The Encounter Coast Surfing Reserve is the newest and longest surfing reserve in Australia and is also known as the ‘South Coast’ of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula about 100ks south of Adelaide. The 4th reserve dedicated in SA and 23rd in the country, it reaches from Goolwaat its eastern boundary to Parsons Beach to the west and includes iconic sites like Middleton, Knights and Waitpinga Beaches. Within the boundary of the reserve also resides the Encounter Marine Park, including the Encounter Whale Sanctuary, Ratalang Conservation Reserve and Newland Head Conservation Park.
Dedicated in April 2025 the ECSR region also celebrates 100 years of known surfboard riding in the reserve area. A decade after Duke Kahanamoku’s infamous surfing demonstration at Manly/Freshwater in 1914, the first recorded surfing with a board along then Encounter Coast occurred. University students from Adelaide introduced surfing to the south coast in the summer of 1924-5 and the new sport soon developed into a craze.
“There was a shortage of surfboards, but an enterprising gentleman, Eric Webster, hired out cars and boards to take parties to Petrel Cove. Surfers used wooden planks and both men and women embraced the freedom and fun of surfing along the Encounter Coast region. Surfers experimented with the waves all the way around to Goolwa”
It was this surge in beach activity and the dangers of the rugged coastline that spawned the surf life saving clubs in Victor Harbor and Port Elliot, then Chiton Rocks and Goolwa followed suit.
The late 1950s brought the next wave of surfing to South Australia. Around the ‘56 Olympics, at an international surf carnival in Torquay, surfers from Hawaii and America demonstrated board riding and two very inspired SA clubbies in the crowd, John Brown and Jimmy Miller had their lives changed. Returning to SA inspired and determined to bring surfing to our local breaks, they began riding the coastal breaks when not on patrol. Initially frowned upon by the older club members the younger ones embraced the new style of board riding with cutbacks, nose walking and flick turns.
Some of those younger members surfing the new boards were Don Burford, John Arnold, Kiwi White and the Waldeck Brothers to name but a few. The city beaches didn’t provide more than learner waves and so they began looking for bigger and better waves. The South Coast Surf Chasers was formed. They piled their boards onto their modified cars, watched the weather and the chase began. The SCSC traveled all over South Australia, especially exploring the southern coastline of the Fleurieu Peninsula, discovering new bays, breaks and waves down back roads from the river mouth to Cape Jervis. The 1959 classic Gidget further inspired the younger generation and the craze really exploded with a sale of 2000 boards in SA by the end of 1960.
Many other new clubs emerged including the Southern Cross Boardriders, Four Point Boardriders, Ngarrangawi Boardriders, South Bay Surf Club to name only a few. Today there are still a handful of clubs based on the ECSR but the South Coast Boardriders and MicroGroms, Classicline Boardriders, Maladjusted, Surfer Girl Club and the South Australian Bodyboard Club all frequent the Encounter Coast region with their activities and competitions. The Surfing SA State Titles are also held annually over one weekend in April now at Middleton Point as a part of the Southern Surf Festival. Club titles are usually held at Waits and the Body boarders always compete at the infamous Knights Beach in Port Elliot.
There are over 20 breaks that are regularly surfed along the Encounter Coast Surfing Reserve. Mostly facing south, the only breaks that face towards the east are the Chicken Run near Port Elliot, the Pines in Victor Harbor and along the foreshore region at Encounter Bay. These only usually work when the conditions are too big to surf elsewhere.
The contrast between Middleton and Waitpinga/Parsons could not be more extreme and it’s all about sediment supply. The beaches of Middleton are the western end of the mighty Murray River mouth. Despite the Murray waters rarely reaching the sea, the river has dumped incredible amounts of sand and silt over the eons. The relatively high wave energy of the Southern Ocean is constantly reworking these sediments and has laid them out in a broadly sloping beach that extends for over a 180km of the Younghusband Peninsula and Coorong. More significantly, a gently sloping ramp of sediment extends a great distance and depth offshore of the beach. At Day Street it is over 10.5km offshore before you reach the 30 metre depth contour (isobath). Conversely at Waitpinga and Parsons the beach is coarse quartz sands derived from nearby granite and metamorphic rocks. With relatively limited sediment supply, the beaches are comparatively narrow and exceptionally steep, despite a similar wave climate. Just looking at the waves you get the feeling they are coming out of deep water and detonating on a steep beach. Unsurprisingly it’s only 1 kilometre from the
beach to the 30 metre isobath.
Stretched across more than 30kms of coastline and 2 council districts, Victor Harbor and Alexandrina, the Encounter Coast Surfing Reserve has been recognised as a Regional Surfing Reserve and sits in Ramindjeri country, which is a part of the Ngarrindjeri nation. Our plaque rests on a bluestone rock at Middleton Point, which has also First Nation significance relative to the Kondoli (whale) dreaming stories that brought fire to the local Ramindjeri.