Surfing Waves

Hi all. Finally emigrating over from London in 2 weeks and have couple of questions from anyone there who can spare a few mins?

Planning to stay in a hostel for first few weeks until sort out a rental. Narrowed it down to Coogee and Manly as they both seem to be biggish, less agro beaches for someone who's still a bit rubbish. Is this right?

Also, heading out solo and been told that eastern suburbs are best re. bars/women etc - what's manly like? The beaches further north look amazing but seem a little tricky for commute into city - or is life out there worth a bit of extra hassle?

Will be doing loads of exploring when I arrive - just that any opinion/advice beforehand gratefully received.

Cheers. Jay

I'll put the kettle on

Coogee is a good spot, and so is manly.

Coogee (I live here, so I know about this bit) -
Quite expensive, but so is everywhere close to the sea.
Coogee beach is basically unsurfable (or at least very rarely) but you've got bronte and bondi to the north and maroubra a couple of minutes down the road. Maroubra is fine to surf - as long as you're not a complete twonk, you'll not get any aggro.
There are only a couple of bars in coogee, and they're a bit of a meat market - most of the beer drinking in coogee goes on at the beach with a barbie.

Manly -
Great spot to surf, a bit more mellow than some of the other city breaks, but very crowded (all the city breaks are crowded).
Very expensive. Very.
Pain in the neck to get into the city, but you can do it by ferry which is nice.
Again, fewer bars than you'd imagine.

The beaches further north are amazing, but a lot of them are quite heavy - both the breaks and the locals. Thousands of spots to try out though.

Going south you have a couple of billion breaks to try too.



As for when you arrive - unless you're prepared to live in a shared house with a south african, two drunk irish women and a wasted kiwi, then you'll find renting a place much trickier than you imagine. There's a huge rental crisis in sydney right now (fuelled by the media) so to rent an apartment you have to 'compete' with a whole bunch of other people (dress smartly, treat it like a job interview - really).

Thats all I can think of for now! Any more questions - give me a shout!


You picked a good moment to arrive - Mrs DBBB is back in england for a month, so I'll have plenty of time to show you around some of the breaks

Oh, and pack a jumper - chilly at the moment!

Thanks again for that DBBB. Both sound ok then - although didn't realise Coogee wasn't actually surfable. Why's that? (I've just been trying wannasurf and globalsurfers so guess they're a bit general).

Really want to stay somewhere pretty much on a beach at least to begin with - won't have a car - to remind me why I'm there and so no excuses for not getting in! Board's on a boat somewhere at the mo (thanks to qantas' rubbish baggage limit), so have to get a wetsuit/rent something for a while anyway. Remember you saying a while back a steamer was too hot - guessing boardies are too cold at the mo then? Even for a brit?

Was thinking Bronte initially as meant to be a lovely area, but couple of people who used to live in there said tiny beach and rocky? Bondi would have been ideal but I'm assuming bit of an 'image is everything' spot - and a few places I've seen there on the internet are very expensive.

Still think Manly looks good - big beach so hopefully enough room for me to be a 'complete twonk' for a while until it hopefully comes back a bit - not had chance to get down to devon for a while. Don't mind crowded but somewhere laid back is more me. Maybe just find a hostel there for 2 weeks to give me time to look about a bit - although I'll have to check out how regular the ferry is for interviews etc.

Rental - that's blown me away to be honest. Thought I'd look on gumtree and find a place within couple of days. Maybe not then. You mean dress up even to find a share house with other 'professionals'?!

Will give you a shout when I'm there - really appreciate it mate.
Jason

Coogee basically doesnt break - its a severe beach dump. It only breaks on big big swells, and then you need to be a serious hero to surf it. Since being in Coogee (8 months) Ive only surfed it twice (never caught a wave).

Bronte is absolutely beautiful... and so its really difficult to find somewhere to rent. It was recently placed as 'the most desirable place to live in Sydney' so you can see why you'd have a problem. The beach is a rocky/sandy beach and reef break. Was firing today - overhead barrels!

Manly is probably slightly easier to find somewhere - but it will be expensive, and the ferries are fun but take a while.

