Marion Bay

Pondie (pondalowie bay) there is a whole 3k stretch that turns in richards. Have fun

Right in front of the Marion Bay Caravan Park is a tiny little pointbreak called Penguin Point. On one of those softboards(hire one from the local surfshop) you can get her started in the prevailing SE windswell that we get in summer. For a cleaner beginner wave hit South Berry Bay near Corny Point!

Don't know if pondi is the best place to begin.
If yor girl has the ability to catch an unbroken wave and ride the face, yes perfect. But for a white water beginner, the shorey turns into boomer with any sort of size, and has claimed many a beginner victim.
That being said, the further south you head from the boardwalk the smaller it gets.
What about whitewaters at the dusty bowl?.. Just watch out for rips.

Totally agree with yorkessurfer. Was going to post that same post myself!

Penguin point also OK on a massive winter west swell.

Pondie not a good option at all. Maybe down the beach at Richards on a tiny swell and low tide.

Lines of white water at weeny little lizards would be good for a rank beginner too.

Berry Bay is a pretty well-used beginner spot - a straight-hander mostly but a good spot to have a crack - can be a bit rippy for beginners but if she's competent in the water she'll be fine.

Thanks heaps for the information guys, been reading atlas information and a few coastal books about yorke peninsula. Pretty excited as the year is coming to an end for my business and I can almost smell the holiday.

Without trying to push the friendship too much I need to try and break the drive back to Aldinga up and was trying to find something about halfway from Marion Bay caravan park that is nice (can be camp site or hotel accomodation) that has a bit of something to offer. I noticed that Port Wakefield looks close to half way and has a nice little country town look to it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

also is there any must see & do's while im in Marion Bay or around that should definitely not be missed? As far as surf beaches go ill probably just keep to berry bay for the misses and pondie for myself if conditions suit.

I've noticed on the other thread re SA cruisen that flies are a big thing, is it just as bad down this end of the peninsula? might have to invest in one of those fly net hats if it is haha.

thanks in advance guys.

Keegs no need to break up the journey only 4 .5hrs with traffic from aldinga
but if you really have to Pt wakefield no no no no try one of the last beach side towns on the peninsula

I didnt word it too well sir ambrose , It's more so to break up the drive and give us a chance to see a bit more of the place. thanks mate.

The flys aren't as intense as the Eyre Peninsula but they have their moments. 'Remember the Aeroguard and have a good weekend'.

There's so much to see in the Innes National Park I could write an essay but as a quick guide don't miss Dolphin Bay. There's no surf but it's one of the most beautiful beaches you will ever see.

Also do the 2km Stenhouse Bay Lookout Trail which winds its way along the cliffs above Stenhouse Jetty and has historical relics and incredible views of the coastline and islands. Pick a day or morning when the winds not too strong because it can be blowy up there.

The historical town of Inneston is also a must see.

All the different turnoffs as you drive through the park are worthwhile with shipwrecks, viewing platforms, lookouts and the white sandy beaches.

On the way home you could drive up the Eastern side of the peninsula through Edithburgh, Coobowie, Port Vincent and Pine Point and stay at Ardrossen for the night?
Or head up to Maitland, Moonta and stay at Wallaroo before heading home from there for a different experience?

Hope you have a great holiday keegs!

Flies oh the flies, how bad are they when you need to slice a nature loaf, next level.
My technique is to just slice off a decoy loaf then move a few metres away to finish the rest, the decoy loaf has most of them fooled. Dont forget to bury and dont leave your poo ticket lying around.

I went for a walk myself up the Stenhouse Bay Lookout trail the other day and took a few pics of the coastline after having a surf at Chinaman's. The trail has gotta be the best kept secret in the Innes National Park.

One thing of interest up there is the so called 'Chinaman's grave' which I'm sure is how the wave Chinamans got its name. The poor bugger was in fact the first Vietnamese to arrive in South Australia having died on a ship at sea.

The captain intended to 'bury' him at sea but his shipmates threatened a mutiny if his body was not taken to land and buried according to his Buddist customs. So his grave ended up here in this isolated place.

Wow nice one YS, never knew about that walk, get some sweet angles of Chi's from there as well.

