From Second valley to Semaphore secret spots and stories?

WTF this is a joke yeah?

Secret spot near Port Adelaide.

I once surfed North Haven breakwall near Port Adelaide as a young lad in a gale force north westerly stormie and it was surprisingly pumping.
I'd checked out Henley Jetty near where I grew up first but it seemed huge and out of control. I'd heard a rumor that the southern breakwall at North Haven was protected from howling northerly's so I followed the coast north and parked as close as I could to it. The wind was ridiculous and my board was smashing me in the head just walking down to it but a nice 3to4ft righthander was peeling along with the wind just going over the top of the breakwall leaving the wave relatively clean.
As I walked into the ocean the bottom was just gross- slimy muddy shit that squelched between the toes. And rubbish was floating everywhere. Farmers Union Iced Coffee containers and branches, all sorts of crap was floating around. I rated the surf purely on novelty factor but have never surfed there again!

Nope, not rare, just rarely worthwhile. It's called Lion's, btw.

Yep, tried to score that reef many a time to always be let down. Not good at all unless you want to escape the crowds and a bit of novelty.

Also wondered about the reefs off the back of Aldinga reef, and "The Drop Off" but jeez it'd be sharky.

Quite a few spots to surf when there's a bit of swell but I always think of locations further afield when the Mid's pumping!

Novelty spots? Who could forget back in the mal days when Pelican Point between Outer Harbour and Port Adel.used to get quite crowed,everyone would check the shipping timetables and go there when a big tanker was due to arrive.It was best when the channel hadnt been dredged for a while and the silt would form a perfect left hand mud point break with 100yd.rides not unheard of. Big Sunday occurred when the Queen Mary came to town creating perfect head high peelers that rifled down the point for 200m before spitting and then closing out onto a pile of rusting car bodies.Quite a sight really.It was a shame when the authorities dumped several truck loads of old barbed wire into the lineup and blew up the decomissioned navy frigate stuck in the mud further down the point to stop the Pelican Point boardriders from using it as a clubrooms.They then erected a sign saying "Join the armed forces". They were the days alright. Believe it or not.

Heard from some bloke I met at Yorkes that there are a couple of mal riders at Wallaroo that surf the boat wake from the Wallaroo to Cowell ferry - one wave each twice a day.....

I've heard stories of rideable waves on the banks just north of the Outer Harbour channel - tiny but logable on those rare groundswell that penetrate the metropolitan beaches. I've personally surfed clean waist to chest high waves a number of times at Brighton and West Beach over the years, once in the middle of summer in boardies!

When they were building the Adelaide Sailing Club, there was a temporary groyne to clear water for a pipe. On one of those rare occassions Ben mentioned above, a mate and I surfed a left hander that was waist to head high and clean for two days straight. The waves were 50m long and fun. I've got good footage to prove it.

I have seen a mal rideable wave on the sandy beach between the ferry groyne and Wallaroo jetty when the ferry slows to turn into the ferry berth at Wallaroo. Quite a few hours between sets tho but the Marina tavern is just up the road. We used to surf the Beacon at North Haven beach in front of where the surf lifesaving club is now. On a big stormys many years ago, it was often very crowded and the waves were of reasonable quality. It was a favourite haunt of the Taperoo High surf crew of the mid 1970's - Frog, Riddell, Marty Ryan (RIP), Moke, Clint Evans etc.

arbus, footage or your fibbing...

Near west beach sail club..when the swell is massive you can get 2-3ft(waist/head high) glassy bowls..Usually a right hand wedge. My mates used to surf it whenever it was on. It still works now! He sent me a pic cause I told him bullshit but I had to pick my jaw up off the ground!! Also what about the 'pong' down south??

What "Adelaide's worst kept secret spot" haha

How about Marino Point. I've had some sick stormy sessions out there. Possibly the single worst paddle out spot ever though, next to maybe Lennox. Great spot for paddling too.

But super fun left. Never seen it clean though - too many other spots to surf if the swell was ever really big enough and clean

Yeah Marino - a fickle spot but a gem when it's on (metro-wise, I surfed here more than anywhere as a grommet). I've got a pic of it pumping back in about '88 (will try to find and upload). There are couple of other weird little reefs between Marino and Halletts too, but if you didn't know where they were you'd drive straight past 'em.

Dunno if I'd pitch Marino up against Lennox though...

On one of Weasels couch surfer videos there is footage of mal riders on a clean waist high left hand bank at North haven which actually faces more South West than the rest of the coast but who really gives a toss.The Adelaide metro beaches are to surfing what Mount Lofty is to snow skiing.Thank God for the mid.Actually Lake Eyrie has a much bigger fetch than the gulf and I know a guy who raves about a point he surfed up there last time it filled up.Cheers.

