Visa requirements :

All the information you need is at http://www.immi.gov.au/ ;
What I understand is that if you are from 1 of the 32 eligible countries and travelling for windsurfing, you should apply online in the immigration office website for the Visitor/Tourist ETA.
If you plan to work or to stay a longer time check information about working holiday visa.

Back to menu

Flights to Australia :

Unless for those who are sailing around the globe and some more exceptions, most of us use to take a plane to go to Australia ;
if you go for windsurfing in the west coast, you’ll need to go to Perth,
it’s never funny to fly with the gear; by experience, try to avoid Qantas airways, they’ll charge you a lot and don’t travel with bags more than 32 kg, some airlines won’t take it (I would try to have one small board bag, another bag with boom and sails and a backpack) ;

Alternative options are to send everything by airfreight (at least you know what you pay), or buy the gear in Australia

Back to menu

Perth :

Now you’re in Perth, if you come from Europe to windsurf in Australia, that’s not the best place to be, Perth is a really nice city, if you come for a long time you can spend a week here, have some fun in northbridge night clubs, visit kings park and sail in the urban spots, if you come with a working visa Perth is a good place to find some cash.

Where to stay in Perth :

The best place to stay in perth when you can’t afford a room in a 4 stars hotel is to go in a backpacker hostel, it is cheap and fun, in summer you need to book in advance, in perth there is plenty of them, I recommend “planet inn” backpackers (http://www.planetinn.com.au/), it is cheap, well located, the staff is cool and they pick you up from the airport.

Get a car :

Buy it :

Now it’s time to windsurf so you need to get a car, Australia is not Hawaii or Tenerife, in Hawaii if your 500$ car breakdown between Hookipa and Paia, it’s not a big deal, in Tenerife if your car is overheating when you go for party in Las Americas, you’ll survive ; in Australia, once you’re out of Perth, there’s not too much, and past geraldton or Margaret river, there is nothing, you can be more than 100 km on your own, that’s why you need a good car,

For a Ford Falcon you’ll pay 2000-3000aus$ , this is the best choice up to 2 people (they are really huge station wagon)

For a van you’ll pay 4000-5000aus$

The car has to be registered in WA otherwise it’s lot of trouble to do the transfer of owner

Go to “club red car” (http://www.clubred.com.au/), they have good cars for nice prices.

Rent it :

Also go to “club red car” they are the only ones I know to be “windsurfer friendly” and they have really competitive prices.

Back to menu

Driving in Australia :

Drive on the left side of the road ;

Don’t drive by night, it’s full of kangaroos ready to jump under your car

Be always carefull with the wildlife crossing the roads, be carefull as well crossing or overtaking roadtrains or oversize trucks

Keep an eye on your gas tank, there is sometime a long distance between 2 gas stations

Don’t drive drunk, don’t drive fast, put your seat belt and check every passenger has his seat belt, the tickets can be really expensive and there is a lot of controls by the police

Back to menu

Get the gear :

If you don’t bring it with you or if you smashed everything, you need some help :

Buy it :

There are several shops in Perth and Geraldton, none in Margaret river or Gnaraloo ;

If you’re in Perth, go to “windshack”, talk with Alberto (the boss), he usually work out really nice deals for travellers, if he really can’t offer you what you need, he’ll send you to the best place to get it ; you can also contact him (see his website http://www.windshack.com/) even if you’re up in geraldton/gnaraloo or down in Margaret river/Esperance, if one of his team rider or friend is going there then he can send it to you (you’ve got to be lucky but it worth to try, also lot of time when his team riders travel they have some spare gear, if they don’t need it they can sell it).

Rent it :

Not easy to rent gear in WA, if you need to rent gear the best is to go to Lancelin and rent it form Werner hot spot (www.lancelin.org.au/werner.html)

Boards sizes/sails sizes :

I’m 72kg and I use mostly 70-75l boards and 4,4-4,7 sails (but it’s not a bad idea to have a 4,1 and a 5,3), Shapes like Quatro and Goya fit perfectly the waveriding conditions there is in WA

Back to menu

Windsurfing in WA general rules:

In some places the waves can be REALLY big, and the current really strong, be carefull

They are also a lot of “easy sailing” locations, don’t be afraid !

