Iconic breaks fail to hit list

SOME of the Gold Coast’s most iconic surf spots have been rolled in favour of a popular North Stradbroke beach accessible only by ferry.

Beaches at Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach and The Spit have been left out of Surf Life Saving Queensland’s annual list of Top 10 beaches, which is headed by picturesque Cylinder Beach.

However, southern beaches including Greenmount, Coolangatta and last year’s winner Burleigh Heads made the list, which is released today.

Surf Life Saving Queensland co-ordinator Nathan Fife said recent unstable conditions had counted against many Gold Coast beaches.

Last Sunday volunteers saved 20 people from a flash rip off Surfers Paradise.

“Greenmount has probably ranked so high because it’s a calm beach, protected from a lot of wind conditions,” Mr Fife said. “There are so many beaches so it would have been a tough decision.”

Mr Fife maintained Gold Coast beaches were the best in the state.

“The Gold Coast has the best beaches, but then again we’re pretty biased,” he said.

Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Surf Life Saving Club general manager Marty Damjanoski said it was a no-brainer that Greenmount was ranked as the best beach in the city.

“Surf Life Saving Queensland have got it right. We’ve got the hill beside us which keeps us protected from the winds so it’s beautiful on the beach,” Mr Damjanoski said.

“If you’re a surfer you can

catch a wave all the way down to Kirra if the swell’s up, and the view looking across to Surfers Paradise is spectacular.

“There’s plenty of room on the beach, plenty of cafes close by and plenty of parking.”

Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) chief operating officer George Hill said that Cylinder Beach, a protected cove popular with families, was a clear winner.

Mr Hill said a wide range of factors had been considered when compiling the Top 10 in a state blessed with more than 750 accessible beaches along a sprawling 6973km coastline. Roughly 119 of these are patrolled by volunteer lifesavers or paid lifeguards.

“Safety is obviously our primary focus and, with that in mind, we considered everything from patrol times and services, right through to incident history, coastal conditions and the quality of visitor information,” he said.

The 2017 Coast Safe report revealed a record 20.7 million people visited Queensland’s patrolled beaches in 2016-17 – a jump of 11 per cent.