About Merimbula Surf Travel
Merimbula Bar:
The entrance to Merimbula Lake hosts a perfect lefthand rivermouth sandbar that produces perfect waves on its day, yet can be frustratingly fickle. Merimbula Bar needs a pretty decent size southerly or SW swell to break, and when it does, if you’re lucky enough to be in town, you’ll be scoring 200 metre rides with spitting tubes. A fast, sucky sand-dredging take-off leads to a series of hollow, wally sections and rippable bowls that will leave you frothing.
It’s a beautiful spot, but when its on you won’t find many people enjoying the scenery, they’ll be scratching to paddle inside you to make the most of this infrequent opportunity. And when its on, everyone seems to know about it – so if you want a wave, be prepared to wait for your turn.
If the crowd is getting to you, head north over the headland to Short Point, and you’ll find plenty of scope to find a beachbreak to yourself if you’re prepared to walk further along the beach towards Tura.
Pambula Rivermouth:
A perfectly hollow 200-meter right-hand, sand-bottom tube ride – an absolute classic. Or so I’m told. Unfortunately, like most people, I’ve only seen the photos and looked at the set-up on an ordinary day. In recent years, Pambula Rivermouth’s epic sessions have become increasingly rare. Talk to the locals though, or to the lucky traveling surfers who have scored it when its on, and you’ll understand why it continues to rate as a world-class wave, provided consistency isn’t a determining factor.
The rivermouth provides the ideal sand set up, all that is required is the perfect swell direction from the NE, preferably the remnants of a tropical cyclone that has slipped down the NSW coast. A tricky recipe in these parts, but when the ingredients come together, you’re in for a taste sensation; one that you won’t forget quickly.
The fickle nature of the bar means that many surfers who swing in here in the forlorn hope that it will be working, will often end up surfing some of the beachbreaks further up the beach. Fortunately the beachies in these parts can get really good, and you will often surf with very few people around.