Kalbarri located 500 km north of Perth is one of the iconic northwest surf breaks for which the region has become famous. The traditional owners the Nanda people were amongst the first aborigines to encounter Europeans when two teenager Dutch boys were set ashore at Wittecarra Creek (adjacent to Jakes Point break) in 1629. They were followed by Vlaming who visited the area in 1696 and sighted huts. It is also believed some survivors of the Zuytdrop wreck in 1712 had contact with. these people. However, it wasn’t until the 1850’s that settlers began moving into the district, with the first permanent residents arriving in 1944, the first fishermen arriving in 1948, the town officially called Kalbarri in 1951 and a sealed road arrived in the mid 1970s.Today the town has a population of 1300, including many surfers.
Surfing didn’t reach the area until 1960, when Jakes Point was surfed for the first time and occasional surfers passed through, with surfers not settling in the town until the 1970s. By the 1980s the word was out and Kalbarri became a well know surfing destination. The Kalbarri Boardriders was formed in 1983. The club is also a member of the North West Surfers Alliance (NWSA) founded in 2007 when northwest surfers became concerned about an ASP event planned for Tombstones at Gnaraloo, an event that could have generated major environmental damage. To have a strong voice to stop such events the NWSA was founded. Having successfully stopped the event the alliance has now turned to access and development issues along the coast.
Kalbarri National Surfing Reserve was dedicated on 21 March 2010, the second NSR in WA. It boasts 10 breaks which from north are:
- Red Bluff : Small, easy left-hander with a right-hander on the shore break. It breaks close to both beach & reef at 1-2 mt. SE offshore and one of the few places in the state that protected from southerly.
- Indicators: Very dangerous.
- Wittecarra: Has only broken twice in the last 20 years (last time as a result of Cyclone Pancho on 28 March 2008). A very fast hollow right-hander. NW swell, NE offshore.
- Jakes Pt: The small headland wraps around into a small bay. Swells come from deep South. Best with SW-WSW swells, wind SE offshore. It breaks on all tides and best at 2-3 m. Waves can break 50 to100 m for around the reef at a 90 degree angle to take off. Bigger days (3-4 m) will break across the front of the point fast, but smaller (1-2 m) days can wrap around, hugging the point. The point is made up of the take off ‘suck rock’, the ‘corner’, the ‘fudd’ and back up onto the reef to run around to the ‘key hole’ jump-off rock and catch another wave.
- Lopes Ledge: Shallow, fast and hollow left hander, breaks regularly on big swells. Good ‘beer o’clock’ entertainment, watching the young crew.
- The Bay: Known as Little Jakes, the right hander and sometimes even ‘Gay Bay’. Used by
young families and a starting ground for all local grommets. The right-hander main break with a smaller break left of the rocks. Protected by southerlies, surfed all year round. - Blueholes: Quick punchy sand/reef, right and left peak. Small/medium swell, E-NE offshore.
- Spit Reef: Very shallow and hollow right-hander, almost a perfect wave, best on W-NW
swell. Breaks spasmodically with E-NE winds. - Dang Dangs: Made up of three waves that very rarely link up (‘Bombie’, ‘Shelter’ and the ‘Slab of death’). Looks amazing but usually too quick. Commonly called ‘Ski Park’ these days. This is the main jet ski area in Kalbarri. Handles 10ft plus swells with E-NE Offshore winds.
- River Mouth: Big Left-hander that breaks in front of the Murchison river mouth in NE
winds. Was often mistaken for Jakes Pt in the early days by travellers. Breaks almost every day but rarely gets surfed.