The seabreeze (the summer wind) comes from the south (except on the south coast in Esperance it comes from east), you always sail with wind from the left

The Cold Fronts are coming in winter (and sometimes in summer in Margaret river) with winds form north westerly to south westerly , huge swells and bad weather.

The wavesailing rules are sometimes a bit strange (some give way to the waverider, it’s normaly the one who goes out who has right of way), try to avoid to get in trouble with locals (even if most of them are really friendly) by watching a bit what’s happen on the water before to get in, in places like Margaret river respect the surfers (they have absolute right of way, don’t go in the water if there are too many surfers), and the kitesurfers (If you think the same as me I know what you think ( !!) but we have to share) ; when it gets crowdy in places like Lancelin or coronation beach it can be a bit of anarchy, just be really carefull and really relax, if you get angry because of the crowd, have a small break.

Protect you ALWAYS from the sun, use lot of sunscreen and wear sun glasses, long sleeves and hat when you’re not in the water.

Back to menu

Wind and Swell seasons :

THIS IS JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA,

In Winter, wind comes with cold front, big swell and bad weather, after the first big storm there’s one storm a week, provide 2-3 sailable days with variable conditions

In Summer the wind is afternoon seabreeze, it starts in northwest WA and slowly comes down to Margaret river ; when there’s a really high pressure cell over south west WA you’ll get easterly/south easterly winds or no wind at all and high temperatures, that’s when Esperance works

I don’t want to be responsible if you get awesome waves in Gnaraloo in January or if you get it flat and with no wind in octuber ;

Going to Esperance or Gnaraloo is a long trip, what I recommend is to be in standby in Geraldton (for Gnaraloo) or Margaret river (for Esperance) and wait for a decent forecast before to go.

jan

feb

mar

apr

may

jun

jul

agu

sep

oct

nov

dec

Gnaraloo

wind

+++

waves

+++

Geraldton

wind

+++

Cold Fronts winds

Big winter swells

+++

waves

+++

Lancelin

wind

waves

+++

Perth

wind

waves

Margaret River

wind

waves

+++

Esperance

wind

CHECK THE FORECAST BEFORE TO GO

waves

Back to menu

Spots description and spots map :

:FIRST OF ALL CHECK THIS MAP

Back to menu

Perth area :

Perth is flat !!! I know it sounds bad but this is the truth, with you need a really big swell to get some waves in Perth area, in winter you can get some good session, in summer it can be really boring for waverider.

South beach and crazy waves :

Mostly winter spots, go there when it’s strong westerly wind, it’s dead onshore but the waves are going around a sand bank giving you the opportunity to have some cross on starboard and port tack jumping, don’t expect anything good.

Cottesloe/dutchies:

Work with seabreeze but unless the swell is huge, it will be flat, watch out for the rocks near the shore ; good fun in winter with big swell (you can get 1,5m waves) and south westerly wind (jumping), also in winter fronts with northwesterly wind (starboard tack jumping, not often)

Scarborough :

Beach break, hard to sail, but it’s a good place to go if you’re waverider and stuck in perth, with strong seabreeze you’ll always get some wind swell, in December Windsurfing WA association organizes a contest there.

Back to menu

North of perth :

Lancelin :

About 400 people live there and a lot of tourists and families in summer

1h30 from perth, in the lagoon you can do freestyle/slalom/freeride, the main wave spots are :

main break :

Not everybody like it, it’s usually a bit on shore, choppy and if you really want to enjoy the wave you need perfect timing ; personally, I like this spot, the main danger are the other windsurfers, sometimes there is LOT of people.

South passage :

When the swell is good (not too big, not too small, it is a better wave for waveriding, less crowd, more locals, that’s the spot chosen for the annual Lancelin Classic wave event, beginning of january.

Greenhead :

Remote town (200 inhabitants) halfway between Lancelin and Geraldton it is maybe the windiest place in WA, the wave is an outside reef quite far from the shore, if you snap a mast you’ll swim for 1 hour, the good thing is that at least there is a nice beach (and not big cliffs) ; the reef need medium swell to work, otherwise it’s flat ; when it’s logo high be prepared for awesome side shore waveriding and jumping, Glenn Alexander one of the best Australian sailor lives there, every year in november Windsurfing WA association organizes a contest there..

