The Flyer: The Wave They Couldn't Kill
A quick word about Kirra. I know you’ve seen the footage shot there this week but I can’t help myself. I’ll keep it short.
Some surf breaks are so fragile that small changes in drainage or sand flow have been enough to snuff them out. Not so Kirra, though it’s not like we haven't tried.
In 1964, Surfabout magazine ran a four-page feature on Kirra that included reference to a threatened marina at the pointbreak.
In 1965, the Tweed River breakwalls were extended trapping north-bound sand behind the southern breakwall. Every beach on the southern Gold Coast was stripped of sand.
In 1972, the state government built a groyne at Kirra to save Coolangatta Beach while further denuding Kirra.
In 1975, Little Groyne was built at the northern end of the wave.
Through the 1980s various ideas were proffered to ‘save’ Kirra. Typical of them was $300,000 spent to dump sand which lasted two days, washed away by Cyclone Harry.
Also in the 80s a groyne made of sandbags - the 'sausage groyne' - was built and subsequently removed…or washed away, it’s hard to recall among all the coastal engineering that occurred.
In 1995, 30 metres was removed from the end of Big Groyne.
In 2001, the pumps for the Tweed River Sand Bypass system were turned on. Snapper to Coolangatta fired, while Kirra filled with sand, altering the peel line.
In 2013, the 30 metres that was removed from Big Groyne was re-attached.
In 2014, a cruise ship terminal was proposed for Kirra.
In every instance, the wave has proven resilient. It may not break in the same spot yet it somehow retains that inimitable cupped-out shape and blinding speed. Snapper to Cooly may be good, but once the swell line passes Big Groyne something else happens that's both mysterious and wondrous.
In 2025, specifically the 3rd and 4th of March, arguably the best Kirra ever seen broke down the bank. Over those two days, hundreds of surfers caught the waves of their life, transported to a higher spiritual plane at the wave that cannot be killed
- Stu
PS: Thoughts go out to all the crew near the eye of Alfie. Stay safe.
PPS: This is a web version of our Saturday morning newsletter: The Flyer. Email us to receive yours.
Photos: Right Said Alfred
"It was a nice few days," said photographer Andrew Shield who was either overdosing on blasé pills or was too exhausted from chasing waves to muster further enthusiasm. Whatever the cause, Shieldsy's restraint was mowed down by the collective froth of 10,000 surfers. Read More >
Kyron Rathbone: Where The Wild Things Are
Think you've caught a big lobster or fish?
You've got nothing on Kyron Rathbone. Kyron, who hails from Tasmania, is a hard-charging surfer, a playful filmmaker, and now creator of wild wooden creatures. Click for a funny chat about his unlikely career, plus photos of Kyron's impressive creatures. Read More >
Draft Surf To Make Boards From Recycled Wind Turbine Blades
It wasn't the best week to release news like this. As the Gold Coast pumped under the best cyclone swell in years, a scrum of politicians, journos, and at least one surfer, ate canapes in Western Sydney awaiting an announcement.
The news? Draft Surf - that being Josh Kerr's surfboard label - has gone into partnership with Spanish company Acciona Energía to repurpose old wind turbine blades. Read More >
Watch: Lyke Sykora // Harvest
Luke Sykora in crystalline-blue lefts - they're nearly all lefts - shot in South Oz and Indonesia, backed by a wild rock/psych soundtrack. Read More >
Watch: Fifteen Minutes Of Kirra
Lastly, if you did somehow miss the action from Kirra earlier this week, here's a fifteen-minute clip that contains approximately fourteen minutes of tube time. Read More >
Comments
Best Kirra ever seen Stu???. I’ve never surfed it have never seen it break so I’m not being a smart arse here… legit question… is this the consensus among the people?.
You’d have to ask the Yugambeh traditional custodians owners of the land,
who have probably been fishing, swimming, bodysurfing there for thousands of years.
I've surfed Kirra dozens of times and best ever is a pretty big call but recently it's been pretty bloody good.
I miss her.
Four straight days - Sunday to Wednesday - between 6-10 feet, offshore the whole time, ridiculously consistent, hollow as ever, makeable through the high tides, travel time through the lows. I don't recall that, particularly not since TRESBP ticked over.
Of course, it's a subjective statement so it can never be definitively answered, but if you want to try then I'd suggest applying some form of utilitarianism: the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
Who can argue with 1,000 beaming surfers?
