Palm Beach Artificial Surf Reef Shows Promise
On December 30th, the Palm Beach artificial surf reef shaped a 1.3m swell into overhead barrels and long ripable rights. The fun surf session is another early data point indicating that the recently completed artificial reef can improve surfing conditions.
The source of the swell was tropical storm Sarai, which tracked over Fiji a few days after Christmas. The storm produced an open-ocean swell measuring around 1.3m high with periods of 10 sec. The swell direction was ENE which is a bit more northerly than the ideal/designed swell direction for the artificial reef.
The Palm Beach reef sits just off the Gold Coast of Australia. While its main purpose is shoreline protection, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the reef is improving surf conditions as well.
The reef takes incoming swells that would otherwise probably close out and turns them into rights that break for up to 60m. On lower tides, the wave connects with the beach break creating even longer rides. On larger swells, the reef also creates a short, intense left.
For more information on the Palm Beach artificial surf reef, click here or follow the link below.
