Surfing Cloudbreak or Cronulla?

By Ben Horvath. Photos by Ric/The light by the sea.

It has been a tough 6 months for Cronulla based surfers – Sydney’s southernmost beachside suburb.

The sandbanks on the long stretch of beach have been in the worst shape they have ever been in.

A couple of solid spring south swells gouged the sand out of Bate Bay leaving a 5km long inshore gutter.

As a result the beach was pretty much unrideable for months on end.

Luckily there are a bunch of quality reef breaks that save the day when there’s a swell of consequence.

One such reefbreak is renowned as a south swell magnet.

Whenever there is a decent sized long period south swell combined with northth winds, this particular reef goes nuts.

The first Saturday of autumn, last Saturday March 7 was a special day at said reef.

A chunky 8-12ft solid south peaked mid afternoon in Sydney and surrounds.

The south coast was strangely half the size, as was anywhere north of Newcastle.

There were some sets mid afternoon in the 12-15ft range. The  wind swung offshore just after lunch. Boards were busted, nerves and lungs tested.

Boogs, Kirk Flintoff, Hayden Blair, Spud Salazar, Mark Wigley, Blake Johnston, Kip Caddy, Mark Mathews, Joel Bonning, Jeremy Wilmotte, Dyl Haylar, Mick Marjenovic, Jeremy Hrbac, and Matt Griggs were the warriors who stood out from the pack.