Photos

Riley Laing is the young grub who recently made headlines whipping into big Shippies, and lighting up breakfast television the week after.

On Sunday and Monday the old lady of the Shire, Cronulla Point, put on a show through the low tide phases of the southerly swell.

Late on Sunday Nick Sheffield and his wife Lou sat on a NSW South Coast beach, the lone spectators to a wild show.

It was only a fortnight ago that Tim Bonython filmed The Right doing its thing on the biggest day in years. Tim's got some measured symmetry happening 'cos now he's filmed 'The Left' under very similar conditions

The dawn patrol offered slim pickings with tiny waves across most beaches, but within an hour or two a new southerly swell began to filter into exposed Sydney beaches. By noon it was four feet, by mid-afternoon it was six feet and still climbing. 

The left featured is arguably the best in the country. It's fast and hollow, no real time for turns but you can get three barrels on one wave or get barrelled the whole way.

On Easter Saturday Australia's original slab, Shark Island, put on a show for locals and photogs alike.

"The start of the Maldives season has been quite tame, with one exception. In mid-February I was chasing a swell to a more remote area in the Maldives and was greeted with a day of glassy eight foot plus walls."

Darryl Menzies trains his camera in tight as a small crew spin late over one of Sydney's trickiest rock ledges.

No place for stage fright, the Right put on a show for the few surfers who were willing to take a chance.

For the last month Jack Dekort has been bobbing about on a boat in the Indian Ocean. He's missed a few late season swells on his home turf but been adequately compensated with early season swell in The Maldives. A fair exchange if parity matters.

Matt Dunsmore paddles into a bulbous cavern somewhere in Sydney during the huge Easter Saturday swell. 

Just after dark on Friday the forerunners began making landfall at an incredible 20 second period. First light on Saturday and the swell had filled in with incredible 8'-10' waves at deep water waves across the coast.

Yesterday the surfers got down to the money rounds at Bells and the usual suspects began their run to the Finals.

With the swell's forerunners displaying periods in the 20 second range, there was never any doubt that we'd be looking at some seriously large waves - and many outer reefs came to light this morning, producing some of the biggest surf seen in New South Wales this year. 

Well, OK - one bloke is paddling into a death slab, of which shortly afterwards he was annihilated - but for the most part, many Sydney beache

Been a while since this place broke with any sort of consistency. Toss it in the "Doesn't break like it used to" basket and start talking wistfully about sessions past.

The Cape wigs out as surfers go crusading just next door.

Eyeing a section down the line, Wylie Fowler paddles over the double up at Cronulla Point and times his run to perfection.

On Saturday Sydney and the NSW South Coast was hit by the largest swell of the year thus far. Jeremy Wilmotte surfed this reef for six hours bagging a bunch of great rides.