Kiama surf guide to the local breaks, surf schools and patrols

Pick a Kiama surf break for your level

The Kiama coast is a run of short beaches between basalt headlands, so most breaks are within 15 minutes' drive of each other. That makes it easy to check two or three spots before you paddle out. Destination Kiama notes the area has produced champion surfers Ali Day and Sally Fitzgibbons.

Times below are from Kiama Ridge Waters at 2 Surfleet Place. Hazard ratings come from BeachSafe, where 10 is the most hazardous.

For swimming rather than surfing, our Kiama beaches guide compares every beach in the area.

Surf The Wedge at Surf Beach in town

Surf Beach, on Manning Street, is Kiama's main beach and the closest break to the apartments. BeachSafe describes it as a 270 m pocket beach facing east between the basalt headlands of Church Point and Kendalls Point, with Kiama Surf Life Saving Club in the park behind the sand. The club formed in 1908, when visitors came down by train to see the Blowhole and swim in the surf.

BeachSafe says it has the only regular surf around Kiama town. It is at its most surfable in small to moderate waves, and bigger swell closes out across the bay. In a moderate east to north-east swell, a left called The Wedge runs along the rocks on the south side of Blowhole Point, at the northern end of the beach. Destination Kiama also names the northern break The Wedge.

The bay is small and busy. BeachSafe rates it 6 out of 10, with two permanent rips against the rocks at each end, an occasional central rip, and rocks often exposed in front of the surf club. Keep boards well clear of swimmers and out of the flagged area.

Destination Kiama lists a car park, toilets, change sheds, showers, BBQs and picnic tables, with play equipment in the grassy park behind the sand. The beach is a short walk from the town's main streets, shops and cafes, so see our Kiama cafes guide for a post-surf coffee.

Paddle out at the north end of Bombo

Bombo Beach is an exposed, east-facing beach about 1.2 km long, running from Pheasant Point north to Bombo Headland. BeachSafe calls it a surfer's beach. Waves average about 1.5 m and the rips and sandbars create the beach breaks it is known for. Most surfers use the northern end near the car park, where the summer north winds blow slightly offshore in the top corner.

Destination Kiama's local surf guide says Bombo gets big swells and good waves that suit experienced surfers. BeachSafe rates the beach 7 out of 10, with strong permanent rips against both headlands and three or four more moving rips in between. Swimming is not recommended outside the patrolled area at North Bombo.

The north end is reached by a roundabout drive under the railway to the car park above the beach. Our Bombo guide covers parking and the old quarry.

The Boneyard: on the northern side of the Bombo headland, at the southern end of Cliff Drive in Kiama Downs, Destination Kiama describes a right-hand reef break, and BeachSafe calls it a heavy reef wave off Cathedral Rocks. It is unpatrolled and rock-dominated, so leave it to experienced surfers and watch from the headland otherwise. The sheltered pebbly beach is popular for snorkelling and picnics. Our Cathedral Rocks guide covers the walk in.

Catch a consistent wave at Jones Beach, Kiama Downs

Jones Beach, on North Kiama Drive at Kiama Downs, is about 900 m of sand between Minnamurra Point and Cathedral Rocks. A local surfer quoted in Destination Kiama's guide calls it a really consistent break with almost always a wave. Destination Kiama says it offers swimming and surfing for people of all abilities.

The northern end has running left-handers off the rocks, and the southern end is sheltered from southerly winds. BeachSafe notes beach breaks of variable quality along the whole beach, with slight protection from summer north winds towards the northern end. It is still a rip-dominated beach, rated 7 out of 10, with the bar usually cut by six rips and permanent rips against each headland.

Kiama Downs Surf Life Saving Club patrols the beach, and there is a car park, picnic area and toilets. North of Minnamurra Point, BeachSafe lists a reef called Mystics below the car park at the north end of Minnamurra Beach that produces a good left. That beach is reached through Killalea, not from Minnamurra village. Our Kiama Downs guide and Minnamurra guide have more.

Ride Werri Point and the Werri beach breaks

Werri Beach at Gerringong is the main surf beach south of Kiama. Destination Kiama describes consistent breaks at both ends of the beach. Its local surf guide says Werri suits intermediate and experienced surfers when the tide is low.

• Werri Point: the south point breaks over a rocky reef off the headland. Destination Kiama says it makes a fuller wave closer to shore that longboarders like, and stays smooth even when the summer nor'easter blows. BeachSafe says it can produce long rights over the southern reef.
• The beach breaks: these depend on the sandbanks. Destination Kiama says there is often a decent wave in front of the Werri Beach Fish Shop, about three-quarters of the way down the beach. BeachSafe says the beach is fully exposed to swell, with good access across the fenced dune.

