surfing around sydney april 2016

Hi there,

i would love some advice about good surfspots close to Sydney (max a 4/5 hour ride) for beginners in the last weeks of april.
Afterwards I have a few weeks to get from Sydney to Adelaide. So Brisbane or Byron Bay are a bit to far up North probably.

I'll be travelling alone and with public transportation.
I'm looking for a nice beach with 'beginner waves' where I won't disturb the locals of experienced surfers. I took some lessons in Portugal last summer, so I'm not a complete novice, but practice, practice, practice is the mantra. So would be nice to be able to taken some more lessons (not to expensive hopefully) and sometimes just hire a board. And have a nice place to hang out, meet other travellers/surfers, BBQ,...

So any suggestions on surf schools/accommodation or beach/town are more than welcome :)
Is it still going to be very busy, or is it more quiet in autumn?

Thanks,
Natalie

Sydney has some 20 plus beaches - and hour north of Sydney on Central Coast is another dozen plus beaches - 2 hrs north of Sydney is Newcastle which has 25 plus beaches - and hour south of Sydney is Wollongong again with a lot of beaches (although not that many compared with Central Coast and Newcastle). School holidays in April will be between 11 and 28 April so beaches will probably be quite busy during those weeks - although the Pacific is a big ocean so plenty of beaches on the coast.
Surfing Aust website is good place to look for schools https://www.surfingaustralia.com/states/nsw

Actually there are over 100 beaches in Sydney, 70 of which are surf beaches: list of beaches in Sydney

You will easily find a place to hire a board at Bondi or Manly.

julie_I yes of course you are right - no idea why I put 20 beaches (although growing up on the northern beaches we didnt bother to find out if beaches existed elsewhere in Sydney - he he )

Ah yes, the northern beaches is a world of its own!

South Palm Beach.
It's protected corner, with a surf school. On mild days it's totally flat there, so you move along the beach until the waves break, but on rough days it gives a nice protected swell. So, you choose your wave height as you move along the beach.
Newport Beach, at the northern end, has a famous break that has produced 3 world champions (Tom Carroll, Martin Potter and Barton Lynch), but is not that scary.

If you are wanted to go on a mini surfari there are a gazillion options with 4/5 hrs of sydney (sorry unhelpful comment). We would highly recommend Crescent Head. It's about 5 hrs drive north of Sydney but is more than worth it (you need to go for minimum 2/3 nights). There are a few amazing campsites right on the beach and the surf is perfect for new, up and coming surf gods and goddesses ;). The locals are super friendly too. Check out this link for more detailsCrescent Head Crescent Head encapsulates everything that you would expect from an Aussie Surf Town. Unfortunately it is a bit of a mission on public transport but possible (train or bus to Kempsey then local bus to Creso. If you stay at Surfaris Surf Camp they will pick you up from Kempsey). You would be better off hiring a car otherwise.

In Sydney the best options would be Manly or Bondi. Both have good surf schools and plenty of places to hire surf gear. The waves can be a little friendlier at Bondi. (Unfortunately Manly and Bondi suffer from being over popular so you won't be surfing alone. However locals know this and are usually very tolerant of novice surfers). Palm Beach does have a nice steady corner and good facilities but it is quite a trek to get there on public transport.

Subject to your transport arrangements here are a couple of places for you to google:

• 2 hrs south Seven Mile Beach - Near Kiama
• 2 1/2 hrs north One Mile Beach - Port Stephens

There are of course many more but these are our regular haunts. Autumn is a great time of year in NSW, usually sunny and dry and the Sydney ocean water temperature is still around 22 deg in April. Have a great time planning :)

Gerroa is meant to be a good place to learn to surf (relatively calm and there is a surf school). It is about 2 hours south of Sydney and there are 2 camp grounds there right near the beach. My kids have swum in that beach in July (but they are mad!).

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