Great to see names from the old days. Never surfed it myself but know plenty who have and most of them love the place.

I love Rotto, however , calling the left as a world class wave for the WSL tour is a big statement. The right is better but again world class ???

I wish you guys all the best for the comp in a tough year...

It's great, isn't it? Gives an idea of the waves too, even at times when they are more ordinary.
Did the paddle looking after swimmers, that was 5hrs plus. 1st beer nearly knocked me out. The ships look big moored in the channel.
Thanks for including a bit of the legends of West Oz surfing, the other side of Australian surf history. The crew surfing it for the first time ever - there was still a little bit of that on far flung coasts when I was growing up, amazing to think you might be the first one to surf a place no one goes to after the 4wd got stopped for lack of tracks and you walked over dune after dune after dune... The spot probably has glamping on it now lol

World class - nup...awesome fun wave...yep..wilderness surfing..not for the WSL...will be a cluster-fuck of boats , buses and bicycles.. clambering over a zero infrastructure , highly fragile environment - I have very little faith that they won't fuck it up in some way.. BTW..nice to see Al Bean pics/footage - a quiet, understated man, master craftsman shaper/surfer.

Still got an old (Aussie)surf mag from the early/mid 80's stashed somewhere with an article about a Rotto trip by Jim Banks. They were with Mitch Thorson who's parents had the bakery and lent them the bakery panno to go surfing. I never got there but that story for some reason stayed in the old memory banks.

had a lot of fun there, seem to remember the wave being better than that footy shows.

maybe got lucky, I know I did with the young lass I was over there with.

Use to leave our boards stashed under bushes out at Stricko's and then try and remember where they were haha, snakes galore

I would liken Strickland Bay to Lakey Peak's little brother. Similar qualities and setup but not as thick as its get big. Can be a good wave.

I remember riding to the bay in the back of the bakery panel van. G'day Mitch.

Rode up and down the length of the island in the early hours a couple of times with zero results when I was there... the peddling legs knew they’d had a workout, especially on mornings when the return journey involved a cross-headwind and the board was acting like a reverse sail

As a goofy I was gutted coz I had heard all about stricko’s ... oh well, it’s nit an adventure if you know what’s going to happen

I lost the key to my bike lock here one time and had to walk back to Geordie store. Fuck me that was a long walk

I used to catch the Freo ferry that got there before the hillaries one , position for first off and on my bike. Tour de France sprint to Strickland trying to get an hour before it packs out when the bus arrives. Then out and pedal further to cathos. Got smashed into the limestone stack at catho once and could hardly pedal back. Limping the bike uphill. Just made it back to the ferry in time, didn’t get a couple in at the quokkas arms like usual

A lot of old names there, surfed the north west with Jimmy Keenan great bloke serious athlete remember his story's of paddling to Rotto, veins popping out of their arms as they battled the breezes.

Remember one day in the NW a rare day of glass just Jimmy and me at this fickle spot that was smoking and just going off and a dolphin turned up and started going crazy stuff, Jimmy roaring with each jump the dolphin seemingly feeding off the roars.

When it finished Jimmy look at me and said how do you tell anyone what happen then?

It was just one of those moments.

Strickland is an OK wave and can have a touch of power, I recon a bit of wa*k factor describing it as world class but yeah nah happy for the WSL to have it leave the rest of the state as is.

Rotto swim on this weekend, good luck to all competitors! I did the paddle across assisting a swimmer on a shit year. Big swell and windy, not fun! Those dudes who paddled across and surfed back in the day are maniacs.

Rottnest Offshore Boardriders, was formed in the 80's lots of environment work volunteered by the members, including paths and fences to stabilise the fragile vegetation.

Cool video. Paddling there and then surfing? They were some fit and tough dudes, almost 20km offshore! Credit that is awesome.

I have so many awesome memories from that epic island.

Learned to fish, dive and surf at ‘Rotto’, first name Wadjemup.

First time I surfed strickos it was big and onshore and freezing and I was getting smashed on the inside and both my hamstrings cramped at the same time.

I remember the fist time seeing cathedral and the crazy, fickle slab close by, where it can be a perfect longish barrel where the lip literally lands on razor sharp dry limestone. There are a few scary and dangerous set ups there.

At cathedral once I was trying to get onto the ledge only to have the wave surge keep pulling me back into the ocean over the edge like flotsam. Again and again until I paddled around and scrambled up the cliff to the side. Bleeding hands and feet.

The biggest whitey I have ever seen was at cathedral. Lurking near the boats, very glad to be on the bike that day. Also snakes, whenever it’s sunny, Dugite’s everywhere.

