13th beach, goes off

Thanks Guys,

whats the best wind direction for 13th Beach??

( Small to large ) -13th Beach ( attracts more swell than the others due to facing direction ) , Ocean Grove, Bawon Heads, Anglesea, Torquay, Pt Addis.

(Medium to Extra Large ) Portsea, Gunamatta, Rye ( Back Beach ) Flinders, Woolamai,

(Smaller but still very nice ) Shoreham, Pt Leo, Flynns Reef, Cat Bay, merricks

If you have a weekend and large testes
(XXL) Castle Cove, Johanna, Warnambool Portland etc.....

If you get a map of victoria and check out each of those places you can almost guarantee surf if there is any sort of swell at all.

General swell direction is from the SW........ Surfcoast ( ie Torquay etc... are generally reef breaks and usually smaller than the east coast ( gunamatta rye etc... ) unless you go past Cape Otway.

East coast breaks from Portsea to Gunamatta are generally beach breaks or reef onto beach, this coast faces directly SW and cops the most swell with some days 10-12ft + where the entire beach closes out.

When the swell is this big the Surfcoast will offer more options or Flinders backbeach ( still has the size but the reefs are further out avoiding the closeout situation ie: Big Lefts, Cyrills etc...) or head into Westernport Bay ( Pt Leo, Shoreham , Merricks etc..... ) the problem with the Pt LEo side of westernport is that you need the wind to be more southerly than south west as SW is a bit offshore and you need a decent swell on the open beaches ( for a decent 2-3 ft wave at Pt Leo etc... it needs to be at least 5-6ft + on the open beaches if the swell direction is more S or SE you can afford for the general swell to be a bit smaller and still get a reasonable size insite the bay.

If you are over the westernport side and the wind is SW you can head around to Phillip Island and kite Cat Bay or Flynns reef as these breaks seem to get a bit more swell inside westernport than PT Leo etc... again due to direction. and they can be kited in the prevailing SW winds.

The above all depends on what you want from the surf ......

Do you want perfect cross off conditions with clean waves to ride a surfboard ?
or ..Do you want some heaving frothing surf to smash around on your twin tip ?

If you want cross off wind and perfect waves your choices are a bit limited, as any offshore wind around here tends to be rather gusty ...and if you cluck up you are off into Bass Strait. There are a few cross offshore places for waves ( that still allow a self rescue albeit a bout a 2km drift, but you will eventually end up on land ) both are fickle and one needs a very very large swell to work ...but I would rather not mention them publicly.

If you have somewhere in mind PM me and i will happily share my experiences there or what I know if I have been there.

I usually kite in the surf most weekends when its windy and have a golden rule and that is that the forecast must be 20-25Knots or preferably 25-30knots to warrant risking the 90min drive. Taking the surfboard as well ensures you have a back up at least.
A mate an I have had a few sessions at 13th this year where we have surfed in the morning and then literally as the wind came across the water we paddled in and pumped up our 8 & 10m kites and headed out, this way the waves were still fairly clean for the first hour or so and all the blokes in the lineup were steaming with envy knowing that we had just been out, that their session was about to end and that we were heading out to start a totally different one.

IMO There is nothing worse than being underpowered in decent surf and so you want to ensure you have a decent forecast.......something that seems very hard to come by in Vic this year.

Harry Potter, first I would like to thank you for your time and such s great summary of kitesurfing in Vic, I really didn't expect something as detailed, thank you for your assistance and you genuine passion for this amazing sport!

I hope to meet up with you out on the water sometime! If you are every taking the 90min drive to the beach for wind, please let me know.

Once again; thanks!!!

morandi said...

Wow harry potter, that is a great summary.

Can you give more detail about Gunamatta, and particularly Rye Back Beach? I presumed these would be full of surfers. Where are the best kite friendly spots to launch from ?

Both Rye Back beach and Gunamatta face in the same direction and therfore attract pretty much the exact same swell. Both also offer plenty of beach space to launch and land .... although on a big swell and tide the bach can be greatly reduced..... The only real difference is the location of the reefs and banks and even then they are very similar. But both places are heavily dependant on the banks shaping up well for the surf....... quite often there can be plently of swell but you just cant find a bank that is working ( unless you look beyond the carparks ) If you have no luck with the banks at Rye or Gunamatta you can try St SAndrews ( which is between the two ) I wont give directions but it may be work a look

RYE back beach is accessed off Sandy Rd which is on you left ( opposite the gunamatta trail ride holding yards on truemans rd ) Under ideal conditions you will find a right hander peeling off the reef ( when facing ocean it it off to you right slightly ) and a left almost directly infront of the carpark.
Gunamatta ( second carpark ) is almostr identical with a left and a right in similar positions.
You will find RYE is a more local crew and gunamatta more for the hordes but when the banks are good both places can get a crowd. But really only ever in summer and they are not real beach crowds as you might see in Sydney etc...

If you are kiting it is most likely onshore wind 15knots + so most if not all surfers will have headed in by the time you are heading out. If the wind is cross shore you may find a few still out so it is up to you ( and your summary of their reaction as to what you do ) personally I have found if you respect the laws of the surf ( no snakeing no dropping in etc...) you wont have a problem. Alternatively you only need to venture 50 -100 m either side of the carparks and you will have the next peak to yourself as the surfers only really ever surf the breaks in front of the carparks..... on a warm sumers day however most of the peaks will be covered.

at this time of year you will barely see another soul on the beach or in the water let alone if its 20+ knots.... so kite away .... just be aware that there can be very strong rips along here and the beach is often deserted so no one will see you if you stuff up. Unless you are confident in the water and with a kite i would not recommend kiting here unless the swell is small and you have a few of you going out together. As an alternative I would head over to ocean grove or bawon heads where there are at least more people around.
If you are confident these beaches ( RYE GUnna ) can be very rewarding only thing is no-one will see you ripping.

this topic would be a big 'no no' if it were about WA surf. Who knows, could be the end of kitesurfing in victoria as we know it...




keep it up harry. always friendly and full of useful info

Big eeeZeee said...

this topic would be a big 'no no' if it were about WA surf. Who knows, could be the end of kitesurfing in victoria as we know it...




keep it up harry. always friendly and full of useful info

Cheers big eeZeee, I think it's all good.... as it is you barely ever see kiters outside the bay and being on average 90min away from melb and 11 degree winter water temps I don't think we will see the hordes anytime soon.
Plus ... I only named well known spots, I kept all the secret spots up my sleeve

flinders on a S, SW,W breeze is perfect great swell and normally and pretty strong 20 knot breeze :) jst watch out for the rocks at low tide!