You should maybe look at maroubra - its a bit less stylish, but hence more affordable and there are a lot more places within walking distance of the ocean.

As for renting - the way it works is that real estate agents set up viewings, usually on a saturday, for 20-30 mins (everyone at once). So everything happens on a saturday morning and you'll be running around trying to see a few places in the space of an hour. Then you'll need to put in an application straight away and you'll need - proof of ID, bank account, income, and references. Its a right pain in a@se. And even then its up to the landlord who they choose as the successful tenant.
Its a big problem here - but dont let it get you down, it'll be a hassle probably, but you'll get there in the end.

Doing it on gumtree, you'll be able to find a shared rental place without too much trouble, but you'll be sharing with backpackers.

As for the dressing up - if its proper viewing via an agent, then fairly smart is the way to go, but if its the tenants looking for an extra person, then it would be like a normal london scenario.

As for a wettie - yup, the 5mm steamer is out, but you'll need a 3mm suit at the moment. You could get away with a shortie or even boardshorts for a short session, but a wetsuit will make things much more comfy.
There arent many boards for hire (some, but not many). You'd be better off buying a second hand board - there are loads about for not much money.

And just to whet your appetite - I surfed at chesthigh maroubra today and scored a bunch of perfect waves, and tomorrow Im heading out of sydney to surf some deserted breaks

Oh, and for finding a place, almost everyone uses -

www.domain.com.au

Are you seriously emigrating, or are you just on a working holiday visa? I started out on the Northern Beaches. First job I had was in the city, took me 45 minutes with the bus, no drama.

I lived in Harbord (now called Freshwater), and you get an express bus to the city, and you are almost always guaranteed a seat everyday as the bus starts it's run near there. You just snooze a little and you are in the city.

I'd say the furtherst North you can live is Dee Why, any further and the commute is going to be very long. So that gives you Manly, Queenscliff, Harbord (Freshwater), Curl Curl, and Dee Why, and their outer non beach suburbs to choose from. Dee Why has an absolute ton of apartments, but no real night life, you'll have to get the bus to Manly for that.

I haven't surfed the Eastern Suburbs much but you have a lot more options up here, which spreads the crowd about. The Eastern Suburbs only really have Bondi and Maroubra with tiny Bronte as a spare for a huge crowd to hit. Northern Beaches has tons of spots and Freshwater beach is a known beginner spot so you can be an absolute kook and get away with it there.

As for Night Life and such, don't ask me, I'm almost a tee totaler but other than that the Northern Beaches has everything you need.

If you are here on a working holiday visa for a year, and want to party then I'd say go the Eastern Suburbs, but if you are looking to settle down, and take your surfing seriously then do the Northern Beaches.

Yep emigrating on friday - probably come across as casual about it as going on my own and pretty laid back. Went on a whv in 2002 but didn't venture north of the harbour (and wasn't into surfing then as it goes).

Thanks for the opinions/advice. Think I'll book something short term in manly to begin with as bus/ferry combo should be fine for cbd - but also putting me somewhere that seems a little slower paced. Not looking to 'party' like backpacking days, but would like to meet people/have some fun - esp as going out solo so need to make an effort. Can always head to eastern suburbs later I guess.

Surfing - well I'm really not great, so freshwater could be fine for a bit. Try to go when I can but live in london so fairly limited - just want to be able to go in every day. Was surfing in sri-lanka for a month earlier in the year - so ability is very much up/down depending on opportunity/fitness!

Not so much looking to be take it 'seriously' as just to get in and put a smile on my face for the rest of the day, every day. More that I just love the ocean and only really competing with myself - not remotely bothered how good/bad anyone is so long as I'm improving and loving it - if that makes sense?

Cheers. Jason

MTPockets wrote:Think I'll book something short term in manly to begin with as bus/ferry combo should be fine for cbd - but also putting me somewhere that seems a little slower paced.

not sure I'd describe manly as 'slower paced'

Seeya over here!
Apparently we're just about to have a 'cold' snap - but the sun should be shining for your arrival