Bells Beach Surf Guide

Victoria's most famous surf spot is a classic and consistent right point that breaks on almost any tide, any wind and any decent swell from SE-SW. It's a long wave broken into 3 sections (which may just link up in huge swells), starting outside at Rincon, leading into Bell's Bowl and finishing in the beach shorebreak. Power is always associated with this wave and few escape the flogging of an outside set on the head and gruelling paddle outs as it grows beyond double overhead. When small it is playful and ripable, offering endless carve and cutback corners along a lengthy platform reef that is prone to some long, unmakeable sections. Will be at it best in wrapping SW swell and NW winds, but will still have takers in ugly onshore conditions as well. If the crazy crowd is too much, on the headland to the south there are more rights at Centreside that are lower quality and less intimidating than Bell's plus some real decent lefts in SE swells and higher tides at Southside.

Home of the longest running surf comp of the modern era and testing ground for the big brands, Bells is a pilgrimage site so expect plenty of other worshippers. It is also the site for the world's first Surfing and Coastal Reserve valuing the wave as resource worth protecting in law.