2024 Retrospective

2024 was a little different to previous years. My partner and I welcomed our first child into the world and between general fathering duties we had the added complication of relocating a couple of times.

I thought this would slow things down in regards to chasing surf but I still managed to get a number of good sessions in, both riding and shooting heavy water from behind the lens.

The highlight was having three consecutive days of incredible, slab surfing at a notorious Sydney rock shelf in the middle of winter.

The spot can go years without baring its teeth, but has had a stellar run since the turn of the decade with Sam Jones’ dedication to the wave paying dividends when the proper bombs rolled through.

Billy Langley hanging from the ceiling

The first mentionable swell of the year arrived in February with a certain combination of large southerly energy coinciding with favourable winds to light up a regional river mouth.

Being a weekend, the so-called ‘secret spot’ had hundreds of surfers spread across its expansive line-up, but with the energy being so consistent and 4-6 foot walls making it all the way down the bank, the vibe was great. The outlier being overzealous jetski teams tracking too fast and close to the lineup adding inexcusable chop to the otherwise flawless walls.

Into March, a significant and slow-moving low was forecast to fire up off the south-eastern corner of Tasmania, opening up a couple of runs at the regional protected spots before firing across more exposed breaks as local winds swung offshore.

With record sea surface temperatures flowing down an extension of the East Australian Current to Tasmania, the promise of point surf in 20°C water was too hard to pass up. The more typical scenario is snow brushing the headlands.

That was the final trip before becoming a Dad, with the majority of April and May passing by in a sleep-deprived haze.

The next major swell arrived right on my doorstep, with a significant Tasman Low deepening off the southern NSW coast at the start of June. It delivered two sharp spikes in large southerly swell before dropping rapidly away in size as the low pushed back inland towards Tasmania.

Gusty offshore winds met the swell at Long Reef with surrounding bomboras roaring in the 12 foot+ range with barely a taker. Out off the end of the reef proper I spotted a foiler being towed into some large walls and snapped off a couple of photos as the Waimea-like walls ran out of sight.

Matt Davies on a beautiful, backlit grower

It didn’t take long for the next Tasman Low to fire up, though instead of being a quick flash in the pan - like the system at the start of June - this low had longevity and sat in the southern Tasman Sea for over a week.

The swell held between 6-15 feet for four days across the southern NSW region, with various big wave breaks firing for days on end, only slowly easing thereafter.

Late Sunday on the NSW South Coast and a surfer is dwarfed by the hard-hitting swell (Photo Simon Kotze)

Come July, a developing trough block setup started to firm on the long-range charts, fortuitously synching up with a planned week of annual leave. It was our first surf trip away as a family and it didn’t disappoint.

Swapping between baby duties, the missus and I surfed pumping waves across various reef and point breaks, with the beachies turning on as the size subsided and winds shifted more north.

One marquee point offered incredibly hollow, long barrels, making it the swell event of the year.

Before the big boards had time to settle back in the shed, another stalling Tasman Low started to firm on the long-range charts.

The system fired up into the end of July and provided three consecutive days of XL swell across southern NSW, a period where the average wave height on the MHL Sydney Wave Buoy didn’t drop below five metres.

Strong to gale-force winds out of the southern quadrant thanks to the low sitting closer to the coast limited options to a select few breaks, with the infamous Sydney rock shelf firing for three days straight.

Sam Jones was the standout amongst the regular local crew, while Koa Rothman had a trip from hell, snapping his board on his first wave after taking the wrong line into the step. With one of the top Hawaiians’ flying out with his tail between his legs, it gives further merit to the local guys charging and making such a tricky, heavy, and unpredictable wave.

Same Jones (above and below) nailing the bombs of the swell

After an overactive autumn and winter, the East Coast started to quiet down come September, while a turn in fortune was taking place across Victoria following a lean winter. Back to back, slow moving nodes of the Long Wave Trough brought with it an extended run of moderate to large swells replete with excellent conditions, stretching from late August through all of September.

Kian Moses threading a left on a coast full of rights that don't barrel (Arklay)

In the meantime, the annual Swellnet Board Yard Sale was another great success, raising just under $2,500 for Lifeline Northern Beaches, but additional donations in the lead up to the Lifeline Classic took our end total to an incredible $6,551. A big thank you to everyone who donated.

The end of September and start of November were spent in the Land of the Rising Sun, blending a perfect mix of family time, surf exploration, and culture. While nowhere near as beautiful and pristine as Australia (we sure do have it good), the amount of out of season surfing options between 2-4 foot was better than hoped.

One novelty breakwall performed just like a wave pool but with a little more grunt and length, while other sessions were spent bobbing solo in brown water as schools of fish jumped like fireworks in every direction.

A busy month was then made even busier with a quick jaunt to Indonesia, catching some fun off-season swell with minimal crowds. The rains had yet to hit but the humidity was stifling, making for marathon sessions on the wide-ranging lineup.

This brings us to December, and after initially starting green, cool, and humid thanks to relentless north-east winds, has since cleared and sparkled with a fun bout of southerly swell to mark off Christmas Day.

Here’s to another active swell year Australia wide into 2025.