If your looking at tube time per annum
I think Kirra of old would be miles ahead.
It seems like for a lot of waves, the offshore bathymetry is just as important as what's happening directly underneath the breaking wave
My case in point is a well known south coast NSW reef. There is 300-odd meters of rock shelf offshore funneling and shaping the swell before it breaks
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q3g8PiZ4n1hTQhh69
I agree, mate. The physics of it haven't been nutted out but how an approaching swell is 'primed' is equally as important as the bottom it breaks on.
Gussied up and ready for a night out on the town , same dance moves, different music
Long live the Kirra Point !
When the swell and period rose, also a bit of direction shift to the south, you could really see it focusing on the offshore bombies.
So much so the bank at kirra hardly picked up a decent line.
On Tuesday with what appeared a slightly shorter period(better direction)the swell felt the bottom enough to stand up on the outer banks but travel through relatively unimpeded slamming the bank at kirra.
When Alfred's swell started arriving it was interesting watching it on the cams overrun an already decent trade swell that was in the water.
It was great watching it all play out on Paulys livestream.
I don't think there is anything fundamental to the wave about the offshore bathymetry.
It's just a sandy bay (Coolangatta).
I think the magic is more to do with the position of Kirra inside that Bay and it's alignment to swells.
It's far enough in that there is some refinement to the swell lines via refraction but not so far in that you lose all the energy.
Of course, it's protected/offshore in SE winds too- so mostly clean and pumping during cyclonic conditions.
The real magic though is the bank itself and the way it goes deep to shallow and creates that hollow cylinder.
It's possible Kirra reef has some role to play in terms of funneling the current and thus maintaining that really thin, defined bank with the steep gradient- that was a position advanced by the late, great Wayne Deane.
Best ever Kirra?
I think there is a case to be made.
People I've spoken to said the percentage of makeable waves is still lower than what it used to be.
But some of the actual rides themselves now have a greater degree of difficulty and deeper tubes can be ridden and made.
As far as the sheer number of insane tubes ridden out there on consecutive days goes- that would seem hard to argue against.
I would have liked to have taped a go pro to you for the last 2 week to see where you wandered....
No question , no answers.
You wouldn't have got much LD- I got mostly skunked.
Overall I think Kirra used to be a better wave in the 70s 80s , good every wave from the groyne right through, and not closing out,
However some of the waves of the last week could probably be described as the best Kirra ever, the ones that didn’t close out,
And it’s only really good on a max swell
The rest of the time, it’s a fuller, more sectiony
version of Snapper thru Greenmount.
So I would say that Kirra is overrated as a wave these days, except for the days when everything comes together.
I think the word "makeable" has been redefined each decade by advancements in deep tube riding.
Yep, and board design too.
Like that documentary on Desert Point from a few years back. The guys who found it said it was only that Thrusters had come out that they considered the wave makeable. If they'd sailed past a few years earlier with singlies in the jukung they would've said it wasn't ridable.
Similarly, it's doubtful Rabbit would've made some of those recent Kirra pits on his circa '76 Hot Stuff singley.
A little more esoteric but I think there has been a mindset shift too - I notice that locally.
Skilled guys and gals not giving up at all and really ready to make deep, deep tuberides.
If it wasn’t for TC Alfred , Kirra probably wouldn’t be getting a mention, as usual.”
It looks like once you take off and pull in ,
you either make it or you don’t, not many other options.
I've watched as much Kirra footage as the next person over the years but haven't surfed it, or indeed seen it with my own eyes. Just want to add that preface before my question!
It doesn't look like it will break at 2ft like it used to, full-on grinders even at chest height and below. But I also don't recall ever seeing clips of it at 8ft + going turbo.
Is it fair to say it then that it's holding a bit more size while keeping that square shape?
Kirra might be holding a bit more size these days, because the bank is deeper,
which also means it’s only really hollow when it’s maxing everywhere else,
but also not very hollow below that, compared to e g Snapper.
Best Kirra ever???? You're on drugs.
In its hey day, it was a wedge take off next to big groyne, and u could get pitted all the way past the old pizza hut , and play chicken with 2nd groyne. No idiot jet skis. Jet skis should not be allowed unless its 15 feet lol.
Yeah that one section looked amazing, but give me old kirra any day.
https://www.google.com/search?q=kirra+1996&client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=08...
Kirra 70s 80s. , Moving Monument!
Do love a big call Stu. Good stuff. Even if you're right (I reckon you are) pushback was guaranteed. And why I'm glad you still made it!
