Snapper Rocks surfing is train wreck TV from beach

WELCOME TO train wreck television for surfers and body boarders.

Surfers make the most of the big swell at Snapper Rocks. Picture: Mark Furler

WELCOME TO train wreck television for surfers.

Snapper Rocks, one of the favourite haunts of Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson, is notorious for crunching those who get too brave for the waves.

And over the past few days, it's been almost suicidal surf.

Hundreds of onlookers have been lining the beach, foreshore and hill above to check out surfers and body boarders take on the swell.

Just getting out into the surf is hazardous enough with giant waves crashing over the rocks.

It's a case of waiting for the right time - and then making a dash across the whitewater to get amongst it.

Once with other surfers, the danger does not stop.

The ocean pulses with an energy of its own.

Every now and then the wave sizes are almost doubled and those who aren't quick enough in staying ahead of the swell can be consumed by it. And spat out unceremoniously.

Snapper Rocks surfing

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On the beach, you can almost hear the gasps as body boarders are rolled mercilessly by the wall of water.

For some surfers, just staying up on the wave is an achievement in itself.

Others carve out intricate sharp turns on the face of the wave, weaving through one of the most crowded locations along our shore. How more are not finned along the way is a miracle itself.

As the sun fades, a trio of grommets in wetsuits play chicken, squealing with delight as they beat the crashing waves by jumping up onto the rock wall.

When it comes to entertainment, you can beat Snapper Rocks when it's pumping.  But it's not for the faint-hearted.

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