Burleigh Heads.

About

Burleigh Heads is a right-hand point break that wraps around a basalt headland on the central Gold Coast, bookended by the Burleigh Heads National Park to the south and Burleigh Beach to the north. It’s the state’s most photographed pointbreak — a long, steady wall on smaller days, a cylindrical barrel section on bigger SE swells. The wave has hosted national and international titles since the 1970s and remains a benchmark for Australian point-break surfing.

Burleigh runs on south-east swell with 8s and beyond of period — the same winter SE pulses that fire Snapper, only the longer the period the further the wave wraps the headland. South-west is the cleanest offshore, the prevailing winter wind on this stretch of coast. All tides work, but the rock-bottom inside section comes alive on the higher water when smaller swells need depth to wrap. April through September is peak.

Intermediate to advanced. The wave looks gentle from the rocks but the line-up runs deep and the locals are deeply territorial. Crowds thicken to 40 or more on any clean swell day, and the take-off zone is a tight positional contest along the inside boulders. Watch a few sets from the point before you paddle out, and pick your wave carefully — burning the regulars buys a long week.