Arrawarra
Surf, Sun, Spot X
Where oh where to begin. Most people won’t find their way to Arrawarra, its a really smol spot a few hours south of Byron Bay. Me and a few friends that were also in the surf camp with me in Byron where heading to Arrawarra to continue our surfing at the main camp for Mojo Surf. It truly was giving camping vibes. Most of us slept in Teepees (again, we did at the Arts Factory in Byron as well) and used the shared toilets and showers that are very similar to campground toilets back home.
The area is gorgeous and we were right near the beach. Arrawarra surf Spot X is plopped right in a very important indigenous area, the Arrawarra Headland is a site of strong significance for Indigenous people from the Gumbaynggir Nation. It isn’t easy to find a place to stay in Arrawarra, but there is a campground in the area that you may be able to find a stall.
Highlights of my surf stay in Arrawarra included first an foremost the surf! Our instructors were pretty great and I did notice my progress over the week while I was there. Next was the food, we were served such fantastic meals and soooo much food, more than you can even eat. Even the vegetarian/vegan options were fantastic. Me and Alina stayed in the Teepees again, it really makes it feel like you are camping at surf camp.
The general area was cool, it had a free pool table to use, TV with Netflix, card games, and a fire pit for evening fires. Most people eventually found their way to the general area when not surfing during the day. Lots of games of Uno Flip were played, and general chat meeting all the other surfers. There was also a game that many of the academy people played often called ‘c*nt’, basically there is just the white ball and the black eight ball on the table and the goal is to try and hit to eight ball into one of the pockets. You take turns going around the pool table. You can only throw the white ball from either end of the table. If you sink the eight ball, the person BEFORE you loses a life (we all start with three) if the eight ball stops moving on your turn YOU lose a life, if you sink the white ball YOU lose a life. Whenever either ball is sunk or the black ball is stopped, you start from either end with the next players. Overall its a really fast game and there is a lot of strategy involved on how you try and sink the black ball. It was hard and I was terrible at it but it was good fun.
Other highlights include walking to the campground via the beach and then walking through and seeing kangaroos for the first time since being in Australia! They were so chill, I guess they are used to the people in the campground. Bonus was the Joey that was also out there. So cool.
Apart from the morning surf lessons other things that you could partake in (some with an additional cost) included additional surf in what was called afternoon ‘expression sessions’ where you could take a board out and practice, a ‘whitewater’ rafting type thing in the ocean, a kayak day, and the kangaroo walk led by someone who also discussed the local land and plant species.
A few of us got really lucky, during one of our morning surf sessions we saw a pod of dolphins swimming around. It started off by a few just seeing a fin and calling out to our instructor to make sure we were safe to stay in the water. Once Ryan acknowledged they were just dolphins we were frozen in awe watching them swim and get closer occasionally. It was so surreal it feels like it happened so quickly and almost like it never happened. I am forever grateful that I got to experience that!
Overall there was lots to do and I had a fantastic time in the sun learning to surf and improving every day and getting to ask the instructors questions. I am normally really good at teaching myself stuff, but being able to ask the random small questions on technique and stuff was fantastic. I was able to notice my surfing skills progress throughout the week, which was quite a relief! All I want to do is become a better surfer, and at the very least learn enough to be able to continue working on it by myself throughout my travels, and I believe the instructors and time spent in the water at Arrawarra has definitely helped out with that.
Getting more stable catching the waves.
Walking along the beach between surf sessions to go and try and find the kangaroos in the adjacent campground.
Camping area with our surf board seating.
Mama kangaroo and Joey.
View of beach from the general area.
Beautiful rainbow after some rainfall at camp.