PS Keegs, avoid Port Wakefield at all costs :o

I always thought Chi's got it's name from Chinaman Hat Island - which if you squint does looks like one of those conical hats you see in the Asian countries to me. Or perhaps that's how the island got it's name as well?

Sounds like chinese whispers to me .....

The break is way off in the distance from that Grave though ...

Its funny how the evolution of place names even non surfing goes ....

"Its funny how the evolution of place names even non surfing goes ...."

"Winkipop"..... What' the story behind the name "winkipop"? And why are there 2 winkipops? (Vicco and Sydney)

I heard many a year ago the Winki got called Winkipop cause the wife of the local farmer used to refer to a naughty as Winkipop, sound a bit far fetched but, that's what I was told by one of the old boys that chucked a few bob in to carve a road in. Brutus might know if this has any truth to it.

I think in the early days breaks used to get named after Hawaiian and Californian breaks.

I know Nat Young claimed Chinaman's was named for the nearby island's resemblance to a Chinaman's Hat in the surfing atlas he wrote in the 80's.
They do call the island Chinamans Hat Island but I always wondered if the Chinaman's Grave was what inspired the name of the island and hence the wave's name?
I can't really see how the island looks like a Chanamans Hat myself? Ah well had a fun little surf out there this morning anyways!

Hello everyone I was wondering about the marion bay shop and why there is nothing in it.....I have been staying down here for a week or so and have had to visit the shop a few times and there is nothing to buy ?? What is with the people behind the counter, very unfriendly not even a smile or hello ?? You would think that since the shop closed at stenhouse bay that this place would be stocked up with all sorts of goodies. I wonder when someone will finally open up something bigger and better and start selling a decent coffee and sit back and watch the people lining up again.

Haha heard that so many times Beacon. All the locals drive the few hundred km round trip to shop in Yorketown for that reason. The people who took over the shop blew into town a few years ago and are just here to cash up before they retire.
Since the Stenhouse Bay shop closed he has a monopoly so doesn't have to be nice I guess? Sad really as this area has generally had a friendly reputation but the shopkeeper really is the face of the town to outsiders so that reflects on all of us who live here.

We who get our fuel and collect our mail there just have to put up with it like everyone else who visits and hopefully in a few years someone will take it over with more enthusiasm to make it a better place to shop.

" Its a local shop , for local people " - League of gentlemen.

Don't try the meat out of the freezer .

Why did the stenhouse shop close, yorko?

It was primarily mismanagement in my opinion Sheepy but the National Park messed up the campgrounds so people didn't want to camp anymore. That affected their business. It was a combination of the two I think.

That's a shame.... What happened to the campgrounds? Were they free and now you have to pay, or did they "beautify" and it looked like shite?

The Innes campground saga is a tale worth re-telling. Since the National Park opened in the early 70's a culture of camping had developed. Long weekends, holidays and any time the surf was pumping it was almost a right of passage for surfers to come down and camp in one of the beachside campgrounds in the park.

Fathers would take their teenage sons(and daughters) down to surf and camp and tell stories of the shenanigans they got up to down there when they were young. Sure things got a little crazy sometimes like the mini-riot that happened at the Pondalowie Surfers Camp in the late 80's. It made the front page of the paper in Adelaide but really it was blown out of proportion.

The parks management had a bit of a grudge against the surfers after that and when the National Park was being re-developed in the mid-2000's they saw it as an opportunity to create some order.
The Pondalowie Surfers Camp was closed and a new campground a few km away from the surf was developed to herd the unruly surfers in with the general public . I mean 'herd' literally as small box like wire fences were put up surrounding each campsite which meant it was impossible to socialise with other campers.

Of course camping numbers plummeted. After working all week in the city the last thing the weekend warriors want is to be subjected to sterile caged camping.
And so the great experience of camping in amongst the trees and with nature was over and people started renting holiday houses in Marion Bay instead which spelled the end of the Stenhouse Bay shop and Rhinos Tavern.
It's been a real loss to the area for locals and visitors alike.

Thanks Yorko....I get your drift, it has been very interesting reading your comments, I have been coming down here for nearly 40 years surfing and have seen all the changes but not for the better in many instances. It is a beautiful place and the locals are very friendly people and willing to lend a hand & advice. I thought the national park was for people so don't really understand why they have been driven out. As for the shop (sorry to harp on about this topic) how can it make any money if locals don't really support it etc, wouldn't have thought the holiday crowds would have made enough retire money for it. Any thoughts on this ?

