Coast questions QLD - Surf and swim

This is due diligence believe it or not.

Does anyone have any opinions on the following?
the best surfing between Bris and Noosa to the north and the best ones to the south to about 40 k below Byron.

(I'd define best as being consistantly reliable reasonable waves rather than large swells/waves occasionally).

the best swimming for young kids within the same geography.
 
It's been a while since I've applied wax onto a bit of fibreglass and caused myself some grief, but a mate is still surfing and heads to Cabarita (northern NSW) for a surf a few times a week when he is off shift.
He said it's a great wave and by the sounds of it, pretty reliable and a beautiful spot to boot!
Sorry, can't help you out with the kiddy swimming question. I'll email this link to him and see if he'll add any more info for you.
 
Go Ballina for sure.

Been surfing the north coast all my life (well until now im 28).

Ballina has heaps of options and you can get a wave in most wind conditions. Heaps of good beach breaks and you have Lennox Head nearby if it there is too much swell for Ballina to handle.

Noosa is a hoax (ridiculously crowded and rarely that good)

Byron is way to crowded and full of backpackers getting in the way.

Good waves around the Gold Coast (Burleigh, Kirra, Duranbah ect but also crowded).

In terms of good places for your family to swim. Any beach can be dangerous on its day depending on sand banks, swell, wind etc.

If they swim in the flags and don't go out if the beach is closed you should be right.
 
When I read the first post I immediately thought of Cabarita (but this is to the north of Byron). A good wave and a pretty beach which seems to pick up more swell than Byron. Possibly Evans Head to the south of Ballina. Angourie (near Yamba) has a reputation as one of the best waves in Australia.

Buying on the basis of quality of surf breaks makes sense (although I haven't done it). If you look at some of the best surf breaks/areas in the world (ones where the main attraction is the surf and not much else there) they seem to do well as investments. I reckon it has a lot to do with older surfers some of whom succeed in entrepreneurial ventures and want to live near their favourite breaks. Surfers Paradise (maybe 60 years ago), Noosa (50 years ago) Lennox Head (30 years ago) would be examples. Agnes Waters is another. A South African friends tell me about how Jeffreys Bay developed from nothing in the late 60's and is now quite developed and expensive. I have never been to Raglan in NZ but I presume the same thing has happened there. Kuta in Bali (and Bukit Peninsular) over the last 40 years would be another example.

Maybe checking out longboarding magazines will give an indicaton of where older surfer $ might be heading.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRJu4KjATKA&feature=player_embedded#

Crazy surfing clip from Costa Rica (particulalry 3.24 onwards)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cF7VKfgBl4&feature=related
 
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Crazy surfing clip from Costa Rica (particulalry 3.24 onwards)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cF7VKfgBl4&feature=related

Oh, my - what a cowboy of a pilot!! Incredible landing. Thanks for posting it. :)

Yes, I think you are right about land and surfing beaches. The exception is at Mavericks in California. The little town there doesn't seem to have done anything at all - it's like going back to the 1950's. Maybe it's because Mavericks is just so out of reach to the normal every day surfer.
 
We surfed Playa Negro and Witches Rock when we were in CR in 07, a few days of crazy driving to get there - including a day or two of being seriously lost in the jungles/back roads down the south of the country!

Same thing, the towns were being bought out by older surfers - I had a look at prices in Jaco - another place we surfed a few hrs from San Jose (capitol) and they were up around the US$100,000 mark for an apartment - crazy when you see what the locals were getting paid to build them!
 
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