I was on the ferry once with glass catalyst in my pocket, it leaked and nearly dissolved my scrotum. Had to wash the junk in the ferry toilet - not ideal. Full recovery I have three charming though quirky children.

Going skinny swimming on acid late at night at the basin, my ‘friends’ ran off with my clothes and I had to ride home to Thompson’s naked. Riding naked is not that fun.

Watching transit reef 6+ and looking through the barreling peak as the sun went down and seeing Perth lights through the open Barrel.

Starting a friendship with one of my best mates surfing strickos on a solid day where you could see the lighthouse from the top of the big swells, just the two of us surfing and chatting. Mates ever since.

Renting one of the old fibro tent land shacks by myself as a late teen, waiting for a mate to join me the next day. Went to bed, heard the door open, is it my mate early? No, it’s the hot girl from next door who I waved at earlier is now straddling me and snogging me despite not having said a word to each other.

The bakery, delivery booze, the pub, chook fat from red rooster for burley.

I gotta stop I could go on and on.

Epic place, not the right venue, strickos is a fun place to surf, can hold up to 8 foot, but not the right location for the WSL circus. IMO

Does gabs know Strickland bay is a ‘shark rehabilitation area’?

Serious note. The history of imprisonment and execution of indigenous people on Rottnest by colonial peoples is a truly horrific and shameful crime.

I hope that indigenous people are given priority, even subsidised access to their Wadjemup island. The lotteries and queues to stay at the island should not be applied to the traditional owners, so too the crazy prices to stay there.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-25/rottnest-island-black-prison-to-w...
https://www.derbalnara.org.au/first-contact-and-timeline

Sickaz, those links were one of the saddest things I've read for a long time...People can be so cruel....I even hate the fence around my house after that.

I used to ride my bike to Freo to get the first ferry over, then ride around to Chickens, Stark or Strickos with mates as a kid. Whenever we could get our hands on a boat we’d wag and spend the day surfing and wherever the waves were or spearing off west end.

Plenty of sharks, mostly tigers but more whites in recent years. Every regular you meet over there has at least one close-call story. It’s a long paddle back to the boat when you’ve seen a big tigerey.

The reef gets razor sharp at certain times of the year and the inside sections can be brutal if you get caught in the wrong spot.

It’s heaven on earth though when you get a sheet-glass bluebird day and it’s 4-6ft.

Money hungry Woz can beat it as far as I’m concerned.

I bet the ferry sprint race hasnt changed. Had to be the first freo ferry. Tip was to wait and load your bike on last so it was first off. Used to pack a lunch, stash it in my backpack and left it under the limestone at strickos. looked back into the session and a crow is pulling my towel out of the back pack bit by bit. then the little bastard eats my sandwiches.
i had a 10 speed raleigh bought for $10 at karrinyup swap meet with the rear board carrier fitted as my wheels

These memories of Rotto are awesome! Such a pity they can't be recreated anymore. The ferry trip alone would have you not being able to afford a pie from the bakery. A beer at the pub or actually staying on the island? Forget it!

Cool little Doco and great to hear from some of the pioneering crustys. Also, cool comments and memories from above in the comments section.

One thing that stands out (apart from the waves of course) is how beautiful is that WA water! So blue and so clear, not many places on earth can compare to it I reckon.

I just love hearing Australian surf history which is blissfully free of the East coast centric mindset . A lot less ego involved. Different coasts breed different mentalities and a hell of a lot of that stems from the waves on offer.

Been thinking a lot about rotto with this thread , the place means so much to me and from reading the comments above it means so much to others too
I think it represents a lot of firsts for young west Oz surfers
First foray into big waves, tuning chicks for the first time canoodaling on the beach at night
Boozing at the pub for the first time, freedom
And the waves , so much fun
Can remember spending a month at lakey peak and wishing I was at stricko ha!
Agree with the lakey comparison only stricko not as hollow but probably funner in my opinion
Gets big , have surfed it triple head easy and holds it too. The footage in the vid is not of a good day
So many waves for a small island jeanies, chickens , stricko, bullets, radars, rotto box, cathedrals, spiders, stark , north point and the mighty transits ha!
Stark is hardcore at size seen some big barrels out there
The shark factor just adds to the buzz :-)

Rotto sounds like Yorkes in South Australia. Same sense of adventure, far enough away and in a national park to get that sense of remoteness. Raw, sharp limestone reefs, deep channels and beautiful blue waters. Big sharks, dolphins and amazing experiences to push yourself into bigger and heavier reef surf. We didn't have the chicks but..

