OK, hypothetical. You're deeply into windsurfing and want to live in the best place for it in Australia. Where would you choose? What are the benefits and drawbacks of your choice?

(Yes, I'm looking for a place to live when I'm done working)

Love the question and keen to see some of the responses.

Question for you though: why wait until retirement? You should move there now, make the most of it and enjoy life. You could be unfit, broke or not alive at the time you stop working...

depends what kind of windsurfing you want to do.
Speed sailing Mandurah is good, Bump and jump Gero, big waves Margaret river

WA for wind and flatwater but I don't like heat...

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decrepit said..
depends what kind of windsurfing you want to do.
Speed sailing Mandurah is good, Bump and jump Gero, big waves Margaret river

I guess I should actually take a look, but what is WA like in winter for sailing? Is Mandurah the best place to go?

I know when in Sydney/NSW that at least in winter you could go down south or up north and find lakes to sail in the frontal winds. For WA I am not sure.

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Shifu said..
OK, hypothetical. You're deeply into windsurfing and want to live in the best place for it in Australia. Where would you choose? What are the benefits and drawbacks of your choice?

(Yes, I'm looking for a place to live when I'm done working)

Live in your van. Then you can be where the wind is.

This place for me. No pesky shore break, bit of a swell with flat water in between for some proper blasting, 95-110l freerace/slalom and 6 -7m 2 cam sail.
How often is it like this?
?si=7VzC-xLoWN-Epzj9

Queens beach is not a bad starting point Shifu!

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FormulaNova said..

decrepit said..
depends what kind of windsurfing you want to do.
Speed sailing Mandurah is good, Bump and jump Gero, big waves Margaret river

I guess I should actually take a look, but what is WA like in winter for sailing? Is Mandurah the best place to go?

I know when in Sydney/NSW that at least in winter you could go down south or up north and find lakes to sail in the frontal winds. For WA I am not sure.

There are places here, Boombas can be fun, if it's not too deep, N is best direction, and gives a 6km run if you want it. WNW is off shore and not much fun, NE is probably the safest, upwind run out and a flying downhill ride back.

Still weedburgs at the moment, which adds to the adrenaline.

The forbidden pond is the fastest place. (Slowy has hit 48kts there), A due Westerly is best but still OK in a WNW or WSW.

Australind can also be fun, if the tide is low, again very long runs in a Westerly.

Avalon lagoon is also fun,WNW is straight onshore, W and NW are also OK, up one direction down the other.
A bit of swell usually gets over the reef, that can also be fun to play with. Just don't go too close to the shallow reef, that can rip fins out.

If it swings SW, Gearie's has wave sailing, Avalon is usually closing out.

There's a run from the tip of Halls head out to a reef with a bit of a wave, haven't done that for ages.

30 years or so ago I used to sail Pt Peron in a NW, was great fun, but no idea if that has changed.

Im done with shifting!
I'm staying put on the Sunshine Coast! Just travel when I need to and retirement is less than 10 years away!
When its not windy or no waves - loads of other stuff to do while my body lets me.

As a surfer, SUP, wave sailor, and recently into flat water, my 2 cents on the below spots.

Geraldton WA - great wind but **** surf in summer, surf in winter, dry, nice small town. Winter in Gnaraloo surfing and spring autumn wave sailing.
Margaret river, great sailing, surfing, mtbing but very expensive to buy into these days.
Perth - central location, **** surf, good windsurfing, expensive.
NSW - Mid north coast - (Yamba to Sawtell) great surf, SUP, mtbing, gusty tough winter conditions for wave sailing, summer sea breezes ok, but crap for last couple of seasons, beautiful weather mostly. great mtbing and dirt biking.
Sydney - expensive, crowded, ****, flat water options
Sth coast NSW - heaps of travel between spots, national parks and in and out of main roads, good surf, windy
QLD - great surf, crowds, light wind wave sailing.
VIC coast, windy, cold, great surf
Tassie - windy, cold, great surf.
NZ - windy, cold, great surf.

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PhilUK said..
This place for me. No pesky shore break, bit of a swell with flat water in between for some proper blasting, 95-110l freerace/slalom and 6 -7m 2 cam sail.
How often is it like this?

