The Sunshine Coast: Caloundra

The next stop on my quick tour of The Sunshine Coast was Caloundra. It kind of reminded me of a cross between a really small Laguna Beach and Pas-de-Calais but with 85 degree weather and perfect surf.

I love this place. It sits in a small bay with a pristine beach. On the southern end there is a rocky point with very nice apartments and houses on the top. In the center is a small downtown with cafe's, shops and art galleries. There are wineries on the outskirts of town.

The beaches are crowded and with the summer heat they are a cool alternative. In California the beaches tend to be strewn with garbage and it is sad and makes me angry. Here the beaches are warm, the water does not smell and is clear, salty and clean. I have never seen one speck of trash and I think the people here would kill anyone that did not pick it up and take it with them. They are an environmentally conciouse lot. I took a nice swim here and sat in the sun for a while.

Then there is the surf, the southern end has what appears to be a long right hand point break. In the center of the bay there looks to be a reef with a right and a left although it would be quite a paddle. On the north end is a lava rock head land with a really heavy looking left breaking into a channel in the bay. The one person I talked to about it says it gets good but is quite sharky.

The day I was there a good south swell was running but the NE winds are an issue right now. I looked for alternatives but to no luck. I hear next week there is to be a reversal so I might be back.

I would live here in a heartbeat.