Wherever it sits in history, it was flippin hard to even look away last week. Incredible.
Ha ha...glad you appreciated it, RJ.
I sat on that sentence for a while, wondering if I should use tricky language to avoid pushback, but ultimately abandoned the safety of ambiguity.
I think we need a Kirra historian in the house.
I’m no Kirra expert but it’s clear that footage in everything from MP’s section in MOTE to Brendan Margieson missing perfect 4-5’ Kirra on his baby’s birth day in Wanderjah that Kirra was funner back in the day and that was mainly before the TRESBP / TSB began.
For the average surfer like me, that meant lots more opportunities to surf smaller runners it at a manageable size. Now it’s a hero wave that only breaks like that on cyclone swells, or maybe distinct ECLs and supercharged trades.
In short it has to be over 6 foot to get going.
Also the number of makeable va non makeable waves is crucial in assessing actual overall quality.
It’s all very well for people who manage to pluck the premium waves - you only need 1 - but what percentage offer a makeable - memorable ride?
It’s like targeting game fish and bringing home a big marlin if you score - but how many people didn’t?
What are the opportunities to put time in at Kirra when it’s not perfect to understand the setup? Few.
I’d be interested to hear those who know’s comments on that.
From what I can see, behind the rock at Snapper has taken the limelight as the bread and butter wave you can master if you have the time and are dedicated enough. (Like so many Brazilians and nepo kids seem to be doing?)
Also I’m keen to hear comparisons from the most recent “event” Kirra swell I can remember which was ex TC Seth.
This was not as big as a system as Alfred and seas not off the coast for as long (just came mainly on a north to south track as a TL) but still produced 8 foot peeling Kirra.
Yes probably only the good waves were shown on videos, how many close outs were not shown on YouTube?
Was watching the kirra live feed at times.
The waves didn't stop. If you had the fitness and or ski plus ability, it looked pretty epic.
Haven't surfed it since the 90's, but geez just one hood one would have put a smile on ya dial...
Yep - just one tunnel would have been a keeper for life.
Damn, that looks fun.
I surfed Kirra towards the end of the July 2019 swell. Only 4ft, and not perfect with the SE wind, but so so fun and satisfying, and uncrowded too. Didn't feel like it needed to be 6ft to work, and still snapped a few boards.
Just love that you can see a photo of a wave and go 'that's Kirra!' (&Greenmount too) it's iconic, just the shape of it, like that classic one old mate lined up on his tip shop step up. Signature Kirra has somehow lived through all that history of being fiddle fucked you listed Stu, truely amazing.
Best ever ? Impossible question
Longest, deepest, most relentless
stand-up choobs? Yeah maybe, going by the legendary live stream. Who needs pros?
It was off its tits good, that's for sure and had every surfer the world over, drooling on their keyboard saying "just one, I just want one" yeah, me too.
Getting in position there is a crap shoot. Surfed it in the 80s, superfast, tight barrel, tough on oversize goofs with a poor technique, never caught a wide unwinding funnel, there's some backhand rippers in this pitching swell but I've done the Kirra slam, fully backslammed on hard packed sand, winded, underwater, was no joke. Top convo thx
Kirra has been killed.
Not by sand or groynes, by jetskis.
A lot of the guys getting barreled on those days at Kirra, probably learned their skills out at Snapper on normal swells. and will be back there soon!
Probably.
Your point being..?
Kirra is usually only average,
I often drive past on to better waves.
Thanks for your observation.
So they didn’t kill Kirra
Just made it a lot less consistent, than it used to be, when I was at High School.
"Thank you, come again."
It's a very very different wave pre and post Tweed River Sand Bypass, [RIP Kirra Reef]
It was the slab of slabs at a small size. Also way more prefect of an angle.
The sand was often beyond shallow [often going bellow sea-level] and scary to surf even at 2-3ft because it would just hit the bank and vomit like something out of this world!
The line these days is way too straight and it needs to be 6ft before anything exciting happens. It used to be a good afternoons entertainment watching people getting whipped on 2 ft below-sea level waves.
I think it's just different and it's like comparing apples and oranges.
Cyclone Alfred was the first time Facebook's algorithm worked in my favour. Every 2nd post in my Facebook feed was pumping Kirra with anyone skilled enough getting barreled off their tits. Probably the best ever for some.
I’m just glad that damn golf ball is going back up
thanks for an excellent story Stu.