?si=7VzC-xLoWN-Epzj9

I haven't spent that much time there, and never in peak season, but I'd expect probably four days a week of similar weather in spring and early summer. There's a campground in the southern corner that is very nice. Oddly enough I have been there mostly at the ends of the season or winter, when it's offshore but still nice. Lovely temperatures, too. Possibly the best sailing spot for 400 or so miles north of Port Stephens.

Don't rate SWR - Southwest rocks, unless surfing the river mouth on big SE or NE swell or blasting winter westerlies. No good in NE or S winds, blasting only, choppy water..
Lovely camping and town though.

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Shifu said..
OK, hypothetical. You're deeply into windsurfing and want to live in the best place for it in Australia. Where would you choose? What are the benefits and drawbacks of your choice?

(Yes, I'm looking for a place to live when I'm done working)

Average 240 days a year (12-35 knots) in Perth split between the river and ocean if you can windfoil.

Yes Perth is so-so for wavesailing but epic for windfoil downwinding - summer SW and winter NW
Plenty of space out there for more

I put the house on the market yesterday so I can invest the money and quit work, moving onto this so I can go looking for new spots

Shark bay denham, ticks all the boxes for me.pushing 60 soon .
Retired with the wife & hounds. Leave the rat race behind, buy a secondhand crayboat with our super.the place is great for fishing & windsurfing.how could you not reside there . Its windy sometimes 24 hours a day in summer.

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gavnwend said..
Shark bay denham, ticks all the boxes for me.pushing 60 soon .
Retired with the wife & hounds. Leave the rat race behind, buy a secondhand crayboat with our super.the place is great for fishing & windsurfing.how could you not reside there . Its windy 24 hours a day nearly everyday in summer.

Sounds fantastic. 60 soon for me to, though have a few more years of work to do.

I'm looking for open water blasting conditions. What's Geraldton like to live in? I sailed there once, seemed ok, but that was before the meth epidemic.

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Nerdburger said..
Don't rate SWR - Southwest rocks, unless surfing the river mouth on big SE or NE swell or blasting winter westerlies. No good in NE or S winds, blasting only, choppy water..
Lovely camping and town though.

Mmmmm, choppy water. More fun than flat stuff to some of us.

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Nerdburger said..
As a surfer, SUP, wave sailor, and recently into flat water, my 2 cents on the below spots.


VIC coast, windy, cold, great surf

Also where I am, sailable in all wind directions, surf one day snowboarding the next. And rest days are few cos there's Mountain Biking as well.

My life decision at 40 now 64 proved to be perfect = Mandurah

Instant friendship group. Flat water, Wavesailing, bump n jump, speedsailing. 6 to 8 months of summer every year. Shifu plenty of open water from Ocean to Estuary. Good water temps. Close to all modern amenities and work opportunities. reasonably priced housing.

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Shifu said..
I'm looking for open water blasting conditions. What's Geraldton like to live in? I sailed there once, seemed ok, but that was before the meth epidemic.

I moved there from Sydney a few years ago and have enjoyed Geraldton. It's not for everyone.... it's isolated which is a pro and con and the range of cultural/arts activities is less than the cities. The locals are very friendly and everyone has a time for a chat. The town is about 10% Aboriginal which is unique for me coming from Sydney. I like that I'm in a community with the 1st inhabitants of the country... it feels like the Australia I should be aware of.

Real Estate is still a lot cheaper than the cities, in fact it's probably the cheapest town of this size anywhere on the Australian coast however prices are starting to move upwards. The winters are mild and the summers hot. January/February can get 40+ for days a time however if you live near the water you just jump in and you're cool. There's 2 good golf courses if you're into that and a few good cafes eateries now. Having a sail at Coros or other spots is made extra special with the sun setting over the Indian Ocean chatting away with the visiting Euros and making new friends. Having Gnaraloo up the road means you can duck up there if a forecast comes up.

There is higher petty crime rate than I'm used to from Sydney however if you buy in the right areas with a lock up garage you should have minimal problems. It's a bit of an adjustment coming from the East Coast but I've really liked Gero in general. It's a place where you get out of it what you put in. Living in Gero feels like you're back in 1980s Australia.

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hardie said..
My life decision at 40 now 64 proved to be perfect = Mandurah

Instant friendship group. Flat water, Wavesailing, bump n jump, speedsailing. 6 to 8 months of summer every year. Shifu plenty of open water from Ocean to Estuary. Good water temps. Close to all modern amenities and work opportunities. reasonably priced housing.

