Moved here about 6 weeks ago, and havent surfed once.

Surely you lot dont go all the way to margerets every time you want a surf?

Is this just a long flat spell, or is it always like this?

Where do you go when the swell is too small for the perth beaches?

anywhere north? is that lancelin any good?

Has everyone been else been surfing and i just dont know where to go?

cheers

Hah Hah poor soul. Hope ya didn't move from New South or South Oz. No serf in Perth.
General rule of thumb is wait for big winter swells which make it past the five fathom.
No point in Summer unless you like crappy beach breaks, big crowds and 100,s off lazy surfers(Mal riders) that try and run you down.
Get a bike and try Rotto, Dinghy for Lano save big paddle or just plain bite the bullet and head south after you have done your homework- 4wd will help..

All day offshores this weekend.

Was hoping the cyclone off the coast was going to kick up some swell for Gero but none of the models show it.

Oh well off to the Abrolhos on Monday hope for some swell up there.

Still no swell for Perth.

mate, i know exactly how you feel! coming from a section of coast where there was always at least a shoulder-height wave, it was the same for me when I first moved here. after 2 summer months of no waves, shock kicked in:
"Where the waves!?"

i'm no expert when it comes to Perth's wave selection, but i'll try save you a year's worth of searching different locations to try find a decent surf:
Anything above the 2/2.5m forecast and you can usually get a good waist-shoulder height wave...
1. Trigg beach (and Scarborough stretch) is usually the closest location and normally good, but way too over-crowded.
2. 5 mins North of Trigg is another spot. its right in front of an IGA. park at the top and walk down the embankment. not too bad. (forgotten its name!)
3. South of Cotesloe: there's a false reef but closer to Cotelsoe there's another lil section alsmost in the cove that gets pretty good with a decent swell. can also be crowded.
4. Secret Harbour. this was actually the first spot we discovered and boy were we stoked to see waves! but its a bit of a drive if you're looking for a 'quick' surf and tends to usually be slightly smaller (might be because of my lack of going out to the location)
5. my personal favourite: THE SPOT. about a 45min drive north of the city. fantastic lefthander usually has a nice long wall and some real good sections in it.
and it misses most of the crowd. seeing that i'm goofy-stanced,i've had my most fun sessions there. If you haven't yet been and are keen email me and i can give you directions. worth the drive! also a few kms further is a right hander "DURS" - not sure how its spelt by my supervisor at work is always missioning up there and says its pretty good. if you don't have a 4X4 get ready for the 2 km soft sand walk!

ok? but you also have to mission down south for a weekend as well... if you want some top notch waves. Besides Margaret River there is Lefthanders and another personal favourite of mine: Grace Town's South Point. Sweet sweet lefthander with insanse sections and wall. opposite side of bay there is a right hander too. We got a solid 6-8ft cranking session in a month back over a long weekend. best surf of my life!
AND if all else fails...learn to kitesurf mate! Perth is renowned for its windy conditions and it sure beats those days (and weeks) of flat spells where you sit and twiddle your thumbs and only wish...
Get some good lessons and pickup cheap second hand gear and you will be up and riding/shredding in no time!
All the best!

Ohh man I'm looking forward to move to Perth, surf in the winter and windsurf in the summer. Planning to move there late 2009...

I'm Danish (somewhere in Europe) and up here everything is flat 90 % of the time and only swell we get is windswell. Spent half a year in WA a while ago and I just love it...

Cheers everyone wish you some nice winter swell while I'll be watching on the webcams, damn I'm stocked!!!

René

Better a small crap summer surf than none at all. Get a mal for the summer mornings or a fish for the onshore arvo's and you will have an uncrowded workout in an environment that no gym will ever replicate.
If you are relying on the odd weekend trip away to keep you skills up you will be that frustrated angry kook on the days that the swell is up.

A fish is a relatively (usually 5'6" - 6'6") short board which has increased width, particularly through the tail which ends with a large swallow or fish tail. They generally have a flatter deck to keep extra volume in the board.
The width enables it to plan easily on more average, fat, mushy or slower waves and the overall volume aids this as well as making them good to paddle onto waves. Being smallish they are still loose or maneuverable.
A rough guide.

Grab a kite instead >

Yer wind is good