Dunnies at Hallett Cove. Great place to -
a) get hypothermia
b) get hailed on
c) sandwich your feet between slippery rocks losing bark and not actually being aware of it for a few hours until your feet regain feeling
d) have your eyeballs reamed out by a 30kn sou'wester in the prime conditions for this left hand semi-point to work
e) back in the day point d) used to sometimes be exacerbated by spilt chemicals from the now decommissioned Port Stanvac

Having said that I have surfed it pretty good I guess comparatively speaking if you use a comparative scale that is limited to the mid coast and it's big fat brother dribbleton, and definitely dont compare it to any actual proper surf spots like Lennox with swell windows wider than 0.5 of a degree. On the odd day it might get up to 4-5 foot with long enough sections to get a few whacks in - this would be a maxing stormy, with the biggest groundswell 3 foot max. Back in the day when Halletts SLSC was still going and us groms had the key it was a sick spot to hang in the shark tower, use up all the hot water after hypothermic surfs, and pinch the grog in the bar that had a locked cage around it - little did they know Tom Cleland was the skinniest slipperiest dude in the Cove at the time and could slip between the stairs...

Then there's the secret spots: 3rd fence, the point, the ledge and pyramid rock. Epic. Dont get me started on them, you all might froth too hard.

Carricks can have a few beachies..and I've heard there is a wave near the 2nd valley somewhere?

Yeah I used to froth on stormies a LOT. That's what happens when you're landlocked without a drivers license! I remember as a grommet looking out at the Seacliff bommie (from the bottom of Ocean Blvd, where I lived for many years) and wondering if anyone ever surfed it.

Had plenty of unreal sessions at Halletts, Marino and all of the jetties though - always lots of fun under forty knots of wind and a hail storm.

Hi Ben,
A couple of my mates back then were pretty good sail boarders / wave jumpers or whatever they used to call themselves. Into doing big floaty airs with loops etc, probably a bit of an influence on todays kitesurfers. Both lived at Kingston Park / Seacliff and used to go out to that bommie regularly in the same conditions we'd be surfing Halletts and Myponga.

Can back Arbus up..i was devastated when they took the "Coffin Dam" down..there was a 50m left that broke whenever the mid broke that only a few knew about ..board shorts no leggies was great fun in summer. Goes tho show how easy it is to create a man made wave without even trying. One big stomy smashed it to pieces and they had to rebuild. Arbus the best day i surfed it was with a boggie boarder..not you was it?

I can't get enough of Christies when there is a storm raging - But like you Ben, anytime Brighton jetty is on I usually hit it. I've never seen a place that froths up surfers during a big onshore blow like Adelaide.

Sometimes i've hit the O'Sully's boat ramp when the NWers are howling.

Oh, and just to clarify, although I dearly wish Marino was comparable to Lennox, I just meant getting off the rocks (although in reality Lennox is way more gnarly - it's claimed more that it's fair share of my burley).

@ Amb. Nah wasn't me, I'm a standup.

Best time I surfed it there was just me, a mate and one other fella. The other fella was one of those Adelaide guys that seem to surf every spot you go to (be it west, yorkes, south or mid) but are never surfing with people, and always seem stoned - that's not you is it Amb?

Victor - I'll try track them down.

To put this discussion into perspective for any interstate viewers who may have stumbled across this thread and thought WTF, we are talking about Adelaides metro beaches which require gale force winds to whip up 3 feet of absolute crud.When Adelaide surfers say it was pumping it means it was almost rideable.Having said that I must admit my favourite spots were behind Marineland and the minda bank,not to mention the Broadway left and Glenelg jetty,there were no groynes at West beach or Nth. Haven back then to shelter from the 40 knot onshore winds.Like most crew as soon as I was old enough to leave home I lived on the mid and never surfed these god forsaken holes again.

"Like most crew as soon as I was old enough to leave home I lived on the mid"

By: "old-dog"

Wait a second old-dog. So you moved 30 clicks down the road so that that 3ft of absolute crud can be improved slightly by rolling down some kind of reef.

I was expecting you to say you moved to the East Coast, Yorkes or even Victor, but to say you just slid down the coast isn't really moving, haha.

Brighton Jetty was one of my favs, as well as Myps.

I remember one huge stormy about 4-5 years ago where I slept in my car down at Myp's under a full moon.

I rocked up to see 4-5ft sets rolling down the point in clear view under moonlight. If someone else was there I would of nearly taken it on. The storm surge was so high I had to park back against the hill and in the morning all the stones from the shore were moved up into the road!

Of course by dawn the winds had eased and the swell was back to a slow 3ft but by God, with 4-5ft of swell rolling down the point during the night it looked like one of the better quality points breaks going around!

