Surfing experts have been left dismayed by the number of inexperienced surfers who literally got in over their heads at beaches across the Sunshine Coast yesterday.
Despite some great sets, there were too many people in the water who should not have been there, said Sunshine Coast Daily surfing correspondent Robbie Sherwell.
“There are a lot of what I would call ‘weekend surfers’ in the water, and they can be a danger to themselves and other people,” he said.
Some people even swam in the rough conditions and a few even let their children get in the water.
He described their actions as “naive and arrogant”.
“They’ve seen the warnings on TV and they know only to swim between the flags, and they’ve also got the lifesavers warning them on the beach and over the PA system but they’re still going in.
“It’s a mixture of naivety and arrogance – they have no idea how powerful the ocean can be.
“There were a lot of broken boards today and no doubt some people were hurt.”
Big wave surfer Mark Visser agreed that surfers who didn’t know what they were doing should stay out of the water.
“It’s pretty sweepy out there and unless you’re really confident you should stick to the smaller conditions and work your way up,” he said after tackling the swell.
