Surf’s up at Narrowneck despite artificial reef upgrade unfinished

BIG waves are already appearing at the Gold Coast’s hot new surf break and boardriders couldn’t be happier. The good news – it’s about to get even better.

More than 70 of these sand bags will be placed over the old reef as part of the Narrowneck Reef upgrade. Picture: Gold Coast City Council

THE artificial reef at Narrowneck is already producing bigger waves for surfers, despite the $2 million restoration project yet to be finished.

Gold Coast City Council has also banned boaties from the area after they tore the original reef to shreds with anchors.

Work dumping more than 70 huge sandbags on the sea floor is expected to finish this month. Then we could see waves like this breaking on the reef. Pic Tim Marsden.

Work dumping more than 70 huge sandbags on the sea floor is expected to finish this month, but North End Boardriders president Darren Clark said wave have already been spotted breaking off the reef in larger swells.

WHY YOU’LL BE CATCHING BETTER WAVES

“We’ve had reports it’s already starting to break out there and there’s still a layer of bags to go on top,” said Mr Clark who had two meetings with Gold Coast City Council officials before the project began.

The sandbags have been placed on to of the existing reef offshore which has sunk into the sea floor after it was built in 1999 to prevent beach erosion.

The original Narrowneck artificial reef which had sunk into the sand.

The reef has been controversial — once labelled as a “hoax of a wave” — because an improved surf break had been spruiked as a secondary benefit.

“I don’t think it ever delivered what people thought it would do,” Mr Clark said.

He said the reef occasionally produced quality waves before it sunk into the seabed.

“It broke up the straight swells which came through rather than (waves coming through as) 10-foot-tall close-outs,” Mr Clark said.

“Now they’re topping it back up, because the original bags are below it, so there’s a firmer foundation and they’re not going to sink too far under the sand.

“We’re getting pretty excited about the bigger days that come through because it will give us an option to surf the reef.”

A council spokeswoman said once work was complete the reef would be 1.5m underwater at low tide, meaning swells would break on the reef rather than missing the sand bags and breaking closer to shore.

Narrowneck Reef upgrade. Boaties are banned. Pic: Gold Coast City Council.

The spokeswoman said council had tested designs for the reef in the Queensland Government hydraulics laboratory to improve coastal protection and wave quality.

“The renewal design was selected based on the results of the physical modelling, with decisions on individual geotextile container locations based on the modelling analysis,” the spokeswoman said.

Council has prohibited boaties from dropping anchor in the area.

“Preventing vessels from anchoring on the reef will help mitigate potential safety hazards and ensure that the renewed reef is not damaged by anchors,” she said.