I had to get up early this morning and get down to Coolangatta Beach. One of my surfboard hire clients was checking out early and needed 1 minimal and 1 short board picked up before they left. So up I got, arriving in Cooly before 7am.
On the Australian Gold Coast, Coolangatta is roughly a 30 minute drive headed south out of Surfer's Paradise, both places being world-renowned thanks to the impressive surf conditions they present. Surfer's Paradise, located at the northern tip really does have some of the most spectacular of the Goldy's beach breaks thanks to the shifting sand-based ocean floor, which gives a lot of swell.
Coolangatta on the other hand is at the south end of the Goldy is more famous for the world class point breaks of Snapper Rocks, Greenmount and Kirra. These points, though not able to pick up as much swell as the northern beaches, definitely host the best waves of the area. On their given day, the waves can bend endlessly around the points. A surfer can kick off a wave due to fatigue rather than the wave ending.
Not this morning though. This morning on arrival, the waves were less than a foot, clean as they get though with no wind to speak of. Having picked up the rented surfboard, I decided to have breakfast at a lovely little cafe on the beach front and see what happens at our beaches when there is no surf.
Shortly into this observational activity it dawned on me just why the Gold Coast, in Queensland state in the north of the country, is one of the hottest beach destinations in the world. At this early hour the activity on the beach front was already moving at a good pace with plenty of folks out enjoying the conditions: of course, with the water at 24 and the air at 26 they didn't need much cajoling. In such conditions, who wouldn't want to be hitting the beach for the day?!
A few Polynesian-style surfers are out on the water--the stand-up paddling kind--with some longboarders, too. Folks are already taking a dip close to shore between the flag markers, catching tiny breakers that wash right up to the beach.
Coolangatta is graced with an impressive 50 meters of perfectly golden sand as the average beach width, the perfect scenario for the many women working on their tans in their bikinis (even at a little past 7 in the morning!). Comically, I find that the ones out tanning so early are usually the ones wrapping up their vacation, desperate to reach that next shade of bronze before going back to the office job at home.
Other morning activities to be observed are being carried out by the several groups of folks enjoying the running and bike paths that are neatly cut out of the park pastures, where health-conscious people do exercise routines. Also, many simply stop for a minute to observe the whales way out in the ocean splashing and frolicking along their migration route.
I observe this all from a chic little cafe, where a pretty waitress serves me my latte and eggs benedict. As a local, sometimes it is time well spent just to sit back, recognize and soak up the things that so many other people travel the world to come here and enjoy. I hope you manage to share the beauty of our home one day too. Life really doesn't get much better than this. - 16887
On the Australian Gold Coast, Coolangatta is roughly a 30 minute drive headed south out of Surfer's Paradise, both places being world-renowned thanks to the impressive surf conditions they present. Surfer's Paradise, located at the northern tip really does have some of the most spectacular of the Goldy's beach breaks thanks to the shifting sand-based ocean floor, which gives a lot of swell.
Coolangatta on the other hand is at the south end of the Goldy is more famous for the world class point breaks of Snapper Rocks, Greenmount and Kirra. These points, though not able to pick up as much swell as the northern beaches, definitely host the best waves of the area. On their given day, the waves can bend endlessly around the points. A surfer can kick off a wave due to fatigue rather than the wave ending.
Not this morning though. This morning on arrival, the waves were less than a foot, clean as they get though with no wind to speak of. Having picked up the rented surfboard, I decided to have breakfast at a lovely little cafe on the beach front and see what happens at our beaches when there is no surf.
Shortly into this observational activity it dawned on me just why the Gold Coast, in Queensland state in the north of the country, is one of the hottest beach destinations in the world. At this early hour the activity on the beach front was already moving at a good pace with plenty of folks out enjoying the conditions: of course, with the water at 24 and the air at 26 they didn't need much cajoling. In such conditions, who wouldn't want to be hitting the beach for the day?!
A few Polynesian-style surfers are out on the water--the stand-up paddling kind--with some longboarders, too. Folks are already taking a dip close to shore between the flag markers, catching tiny breakers that wash right up to the beach.
Coolangatta is graced with an impressive 50 meters of perfectly golden sand as the average beach width, the perfect scenario for the many women working on their tans in their bikinis (even at a little past 7 in the morning!). Comically, I find that the ones out tanning so early are usually the ones wrapping up their vacation, desperate to reach that next shade of bronze before going back to the office job at home.
Other morning activities to be observed are being carried out by the several groups of folks enjoying the running and bike paths that are neatly cut out of the park pastures, where health-conscious people do exercise routines. Also, many simply stop for a minute to observe the whales way out in the ocean splashing and frolicking along their migration route.
I observe this all from a chic little cafe, where a pretty waitress serves me my latte and eggs benedict. As a local, sometimes it is time well spent just to sit back, recognize and soak up the things that so many other people travel the world to come here and enjoy. I hope you manage to share the beauty of our home one day too. Life really doesn't get much better than this. - 16887
About the Author:
Damian Papworth knows that with holidays in the sun, with warm water, golden sand and sun drenched days, no destination tops the Queensland Gold Coast.
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