REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Monday June 20, 2005

THE Gold Coast’s best surf breaks were being loved to death.

The chaos on the roads was nothing compared to the Coast’s popular points as hundreds of surfers battled for the best waves.

While the smaller conditions were not so appealing, the surf of the previous week was as good as it got.

Between 300 and 400 boardriders competed for waves at Snapper Rocks, while the traffic jams at Burleigh were an indication of the crowd in the water at Burleigh Point, one of Queensland’s premier breaks.

Many surfers voiced their frustration at having to fight for waves with `weekend warriors’, while others told of punch-ups or of being forced to travel to NSW or even overseas to avoid the chaos.

Dan Howard, of Kirra Surfriders Club, said the weekend crowds at Snapper were ridiculous.

“The crowd factor is unbelievable, really bad,” he said.

“You can get frustrated really quickly, and I’ve heard about blokes having punch-ups, although I have not seen any fights.

“It’s not so bad when the surf is really big because it sorts out the crowd a bit, but when it’s shoulder high to head-high, every man and his dog gets out there.

“Most people just accept that it’s part of surfing but there’s others who go overboard and punch someone.

“I drive down the coast sometimes even if the surf is perfect here so I can avoid the crowds. That’s also why we go on holidays.”