Margaret River

The Largest Surfing Encyclopedia

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Hovering on the wild southwest corner of Australia, facing the full impact of one of the world's longest and most consistent swell fetches, Margaret River still retains much of the isolated vibe that once drew only the hardest-core surfers to play on its big, broad faces. This is despite its dramatic growth in popularity among both local and traveling surfers, and somewhat slower development as a major general tourism center and wine-growing region.

Margaret River is a limestone reef platform a quarter-mile across and extending almost a half-mile to sea, flanked by deepwater bays on either side, and facing more or less due west into the Indian Ocean 180 miles south of West Australia's capital city, Perth. A half-mile south is another narrower reef shelf known as the Bombie, which pulls southwest swells into a heavy bowling right; a mile north and a half-mile offshore is a short, shallow right reef called The Box, heavily photographed in recent years, thanks to its quick, intense, highly photogenic barrels. Tucked inside the bay between the River reef and The Box is a beachbreak zone with an occasionally good right rip bowl, partly created by the thin outflow of Margaret River itself, a small stream snaking down through the surrounding bushland.

The River reef is predominantly a left, peaking a long way offshore and peeling in a series of heavy, thick sections down to a final bumpy, slabby bowl and fizzling finish into the shallows inside the reef line. It handles anything from 5 to 18 feet. It's a complex wave with many moods, sometimes mushy and fading into deep water on south-angled swells, sometimes wedging and forming gnarly dangerous barrels on swells from the west. Good rights will occasionally grind off the peak, especially on smaller days when the takeoff moves closer in on the massive, broad reef. Many surfers have compared the outside left to Sunset Beach in reverse, and there are many similarities, including the need for thicker equipment and long power turns.

Swells are among the most consistent on the planet, thanks to almost 4,000 nautical miles of uninterrupted fetch between Australia and South Africa and consistent westerlies along the Roaring Forties wind band. Water temperatures are affected by regular upwelling and rarely rise above 72 degrees, even in midsummer, despite land temperatures rocketing beyond 100 degrees. The coastline is exposed to dramatic wind shifts, sudden weather changes are common and weeks of blasting southwest onshore gales occur through the winter months. These extremes hint at the fact that the middle seasons -- spring and autumn -- tend to be best for surf at Margarets.

Surfing in the region dates back to the early '60s, when some guys began making the trek down from Gracetown and Perth, two to four hours' drive north on dirt roads, to surf at Yallingup near Margaret. Yallingup became Surf Central, and people such as Ron Naylor, Len Dibben, Barry King, Cliff Hills, Geoff Dalziel and a dozen others hunted out the better spots around Margaret, often asking local fishermen which bush track they should venture down.

The River reef became a vague legend in the eastern Australian states, enough to draw Robert Conneeley, the iconoclastic champion from Bondi in Sydney, who came seeking the clean natural life prescribed by late-'60s hippie culture. Quite a few followed "Bonza Bob" Conneeley; and the area was soon populated by numerous emigre surfers, including surprising numbers of Americans (Vance Burrow married a local girl and fathered the freak talent Taj).

Surf contests, including the Australian national titles and a variety of pro events, drew more attention to the River through the '70s and '80s, and coincided with the area's steady development as a center for tourism. Increasing crowds in the water were first met by furious hostility by the old time ex-hippies, but time and tide has eased the pressure. Eventually, Conneeley spearheaded the design and placement of a "rules of the lineup" plaque at the River's access point -- the first such statement to be made at any beach in the world.

The Margaret area's powerful, consistent surf has always bred a small yet extraordinary selection of great waveriders -- Tony Hardy and Ian Cairns in the early '70s to Taj Burrows and brothers Jake and Paul Paterson today. In between comes Mitch Thorson, Damon Eastough, Josh Palmateer and a tight crew of exceptional watermen who can be counted on to tackle anything the River can throw at 'em. -- Nick Carroll, January 2001