I've had a recurring dream where I'm surfing a spot that morphs between being port stanvac and being several west coast spots. Its actually more about the mission and the feeling of the place (eg climbing on oil rig type booms on my way to pumping waves) rather than dreaming I'm surfing getting barrelled or anything (unfortunately). Maybe a subconscious attempt at redressing past disappointments approximately 99 out of every 100 train trips on my way home from school on the brighton-noarlunga line looking for whitewater, a white smudge, a speck, anything(!!!) at the base of the cliffs up towards port stanvac.
Just had a little look at port stanvac on google earth and wonder what it broke like before the oil refinery was there. There's a sandy beach at least as long as Halletts which I guess is north O'sullys with what looks like a fence across the beach at the perimeter of port stanvac. There's a couple of little reefy noggins a bit further out but it doesnt have the angle that dunnies has which makes it run down the line a bit. If I was a betting man I'd say it'd be fairly shit with every now and then a fun day to trick you into thinking it was OK that wouldn't rate a mention at most other places except perhaps lake eyre.
Just shit really. Does my head in. I can't live there anymore, I go stir crazy. I visit and its great to catch up with crew but after about a week (used to be 3 days but i am becoming more tolerant after 2 kids) if I'm not heading west or if I'm desperate, south, then I'm not fun to live with. I notice that crew who have grown up with good waves on tap can come complacent, and for my lack of complacency I thank the mid.
Old-dog - I was believing your story with the perspective angle and 3ft of crud but moving to the mid to escape god forsaken holes surf-wise is an oxymoron.
Craig - every dog has its day but in the gulf those days are rare. I remember first learning about the weather patterns of that part of the world and getting excited every time a front rolled by, which with the roaring forties must be 2 or 3 a week maybe on average? The amount of fronts that actually produce enough size and in the right direction for myponga, halletts, marino, brighton jetty etc is bugger all. Then I learnt about the places on exposed SA coasts that like the norwesters preceding the fronts grooming the swell to perfection and I was sold. In my humble opinion life is too short to be stuck somewhere with shit waves.

It's funny to hear the midcoast v metro coast rivalry again.
Growing up in the early 80's us townies really used to cop some stick from the mid coasters for our inferior waves. I never really rated the mid as that good, just cleaner small waves with an agro parochial local scene, car breaking thieves and junkies. At least it was 30 years ago. Guys like Wart, Sam and Arab screaming at, snaking and assaulting us blowin's.
Many of us "townies" up and left Adelaide and moved to Yorkes or futher west and established our own litte scenes at much better quality locations. It's funny you don't see much of the old mid coast enforcers anymore. Except for old Sam at Pondie sometimes in summer. I make sure that he doesn't get too many waves though. I have a long memory of days when he picked on me as a grommet at Seaford.

Mundies, I'm so with you. Grew up surfing the Peninsula and PI, then transferred to SA in the 80s, back to Vicco and surfed the West Coast in the early 90s, then back again to SA when my-then wife said she'd had enough of the cold. I lived in Pt Willy for two years after we divorced, but I couldn't stand it in the end - so much promise, so little delivery. I'm now back here in paradise. And I swear the water is colder in Robe than here.

@craig O.K good point but I never said I stayed there for good,but I would hit Yorkes almost every weekend and West coast 3-4 trips a year which shits on living in Sydney and surfing Bondi .At least living on the mid you could get wet after work most weeks.Plus remember back in those early days the mid was just a few shacks,I remember when you almost needed a 4wd to get from seaford to Moana along the esplanade.There were absolutely zero local surfers at Yorkes and we had Chis and Pondi to ourselves nearly every weekend.I'm not saying the mid is fantastic but it holds some pretty special memories for a lot of people and sure as heck shits all over the metro beaches and even Middleton,plus why live at Victor when its only a 30 min. drive to Waits and Parsons from the mid anyway .I rest my case. Cheers.
@yorkesurfer Wart sure has got it made now ,how did he scam his way into that place?

Luckily I've never had to surf Bondi old-dog. The Northern Beaches and beyond keep me more than entertained over here as well as a sneaky trip back home once or twice a year :)

What is wart doing these days old-dog? Living on some tropical island or something? The last time I saw him he was parked at D-bah on the Gold Coast at least 15 years ago. He came in from the surf and in a fit of rage slammed open his car door, tore out the interior lining of the door and threw it into the air?? I was just watching him like a fly on the wall scratching my head thinking "he hasn't changed much!" WTF?

the WART is gate keeper at stanleys......on a not quite tropical island.

Wart has mellowed a bit over the years,top bloke, he drops the kids off at school and then goes surfing all day and he still rips,they take on some heavy shit over there but you didn't hear it from me.