Surfing Waves

Hello! I'm a beginner who's been learning surfing for 2 weeks in the Philippines. I am considering to move to Australia to work and practise surfing (cuz i live in Hong Kong but I am an Aus citizen). I've read the surf spot map but not quite sure which is the better place for learning (and with the possibility to get a job). Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!

Too broad a question, if you want a job you want to be in the major cities, Sydney is the major city that hand to surf 53 beaches but very expensive to live good employable skills needed.
Melbourne Brisbanevand Perth similar work situations but more removed from beaches, most learning situations are near tourist center so that introduces the Gold Coast and the vacuum clean for all tourist learning far north coast of NSW, lots of ordinary service industry jobs sort of! If you speak Cantonese or Mandarin then maybe a little more chance in tourist services? .

Good luck in both endeavours

jaffa1949 wrote:Too broad a question, if you want a job you want to be in the major cities, Sydney is the major city that hand to surf 53 beaches but very expensive to live good employable skills needed.
Melbourne Brisbanevand Perth similar work situations but more removed from beaches, most learning situations are near tourist center so that introduces the Gold Coast and the vacuum clean for all tourist learning far north coast of NSW, lots of ordinary service industry jobs sort of! If you speak Cantonese or Mandarin then maybe a little more chance in tourist services? .

Good luck in both endeavours

Thanks for your reply! So Melbourne is least favourable for surfing amongst Sydney, Brisbane and Perth? I thought Gold Coast would be flooded with tourists?

All depends on your job, the big cities have high cost of living. Sydney has beach suburbs with
Surf, none of the other cities have surf beach suburbs all require a drive to surf beaches. The Gold Coast is sizable enough to have work and proximity to surf. Byron Bay hay surf , secondary cities Newcastle and Wollongong have surf beach suburbs, only Gold Coast and Byron Bay as potential for another language speaker to cater for tourism.

jaffa1949 wrote:All depends on your job, the big cities have high cost of living. Sydney has beach suburbs with
Surf, none of the other cities have surf beach suburbs all require a drive to surf beaches. The Gold Coast is sizable enough to have work and proximity to surf. Byron Bay hay surf , secondary cities Newcastle and Wollongong have surf beach suburbs, only Gold Coast and Byron Bay as potential for another language speaker to cater for tourism.

Hi, Jaffa! I've made up my mind to stay in Manly. Does Manly have consistent swells all year? Are the locals aggressive/friendly?

Jet, As a lengthybeach, Manly picks up almost every swell , and has two ends that can give an offshore wind hidden under the headlands.
It works pretty well as a learning beach on the smaller days, and on the big days you can watch the Queenscliffe bombora and fairy bower or go see the extreme of guys taking on deadman’s.

Good choice, enjy

manly is a good choice as Jaffa said. There are a lot of tourists surfing/learning to surf so the locals have to be a bit more relaxed - there are too many learners around to get precious about it.

Manly is a good spot to stay. Its really nice (well a bit touristy for a local, but I guess thats good for you as a 'tourist') and a bit isolated from the 'big city' and in quite a beautiful location. But its only a 25 minute ferry ride to the centre of town. And there are all the rest of the northern beaches you can explore. And dont forget the rest of the coastline - definitely worth a trip north or south (suggest south myself, but you are already in the north of the city)

Thanks for the suggestions!

Quick question: is Bondi beach good for surfing? (as accommodation is slightly cheaper in the city than living in Manly)

Bondi is fine. Its pretty crowded most of the time, as you can imagine being a beach more or less in the middle of a city of 4 million. However, if you can surf during work hours (9-5ish) then the number of surfers will be lower. Still busy though (not that Manly is empty by any means so you arent trading an empty beach for a crowded beach, they are both crowded).

Bondi is on no ones list of great surf beaches, but it has waves and you can surf it and its generally beginner friendly.
Bondi (along with Manly) are 'backpacker central' so there are always lots of learner surfers around, surf schools, rental places etc. You wont feel out of place.

Bondi is not the best (for you) in biggish southerly swells - these are more common in winter than summer, but can still happen. On those days just dont go out or maybe try the southern corner of Maroubra Beach (about 10km away if you have a car). But most other swells its not too bad.

Keep in mind that Bondi is a 'proper' beach, its not Big Wave Bay or Tai Wan (I used to live in HK). Stay safe, make sure you can swim and have some swim fitness etc. There are a few public pools around if you want to get fit.

Finally there are heaps of other beaches within a couple of hours drive - obviously not useful for a 'before work' surf, but if you have a car (or rent a car) then you can head south and find lots of uncrowded places to surf for a weekend trip.