This may sound like a troll question, but I swear it's not. Only recently have I been thinking abuot visiting the land down under, and one of the things I am most interested in is watching people surf and maybe learning how to surf (aka, fall down on my face and be laughed at by my friends and anyone else with eyes!). I just wanted to know where the best to go would be for this- Sydney? Melbourne? Somewhere else? Thanks.

Bells Beach in Victoria is well known for surfing and hosts championships. It's near Torquay which has a surfing museum, plenty of surfing shops and people who will teach you to surf. Torquay is about 90 minutes south of Melbourne.

There's plenty of great surfing beaches around Sydney, most of NSW coast and south coast of Queensland; Surfers Paradise is in southern Queensland. My brother surfs every day of the year, summer and winter, on northern beaches of metropolitan Sydney, as does my daughter in Byron Bay, northern NSW. No surf in Central and Northern Queensland where the coast is protected by the Great Barrier Reef. There are surfing schools these days, we just taught ourselves.

If you are here in summer try the
sydney-byron bay surfing safari.

"Surfer's Paradise" isnt really what the name suggests. Just a marketing ploy. Though I'm sure there are many others, Kirra Beach, also on the Gold Coast, is very well regarded for surfing and is a site for competitions.

Thanks for all the great advice. I have a lot of places to look into now!

I'd second John's suggestion of a surfing safari - they look like a heap of fun - and not only tourists.

Pat, at Agnes Waters (north of Bundaberg) at the southern headland, they get good waves for board riding. I think they have "longboard" championships each year, and I believe its the last surfboard location, before the great barrier reef kicks in.
mat003, my favourite board riding area would have to be Byron Bay, around at Wattegos Beach, or closer to the town at Clarks Beach (I think thats the name), great rider handers.

Hi Trop, yes, great surf at Agnes Waters, have caught a few waves there myself many moons ago. Was thinking of Central Queensland as more around Rockhampton, Mackay etc, further north than Bundaberg. Come to think of it I don't know the exact boundaries between SE, Central, North and Far North coastal Queensland.

mat003, it really is very easy to see surfing in action in Aus.

My guess is you'll be visiting Sydney, and you probably don't need to go any further to see some great surfers. Even Bondi on a good day has some great action, but your safest bet is on the Northern beaches. Manly all the way up to Whale Beach you'll see plenty. You can actually walk almost all of the way on the beach, around headlands etc. Narrabeen has produced a couple of World Champs. One of the best days you could have in Sydney (and one of the cheapest) is a ferry ride from Circular Quay to Manly, a walk along the Corso down to Manly beach, then a stroll along the beach. Get some fish and chips and sit at the edge of the promenade and watch the surfers in action. Best to go early in the morning though, if you want to see the real McCoy - the waves get blown out in the afternoon, so the keen surfers are out at 6 in the morning!

Cheers