Some of the harder-core Sunny Coast locals say unkind things about Caloundra: “Clowntown”, they call it, thanks to the crowds of holidaymakers and weekend warriors who tend to stream into this southern Sunshine Coast town from Brisbane (it’s even closer to the State capital city than is the upper Gold Coast). It seems a bit cruel, especially since Caloundra is home to some great Aussie surf lore and legend. Ma and Pa Bendall, Queensland surfing’s patron saints, who pioneered wave-riding north of Stradbroke Island in the 1950s and on, were based here, and the barrels of Moffat’s Reef were made anonymously famous in Jack McCoy’s hilarious early-’80s video, “Kong’s Island” (if you get the vid anytime, it’s the thick offshore left pit).
The most thoroughly ridden wave here is Moffats Point, a rock shelf reef leading to a rolling point wave that on a good day will run to the beach 300 yards from takeoff. A little bowl section halfway down the line reminds some people of Angourie. The Point is very consistent, breaking in just about any swell and picking up a surprising amount of southeast angle. Expect to find a lot of longboards and older experienced surfers. Glance north from the Point takeoff and you’ll be staring down the barrel of “Gunner’s Reef”, as Moffat Reef’s is sometimes known. An outside right and left peak, with an inside left, the Reef is a top to bottom barrel for experienced surfers only. Picks up all swell direction; an offshore wind is a necessity or one will be smashed by the crumbling lip onto a Bed of Urchins.
North of the Reef, Wurtulla Beach lays down a comfortable claim to the best beachbreaks in this part of the Australian coast; it’s comparable to Hossegor on its day, which will be a medium east swell and light offshore winds. Wurtulla gets a lot of its value from an offshore bombora that helps break up swell before it hits the inner sandbars. Those same hard-core Sunny Coast boys will tell you tales about this bombie in giant swells; guess you’ve gotta see it to believe ’em.