No snow

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Flying Dutchman said..

Shifu said..
but that was before the meth epidemic.

Looks like the trees are on it as well.

That tree scares me. My smallest sail is a 5.8 , an and that's for emergency use only. I've used it once and I'd rather I didn't.

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ptsf1111 said..
Love the question and keen to see some of the responses.

Question for you though: why wait until retirement? You should move there now, make the most of it and enjoy life. You could be unfit, broke or not alive at the time you stop working...

I think life is backwards, you should be able to enjoy yourself when you're young and fit and then start work at 50 until you die. I know to many people that have waited for retirement only to get ill and not be able to enjoy it.

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Ben1973 said..

ptsf1111 said..
Love the question and keen to see some of the responses.

Question for you though: why wait until retirement? You should move there now, make the most of it and enjoy life. You could be unfit, broke or not alive at the time you stop working...

I think life is backwards, you should be able to enjoy yourself when you're young and fit and then start work at 50 until you die. I know to many people that have waited for retirement only to get ill and not be able to enjoy it.

So I start a four year apprenticeship at 46 ?

I have just spent 18 months travelling OZ & can't wait to get back to WA, currently in Katherine, NT.
I sailed & foiled where possible & it was pretty disappointing, to be fair, maybe not in the right place at the best time but tried.
I left Melb 30 years ago specifically for the weather in WA & windsurfing, since then I've travelled to a lot of countries & places & WA is by far the best for windsurfing & lifestyle on general.
Albany to Exmouth is a long way but there's everything you could possibly want in between.
Sharkbay is one of my favourite places although not quite warm enough??
People talk about hot weather but it's not the same as the East coast, even NSW felt hotter because of the humidity & in WA there's usually a sea breeze ??
Perth here I come, again ??

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decrepit said..

FormulaNova said..

decrepit said..
depends what kind of windsurfing you want to do.
Speed sailing Mandurah is good, Bump and jump Gero, big waves Margaret river

I guess I should actually take a look, but what is WA like in winter for sailing? Is Mandurah the best place to go?

I know when in Sydney/NSW that at least in winter you could go down south or up north and find lakes to sail in the frontal winds. For WA I am not sure.

There are places here, Boombas can be fun, if it's not too deep, N is best direction, and gives a 6km run if you want it. WNW is off shore and not much fun, NE is probably the safest, upwind run out and a flying downhill ride back.

Still weedburgs at the moment, which adds to the adrenaline.

The forbidden pond is the fastest place. (Slowy has hit 48kts there), A due Westerly is best but still OK in a WNW or WSW.

Australind can also be fun, if the tide is low, again very long runs in a Westerly.

Avalon lagoon is also fun,WNW is straight onshore, W and NW are also OK, up one direction down the other.
A bit of swell usually gets over the reef, that can also be fun to play with. Just don't go too close to the shallow reef, that can rip fins out.

If it swings SW, Gearie's has wave sailing, Avalon is usually closing out.

There's a run from the tip of Halls head out to a reef with a bit of a wave, haven't done that for ages.

30 years or so ago I used to sail Pt Peron in a NW, was great fun, but no idea if that has changed.

30 years ago Pt Peron had a lot more sand. Coastal erosion has killed it. went there last Friday hoping for a small wave sail in the NW'ly, but zero waves as all the sand has gone where it used to be crystal clear 3' of water over a sand bottom. Waves break on the shore now.
That spot is just a memory now.

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Imax1 said..

Ben1973 said..

ptsf1111 said..
Love the question and keen to see some of the responses.

Question for you though: why wait until retirement? You should move there now, make the most of it and enjoy life. You could be unfit, broke or not alive at the time you stop working...

I think life is backwards, you should be able to enjoy yourself when you're young and fit and then start work at 50 until you die. I know to many people that have waited for retirement only to get ill and not be able to enjoy it.

So I start a four year apprenticeship at 46 ?

Why not? I rode bikes (professionally so sort of job) and windsurfed till I was 40, then got a proper job, it worked out pretty well for me, definitely don't regret joining the 9 to 5ers earlier

I like the look of Geraldton. Are there any places south of Perth good for windsurfers?