Check the first 2 mins of this for fun Strickland

Great stories, great place. Only been there once, did the full bike ride around checking out every surf option, but didn’t have any boards that trip, longer and not interesting story.

Can’t believe they paddled over. 2 hours! Fark, I know that would have been on the toothpicks that paddle like anything, but it would be a 2 day paddle for me on my short board.

Really enjoyed the memories from the guys on here.

Have to say it’s been surprising to see the enthusiastic support for an event here, particularly in light of environmental concerns being one of the main reasons some crew put forward for not wanting the comp at Lennox.

There’s not much in the way of structure on rotto outside of the Thompson – Geordie area. The scrub there is especially vulnerable to foot traffic, and I can’t see how they could fit all of the judging and broadcast infrastructure (plus hangers-on) in the existing small lookout shelter without building additional structures. Which then if they need additional structure, where’s it going to go? The stretch of beach between the water and the dunes is tiny, and the limestone cliffs adjacent aren’t suitable. Are they going to build over untouched dunes?

I'm not completely against it... can’t see it making huge changes in terms of ongoing crowds. Plus I had the chance to live and work there for a year, and have had my share of waves. Not having access to the wave for a couple of weeks in the prime season sucks though is something I could get past. But the fact no one is raising questions about the environmental impact seems a bit odd.

Great doco on a unique place - surfing and otherwise.
Saw Mitch progress from the grommet dropping in on the end section at Strickos to a serious big wave surfer in Hawaii. And some real talent in amongst the other crew - Bettenay and Fullston in particular.
My first surf was in 1975 - after a mighty NW storm turned SW - as the Rottnest Islander pulled up, Transit was 6 - 8 foot and breaking perfectly all the way from shit rock almost to the jetty. Surfers were dumping their bags on the jetty and straight into it. Like a right hand Ala Moana. Never saw it like that again. And Mitch is spot on about the left at Strickos - over 10 foot the right closes out to piss heads - and a heavy barreling left is a thing of (unfortunately) rare beauty.

WSL wave?? Way to fickle - needs very specific winds, swell size and direction. Could be good - could blow south for a week and be very ordinary.....

my mate looked after the golf coarse there, a few slabs about

is that pubes on the screen at 1 min 02?

But somewhat amazingly, Western Australia said Yes.
This might be the most unexpected part of the whole thing. According to Stark, this had a lot to do with Tourism WA wanting to hang on to the Margaret River event. All the relevant government crew were on board, from the Premier on down. They paved the way for the WA Police to look at what might be needed in the event of a border closure. Margaret isn’t like Snapper; it can be closed off, and the police were willing to manage a bubble if necessary. In this case it would have meant a guarantee of police assistance with managing the bubble. The surfers wouldn’t be coming into contact with the public. They’d have to be brought into hotel hide-outs, take part in closed off practice sessions, then compete without spectators — just like the Australian Open tennis tournament.

So if there's an outbreak in NSW before they fly over, expect the point and SS to be closed off to all except WSL

Video is private?

Yes video is private? Is it possible to get access to it again?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-13/rottnest-island-world-surfing-lea...
- Some valid concerns from Offshore Boardriders raised about the environmental impact here I reckon. To be fair on the WSL it was good they engaged with Prof Lenny Collard, albeit belatedly by the sounds of it.

https://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/470882/professor-lenny-collard-wad...

Wow just watched this , what a legend
Rottnest is a beautiful place and stricko almost spiritual
I hope the WSL leave it as they found it
Looking forward to see the pros tear up the wave tho

After watching the video looks great for racing down the line and doing the perfect air
tailor made for the Brazzos. Not that it matters anymore with John John injured and
Jack Robinson riding weird boards and surfing with a very strange style.( I dont think its JACK )
Pity WSL didnt consider places like Kalbarri

Uninspiring.

I reckon it’s just filler for WA Tourism sponsors anyway. The WSL charter pro jet isn’t meant to leave WA until the 6th of June ( allegedly) , whilst the longes5 any surfer will be at Rotto is till the 26th May. My belief is that WA Tourism is hoping the pros will get a week of expression session further North and to be documented minutely. They may not be able to hold a comp there but they’ll still do their utmost to advertise the utter fck outta the joint.

Apparently the ISA El Salvador games don’t actually require the presence of the Olympic hopefuls due to loopholes in regulations. This means it’ll probably be full compliment of Top tier CT filming their guts out in the real waves of WA post the Rotto sideshow / Quokka selfie festival.

they did consider kalbarri but were told to fuk off i think

I really hope they get skunked at Rotto, should never have happened in the first place. Fuk you Papalia and WSL