Geraldton :

Point moore/hells gate :

Outside reef, I’ve never sailed there, it’s a bit windier and the swell is a bit bigger than the other spots and you can get nice waveriding, there are strong currents and rocks.

Sunset beach :

Reef break, when the swell is big ouside you get decent waves in sunset beach good for down the line waveriding, the best with big swell and not too strong wind

Coronation beach :

This is the place I think about when I talk about Geraldton, located 20km north of the town you can camp in coronation beach for 6aus$/vehicule/night, there are toilets and “bring your own water” showers, the reef is 300m outside, the lagoon is really flat and perfect for freestyle, the reef is awesome for side/side onshore jumping and you can have sometimes a bit of waveriding, it’s good to be there for the Geraldton Windsurf Festival beginning of January

Gnaraloo :

I personally prefer Margaret River, but for lot of people Gnaraloo is the best wave, and it’s true that from logo high to mast and a half it’s one of the best in the world, sadly in summer the swell is not always big enough.

To go there you need to buy beer, food, fuel and water in Carnavon, then drive 75km on a desertic road and other 75km on a desertic track.

The camp costs 15aus$/person/night, there are toilets and hot shower, and a small shop in the reception with chips,peanut butter and soft drinks (that’s what you have to eat if you ran out of food !!)

The wave breaks over living coral, if you go there for first time, wear booties, I’m not joking about that, you can get really bad cuts on the feet and you don’t want that to get infected, the first doctor is in Carnarvon, 2h30 hours drive

When it’s flat to logo high it’s an easy place to sail (for a good waverider), from logo high to mast and a half that’s when it makes you happy, there are 3 bowls, the wave gets heavier, you go down the line and the channel is wide enough, with low tide some sections are really swallow and the wave sucks a lot of water, adrenaline !! ;

Over mast and a half, the channel starts to close out (wich is scaring because most of the time when there is big swell there is light wind and when the set comes and you’re in the breaking zone without wind, you start to think about the meaning of life !!), if the swell is coming with the right orientation it can handle nearly double mast.

Back to menu

South of Perth :

Safety bay :

Freeride/speed/freestyle spot

Mandurah :

Good wave spot with winter south westerly cold front, reef break, big jumps and good waveriding, needs big swell

In summer there’s another spot upwind, with really big swell you can get a decent wave but its not often, if you’re on holidays it’s better to go straight to Margaret river, or to stay in Lancelin

Margaret river :

Margaret is home of Scott McKercher, for me it’s the best place, you’ve got a nice town, it’s a beautifull place, you have consistant waves for surfing, and when it’s windy it’s perfect for radical windsurfing, stay in the caravan parks for

Cowaramup bay :

Winter spot, with south westerly to northerly winds

Surfers point Main break :

This is the wave we think about when we talk about Margaret river, the wave is short (1 or 2 off the lip), but so powerfull that when you get the right timing you love it, a classic day is mast high with 15-20 knots (last season I sailed 90% of the time with 72l and 4,7, not always planning but powered up enough for sick waveriding)

The channel is huge and don’t close out before a good mast/half ,

Be carefull with low tide and small/medium swell, the last section is really shallow.

In February there’s a windsurf contest organized by WindsurfWA association, in april there is a WQS surf contest.

Respect the local wavesailing rules, give way to the waverider, respect the kitesurfers, give absolute right of way to the surfers.

Surfers point south side :

Good wave for jumping with small swell and strong wind

Boat ramp :

Outside reef, nice wave, a bit longer than main break but not that powerfull

Esperance :

Crystal clear water, sandy beach, cross off wind, lot of photoshooting are made over there, check the swell and wind forecast before to go down, sharky place, avoid early morning or late afternoon sessions

Back to menu

Links :

http://www.ericterrien.com/

http://www.windshack.com/ : windsurfshop in perth

http://www.planetinn.com.au/ accommodation in Perth

http://www.clubred.com.au/ Cars in Perth

http://www.westernaustralia.com/ : tourist information

http://www.windsurfingwa.org.au/ : windsurfing association

Back to menu