hey all,
I'm a canadian from toronto, who will be visiting caloundra for 2 months in february and march. I'm an intermediate windsurfer who wants to improve his wavesailing. i would like to know where the local spots are in Caloundra and surrounding areas in Queensland for beginner and intermediate wavesailing. Also information about typical wind speeds, water temps, if shortys are required would be helpful too, and any other info needed about windsurfing in this area.
Stoked about coming to Australia!
cheers,
Phil
Hi and i hope you enjoy the sunshine coast, its a good time of year that you talk about and you will get some seabreezes.Google the windsurfing site"windwanderers" and they have a map of all the locations around the SE Coast of Queensland. Just a quick word i believe the Caloundra Bar can be very tricky especially on the out going tide, please talk to the locals before venturing the estuary.
thanks sonic... the windwanderers site is very useful, showing a variety of locations and conditions!
cheers,
Phil
thanks for the note Justin... very useful info... and the location guide is great! i will make sure when i'm at the caloundra bar, i'm not out on an outgoing tide! the spots you mentioned were the ones I was looking at since i will be staying in Aroona a few minutes away. I am thinking to bring a quiver including a 90L JP waveboard with two sails 5.0 and 5.8. I am about 150lbs - will this be good for the strong south easterlies that time of year?
I look forward to windsurfing your local spots and meeting the locals there this summer! and I hope you don't mind Canadian Beer in the parking lot after a session!
Hi pwindride, I am a kitesurfer here on the coast, but have windsurfed for 25 years. A good spot which is rarely used is Parkyn Parade at Mooloolaba, best in slight Northerly to N.Easterly. It gets good swell as opposed to beaking waves and is generally quiet with only one or two other people. Plenty of beach area and free parking right at the beach. I live in Caloundra and I would agree with everyone about Happy Valley in out going tide, it looks great and relatively safe. Dont do it, I was there last boxing day when a guy drowned windsurfing on the sandbar, he was a competant wave sailor and still got caught.
You will find lots of good spots all up the coast here.
i like mooloolaba myself also. long way to drive these days so i don't go visit to often.
sweet spot. i usually head out at the rotary park at the end of Parkyn Parade. Mooloolaba usually gets beter wind then golden beach in a NE'r. it's alsp a great beach to do the walk of shame at. lots of talent in that area. 
the gear you're looking at bringing will be good for the majority of time and especially when the NorEasters are blowing. but for the SE winds it will be a little big from time to time.
also you'll need a smaller sail like a 4.2m for when the wind is over 25 knots. qustion will be how good will the SouEast winds be this coming season? the previous season was fantastic with 20-30 knots at least 3 times a week for 2 months. some days hitting 40. That was very unusual though.
Maybe bring along a really small wave fin to help settle the board down in the stronger winds. I reckon the best quiver for you're weight in qld at that time of year would be
4.2,5.0,5.7 plus a 90 litre board and a 70 litre board (for the strong winds). that would have you on the water at least 4-5 times a week. you are lucky being a lightweight! the rest of us go slalom sailing. 
Thanks for all the info... it might be better to buy some used gear when I get to Caloundra and that way I can buy what I need for the conditions... rather than bring what i got! Are there windsurf swaps at any local shops or do any of the shops sell used gear?
cheers,
Phil
i reckon bring the kit your were originally bringing and just pick up a crappy small wave board for when the wind is up. should be able to get something fairly cheap.
small boards are cheap here most people buy 80-120lt so anything outside of that is a good price.
