There are some beaches and surfing areas throughout Australia that have made significant contributions to our beach lifestyle and are so important that they are forever protected. According to the National Surfing Reserves organisation, these reserves are "iconic places of intrinsic environmental, heritage, sporting and cultural value to a nation. NSR embrace all peoples to enjoy, understand and protect special coastal environments of universal value to the surfing world."
How they're chosen
There are three specific criteria that must be met in order to be declared a National Surfing Reserve:
- Quality of the waves (i.e. a national class surfing break) (e.g. North Narrabeen, Snapper Rocks, Margaret River);
- A place considered sacred by the local and national surfing community (e.g. Angourie, Crescent Head)
- Long term usage of the beach and wave environment by local and national surfing community, e.g. long term surf lifesaving club and/or boardriders club with significant history (e.g. Manly, Killalea)
Ever-growing list of reserves
Currently there are 21 declared National Surfing Reserves in Australia, and the list is constantly growing. These include:
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Maroubra - NSW (March 2006)
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Angourie - NSW (January 2007)
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Lennox Head - NSW (February 2008)
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Crescent Head - NSW (June 2008)
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Cronulla - NSW (September 2008)
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Merewether - NSW (March 2009)
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Killalea - NSW (June 2009)
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North Narrabeen - NSW (October 2009)
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Margaret River - WA (March 2010)
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Kalbarri - WA (March 2010)
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Manly-Freshwater - NSW (September 2010)
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Yallingup - WA (December 2011)
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Burleigh Heads - QLD (February 2012)
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Currumbin Alley - QLD (February 2012)
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Snapper-Kirra - QLD (February 2012)
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Daly Head - SA (January 2013)
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Point Sinclair - SA (January 2013)
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Phillip Island - VIC (March 2013)
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Noosa - QLD (March 2015)
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Mid Coast - SA (May 2016)
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Bondi - NSW (December 2017)
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Cabarita - NSW (February 2018)
