Watch Pro Surfing Live on the Gold Coast

Coolangatta, on the southern end of the Gold Coast, is soon to host an influx of fin popping, alley-oop boosting, bucket throwing professional surfers for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast and the Roxy Pro Gold Coast.

The two competitions are held at The Superbank at Snapper Rocks – a wave that with the right conditions produces long, flawless, turquoise barrels that start at Snapper Rocks and peel through Greenmount, Little Marley and down to Kirra.

These two competitions are the first legs of the World Surfing League for 2018 and, for the competitors, a win would obviously be a great way to start the year’s championship tour.

What you need to know

Event window: The competition will be held anytime between March 11 and March 22 (depending on when the conditions are best)

Where: Snapper Rocks, Coolangatta, Queensland (50 mins drive from QT Gold Coast)

Last Year’s winners

Men – Owen Wright (Tyler’s brother)

Women – Tyler Wright (Owen’s sister)

Predictions for 2018

Can Owen Wright come back and take out the first stop of the tour like he triumphantly did in 2017? Last year’s tour champion, Hawaiian John John Florence, arrived about two weeks ago and started training, but then went back to Hawaii to compete in the Pipe Pro (and lost in his first heat). The world’s best barrel rider is always dangerous and always a chance.

The ladies look set for an absolute cracker. Wildcard entrant, Felicity “Flick” Palmateer, is hunting for a spot on the WSL tour, while Aussie charmer, Sally Fitzgibbons, is hungry for a big start. However, Steph Gilmore (who hails from these parts) has the hometown advantage and it’s really hers to lose.

Men – Mick Fanning, Owen Wright, Matt “Wilko” Wilkinson

Women – Steph Gilmore, Flick Palmateer, Tyler Wright

Surfing Rumour Mill

You never know when you might need to whip out some sweet knowledge to impress someone. So, here’s some ammo. Word on the street is that Mick Fanning will retire at Bells (another leg of the WSL held at Bells Beach, Victoria) this year. That would make this his last run at Snapper.

Also, the Australian leg of the tour hits Snapper, Bells and Margs (another leg of the WSL held at Margaret River, WA) only a day or two apart. That’s a particularly full-on start to the 2018 calendar.

Oh and one, more thing … Apparently, Brazilian gun Filipe Toledo has been training like a world champ – it could be his year.

The event is free to attend and is always great fun. The town is alive, the atmosphere sun-bleached and waxy, and the bars are flowing. It’s definitely worth checking out, if not for the sheer skill and incredible athleticism, then for the general revelry that surrounds it.

words by niall roeder