Mate that shop is a licence to print money. Fisho's are filling up their boats and launching at the boat ramp almost every day of the year. The charter boats get up to a dozen people from each boat buying toasted sandwiches and coffee before they head out. Plus bait and tackle. Then there's all the people heading to the National Park. The shopkeeper signed the lease when the Stenhouse shop was still open so his turnover would have increased at least 30% when that shut.

I think the town needs a decent small supermarket. All the new housing developments like Marion Bay Sands and Marion Bay Rise won't really takeoff until there is a proper store. People think it's such a great place and would love to build a holiday shack but with nowhere to buy groceries without driving 100km it just puts them off.
Part of me likes the fact that most people find it too hard living here. I like that it's so quiet most of the year. But it can be hard to find someone to go surfing with sometimes believe it or not?

Sneaky J, YS? He's usually up for it.

Is that Jon-Jon stray-gator? He's sometimes lurking around surfing by himself during the week. I'm often sitting in my car somewhere watching the surf then I psych myself out and drive away, get a few km down the road then John or someone drives past with boards on the roof so I turn around. Of course when it's pumping surfers come out of the woodwork but there's a lot of clean 2 to 3ft days when the surf is empty.

Apparently not keegz. The area needs that new supermarket eh. Yorko a final question, what happened to the surf shop and the guys that were running it, didn't they also look after the shop too. Was quite surprised to see the surf shop had closed when I was down there, they were nice folks. I don't blame you for wanting it to stay quiet but with all the housing going up its just going to get busier eh.

@Beacon yeah true it's gonna get busier around here, you can't stop progress hey!

The guy who was running the surf shop back then still owns the whole block of shops. He has been working up at Moomba for a few years chasing $$(he's a tradie). When he leased the surf shop out it was taken over by some non-surfers so that side of the business went down and it became more of a fishing/clothing shop. Like a lot of small businesses it takes someone with drive and enthusiasm to make it successful. Guess that was lacking?

@keegs-. The best way to post your pictures in my opinion is to download the Imgur app. After choosing the picture you want to post from your album you hit 'upload' icon, when that's done then hit 'get embed codes' icon. Then you select the 'bb-code' icon which will copy the code. Then you paste this into your comment and when you post your comment your image will magically appear.

Yeah be careful what you wish for, yorko... The sunshine coast "hamlets" were once pristine.. People in Coolum used to whinge about only having the IGA.... Now it's a nightmare....
Great photo's, keegs :)

Nice pics keegz. Yeah sheepy the part of me that resents having to spend $30 on fuel each time I need to go shopping wants a grocery store in town. The other part of me that likes it nice and quiet down here is quite happy with the status quo. Hopefully petrol stays cheap for a while.

Is that Pondalowie with the little island out the front ? The first photo.

That's the spot blowin. Here's a few pics of it when there's some better waves(hope I don't upset barley)!

Looks fun. Couldn't believe the crowd on Keegz photo. The only time I've been to Yorkes I didn't see another surfer. Wasn't amazing but wasn't utter shit either.

Beautiful place , great photos gents . Cheers.

As for the campground - stayed there and saw not one other person . Got rat arsed drunk with the chick I was with next to a raging bonfire in the middle of the area and rutted under the stars like animals.

Fucking national parks. They're doing the same everywhere. Blowholes at Quobba is next on their hit list of places to ruin. Same as Pondie- wire fences, demarcations , rules and generally destroying any vibe of freedom. Cunts.

A bit harsh Beacon. Its not like we are located in Rundle Mall...

Beacon wrote:

Hello everyone I was wondering about the marion bay shop and why there is nothing in it.....I have been staying down here for a week or so and have had to visit the shop a few times and there is nothing to buy ?? What is with the people behind the counter, very unfriendly not even a smile or hello ?? You would think that since the shop closed at stenhouse bay that this place would be stocked up with all sorts of goodies. I wonder when someone will finally open up something bigger and better and start selling a decent coffee and sit back and watch the people lining up again.

Takes two to smile tango.

Do any Yorkes locals know where I can hire a softboard/surfboard? Going for a weekend with friends, we all have our own boards but my brother is keen to come and hasn’t ever surfed before.