My husband and I are going on a weeks sail in the Whitsunday's about the 22nd of August next year. He want's to surf for a week (yes, he's experienced, he's been surfing 30+ years) either before or after the sail. Where would be the warmest place this time of year to catch decent waves? If any of you are surfers, he's a goofyfoot so 'lefts' would be best.
Thanks!

You don't say where you are from so I don't know if you are used to surfing in less that really warm waters. However if your husband wants to surf and you want to do something yourself like shopping and seeing the sights then the Gold Coast would be your best bet. There is heaps to do here and he can be off surfing while you are enjoying yourself touring around.
The water will be able 18deg C at that time of year so he would need a wet suit I presume. I am sure that there are many hire shops for that requirement.

Mm I didn't ask it to send! There are many areas around Australia for surfing but not all will have great waves. Probably one of the best places is 1770 or Agnas Waters which is south of Gladstone in Qld but this area is pretty remote and would mean that you would need to be a book reader as there is nothing else to do. If you went to the southern areas of Australia the water would be a lot colder too - going north is no good because of the Barrier Reef!

As a matter of fact, yes I AM a big book reader! That's usually what I'm doing while he's surfing. I'll walk the beach a bit, but mostly read. Last 'surf' trip we took, I read 6 or 7 books. I loved it!
As for him surfing, I'm starting to think we should go elsewhere, maybe Puket Thailand or Fiji, as my husband does NOT like surfing in cold water with a wet suit! I was just hoping to stay in Australia because it will be cheaper for us than going somewhere else. And, because we've already been to Fiji...which has limited places to stay for surfing, believe it or not.
Oh well. Thanks for the response!

Hi Ally - yes, Fiji is a bit like Far North Qld - same latitude as Cairns - great for snorkelling/diving but fairly useless for surfing as surf is broken by reefs in Fiji and GBR in North Queensland. The warmest conditions in August for surfing (the coldest month in Australia) would be as Janese says around the Gold or Sunshine coasts but even there it'll be pretty nippy. What about Bali? People are going back there now and the poor Balinese need all the help they can get with tourism.

I am not sure that Bali's surfing is all that good at that time of year either. Why not just go back to Hawaii?

I would also suggest Bali and Lombok.

Cheap to stay and get to from oz.

Check out spots there at sites like

www.wannasurf.com

Thanks for all the replies. Bali? ...been there too. It's nice, but we were thinking about someplace we have not been too. Hawaii is also someplace we've been to numerous times. I might check out Lombok though! And I'm still trying to find info on surfing Thailiand that time of year...although Lombok would be closer....Thanks for the suggestions!

Ally-

Good news...there is a small island in Fiji (trying to remember the name...) that has great surfing. It's tiny, and if you're content to read, then you'll be in heaven. My friend is a HUGE surfer and surfs all over the world, and he loves it there. I will email him and ask the name of the place.

back when I get a response...it could be a few days as he's off on one of his world jaunts right now, but he checks email.

PixieChick,
Great! Do let me know what your friend says.
Last time we were there for surfing, we stayed on a small island called Beqa. It was great, the managers at the time were fabulous and we made good friends of them. In fact, when they moved back to Maui (where they were before becoming managers of Marline Bay Resort on Bega) they invited us to come stay at there house on Maui and we've been to visit them 3 times! I don't know who manages the resort now, but the owner is a real looser and we won't stay there again.
There's another small island with a 'surf camp' that looks okay called Nagigia which is a posibility. I'm curious about whether your friend is talking about on of these two places! Of course, my husband would really like to stay on Tavarua, but I think it will be too expensive. Their web site has been down so I can't get info to tell for certain though.

Ally-

The island is called Nomotu. Here are some links:

http://www.mauigateway.com/~namotu/

http://www.fiji-islands.com/namotu.html

He's stayed a couple of times...it's where he always goes in fiji for surfing.

Good luck!

Excellent!
THANKS, I'll look into it!