Waves average about 1.6 m in the north and 1.4 m in the south, and BeachSafe counts up to 10 rips, including strong permanent ones against the northern headland and along the southern rocks. Gerringong Surf Life Saving Club patrols the southern end. Our Werri Beach guide covers the ocean pool and lagoon, and Gerringong has the cafes.

Learn to surf on Seven Mile Beach at Gerroa

If you are new to surfing, drive past the reefs to Gerroa. Destination Kiama's local guide calls Seven Mile Beach perfect for beginners, with a wave in almost any conditions. BeachSafe explains why: Black Head and its reefs block much of the swell at the northern end, so waves average less than 1 m and spill gently over a wide, shallow sandbar.

About 1.5 km down the beach the waves average around 1.6 m and can break heavily on the inner bar, so learners should stay at the northern end. Off Black Point, BeachSafe lists two reef breaks that work in a moderate swell: a right called Av-A-Go Bernie and a left called Batchies. Watch the creek mouth at the base of the Gerroa headland on a falling tide, when the current runs out to sea.

Two schools teach here. Prices and times change, so check before you go.

Book a lesson that fits your group

Both schools supply boards and wetsuits, so bring swimmers, a towel and sunscreen. Gerroa Surf School lists two-hour private lessons from $150 for one person and a weekend package of three group lessons for $200, with children under 13 needing a participating adult in group lessons. Gerringong Surf School listed a three-morning holiday program, 9am to 12pm, for $200 including equipment and morning tea. Prices change, so check before you go.

A family or two couples sharing one of our three-bedroom apartments can split a private lesson, then come back and rinse the wetsuits in the laundry. For more family ideas, see things to do in Kiama with kids and our Gerroa guide.

Buy wax, boards and wetsuits in Gerringong

Natural Necessity Surf Shop on Fern Street, Gerringong, is a family-owned shop that Destination Kiama calls Australia's largest independent surf shop. It has traded for more than 40 years, with two large floors of surf hardware and fashion and an in-house cafe. Its website lists opening hours of 9am to 5pm on weekdays and 9am to 4pm on weekends. Check before you go, and call ahead if you are after a particular board.

It is about 8 minutes' drive from the apartments, so it fits easily into a morning at Werri.

Surf safely and know when the beaches are patrolled

Kiama's surf beaches are exposed, and most have permanent rips beside the headlands. A few habits keep a surf trip safe:

• Check conditions first: BeachSafe shows each beach's hazards, tide, swell and whether it is patrolled today. The Bureau of Meteorology lists marine and surf warnings.
• Read the signs: council signs mark the red and yellow swimming flags, the surfcraft zone boundary, no surfcraft areas and danger, no swimming. Keep boards out of the flagged swimming area.
• Surf with someone: the reef breaks at the Boneyard, Werri Point and Black Point sit outside the flagged patrol areas.
• In an emergency: call 000.

Kiama Council's 2026 to 2027 timetable lists these patrols:

• Surf Beach: weekdays 28 September to 23 April, and weekends and public holidays 26 September to 25 April (Kiama SLSC volunteers)
• Jones Beach: weekdays 21 December to 29 January, and weekends and public holidays 26 September to 25 April (Kiama Downs SLSC volunteers)
• Werri Beach: weekdays 21 December to 29 January, weekends and public holidays 26 September to 25 April (Gerringong SLSC volunteers), and the Easter school holidays, 12 to 23 April
• North Bombo and Seven Mile Beach: every day 21 December to 31 January, then weekends in February

Outside those dates the beaches are unpatrolled. On big swell days, watch the waves from the headlands instead: our Kiama lookouts guide and the Kiama Blowhole are good places to start, and Kiama weather explains the seasons.

Base your surf trip at Kiama Ridge Waters

Every break in this guide is within about 13 minutes' drive of Kiama Ridge Waters, our three-bedroom apartments in a quiet residential street at 2 Surfleet Place. They are not on the beach and do not have ocean views, but Surf Beach is 3 minutes by car, Easts Beach is a 15-minute walk (1.3 km) and Kendalls Beach 16 minutes (1.4 km).

Each apartment sleeps six, with two bathrooms, a laundry with a washer and dryer for wetsuits and towels, and secure parking for two cars. Check-in is from 3pm and check-out by 10am, which leaves time for a dawn surf on your last morning. Pets are welcome on request in most of our apartments.

Compare the apartments, see booking several apartments for a group or family accommodation in Kiama, or check dates and book.