Angourie lies just 4 km south of Yamba and until the early 1960’s was accessed by a dirt track with nothing at the point other than the ruins of the old dynamite shed and the ‘Blue Pools’ where rock was blasted and excavated to build the Clarence River mouth entrance walls during the 1880s and 1890s, when a tent town existed at Angourie. For a few years in the mid-60s the shed, plus roof and called the ‘Wavers Inn’, provided very basic accommodation for surfers. The land was subdivided in the mid-60’s and now with the shed gone houses dot the land behind the point. Prior to the coming of Europeans the land was occupied by the Yaegl people. They used Angourie as a lookout because of the uninterrupted views north, south, east and west. It was also a rich source of ochre, obtained from the cofferock exposed along the Back Beach.
The point was first surfed by a group of surfers from Yamba Surf Life Saving Club in 1961, with Ray Moran the first to surf the point, the boys surfing on big mals. In 1965 they formed the Angourie Boardriders Club with contests held at Pippi Beach.
There has never been a contest at Angourie Point, a tradition the locals want to maintain. Angourie received global surfing publicity when after the 1964 World Titles at Manly a number of famous surfers travelled to and surfed Angourie, with the point featuring in a number of surfing movies. At the same time the area was subdivided and lots allocated by ballot, and by the late 1960s fibro houses began to appear. At the same time Angourie National park was gazetted in 1969, changing to Yuragir Natiuonal Park in 1975. The 1970s saw Angourie rapidly develop as surfers moved to the area.
Angourie National Surfing Reserve was dedicated on 12 January 2007 and includes thefollowing breaks:
- Back Point – left hand point break over shallow boulder reef.
- The Ledge – jump-off and paddle out point, with short hollow tubes.
- The Point – long challenging right hander over boulders.
- Life and Death -dangerous rock shelf at the end of the point break.
- Tube Rock – in big swells an ocean waterfall barrel
- Spooky Point – very hollow and shallow rock ledge, right hand break for experienced surfers only.
- Spooky Corner – grommet training ground and playground, traditional boat launching.
- Green Point – very hollow and shallow rock ledge, right and left.
- The Cove – scenic picnic break.
Beside these great breaks Angourie still manages to maintain that country appeal, with limited low rise development surrounded by bush and the coast and national parks to the north and south.