwards), the stingers get more serious, particularly during the summer months, and you should only swim in the netted bits

[JDEE]

thanks, good to know... i'm pretty naive on all that, will need to do some research before stepping in are there usually warnings put up or is that wishful thinking?

[Indysurfer]

If you make it to Costa Rica, you could fly into Liberia and take a 45 minute shuttle ride to Tamarindo. Lots of places to rent a board here as well as surf camps and lessons. I just got back again after taking form friends down that wanted to learn to surf. Based on what I have seen, Kelly's surf shop has the best lessons for beginners and intermediates. They have high marks on trip advisor as well.
Overall this is a great place to learn and also improve your own skills.

There are plenty of surfbreaks with sandy bottoms in between the fingers of reef. One break in particular is out in front of a resort called the Tamarindo Diria. Nice place and great staff. The also have board storage as well. The waves here are mellow and the bottom is sand with the exception of a few bits of reef. A good call is to take a look at where the reef is at low tide and keep it in the back of your mind when you go out. Find a point on the beach to lineup with.
Down the beach are a couple other breaks on the way to the estuary.
Also there are plenty of day trips to go rafting, zip lining etc in case the family needs a break form the surf : ). If you need more details on where to stay, eat, etc, let me know as I have been down there a few times.

Andy

[dtc]

Jdee

If you arent so keen on buying full on surf packages for your trip, perhaps think about getting body boards and fins for most of the trip - gets you in the water, gets you used to the waves and its sort of fun (boards cost from $15 to whatever and are easily found in most shops and department stores). Maybe one surfboard board you can all share (or the adults can share).

Bluebottles are the same thing as portugeuse man-o-war, which you may know about. If they are a problem in the water you will see them washed up on the beach, usually following a long stretch of on shore winds. If you are somewhere that has lifeguards, they will put out a sign warning you. However, not that many beaches have lifeguards (well, quite a lot do but there are an awful lot that dont) and around March/April only the major tourist beaches will have them (and then perhaps only during public holidays). So you do need to keep an eye out yourself and know the treatment (pour on hot water above body temperature, pick off any stingers; - so a pair of rubber gloves in your first aid kit -if hot water not available use ice/ice packs ) etc.

When you get far enough north to hit the dangerous ones (box jellyfish, Irukandji), there are warning signs but you have to have some understanding of where to swim (depending on the time of year). When you get really north you run into crocodile territory...dont swim!

As to air bnb, I've never checked whether its a big thing along the smaller towns along the east coast of Australia, but all of the towns up and down the coast are tourist orientated so there are always houses or motels or caravans available to rent. So its certainly possible to do it that way (car and rental, rather than campervan). Whether its cheaper than a camper van I have no idea.

[JDEE]

thanks Andy,

have you been in CR in May/June? curious about the weather and conditions at that time of year. been looking on line but always good to hear first hand. also, really appreciate any additional tips on places to stay, eat etc... we are looking for something affordable, laid back and not too touristy. have you checked out any of the other towns on that coast?

Jason

[JDEE]

thanks again dtc! time to hit google and get my learn on.

[Indysurfer]

Hi JDEE,

Tamarindo is the only place that I have been in CR. Partially because I like it so much. I've been there 3 times in the last 12 months. There are plenty of places to stay and typically I book through Expedia to get the best deals. I have always stayed at the Diria Resort due to the amenities as well as the location to the surf. You can eat breakfast at the free buffet while watching the surf roll in. My wife and I have 4 kids, so when we go down there, we like to call home to check on them. A nice small perk at this hotel is that International calls are free. The Best Western on the edge of town overlooking the estuary has great reviews as well and is less expensive, though I have never stayed here. You could also use the VRBO.com website to rent a condo from an owner. I have used VRBO numerous times for going to other places, but not Tamarindo. You can save yourself quite a bit of money this way, especially if you want to have a kitchen or a washer and dryer.

For food, one of the best fish tacos in town is over at the restaurant at the Robert August surf camp hotel. Large servings and fairly reasonable. If you are looking for a romantic dinner with great food, you can't go wrong with Pangas, again down by the estuary but more expensive. For sushi, check out Bamboo sushi on the main drag but hidden. If you are not paying attention you can walk right past it. FT's for massive burritos over by Kelly's surf shop is a solid place as well, and lastly, the Green Papaya up the hill from the beach.
As far as May/June go, I can't vouch. I have been twice in August last year and this year as well as January. Although August is considered the "Green" season...which is code for rainy season, we found that for us it only rained late in the afternoon for about an hour. The rest of the time it was nice and hot. I would guess that in June it will be humid as well, which can be a bit oppressive. Stay hydrated with lots of bottled water. Your rates for airfare and hotel will be less this time if year vs. January, which is nice.

I will say that I have not found Tamarindo to be a bargain place that I always heard it was 10 years ago. Prices are similar to what I pay here in the US. The strength of your currency will make a difference. The vibe is super cool and laid back with wonderful locals. You will run into a lot of expats as well...all part of the experience.

Surfboard rental and body boards are plenty and cheap with nearly any type of surfcraft. Fish, shortboards, longboards, etc. Last time I rented a 10' Robert August WIR model. Time before that a 9'6" NSP Coco Mat and a Walden Magic.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions...I'd be happy to help.

Andy

[JDEE]

thanks Andy, all sounds good!