Save Kirra

Kirra was once regarded as one of the best waves in the world… but the Tweed Sand Bypass has killed it. On Australia Day, Jan 26, Mick and around 1500 other surfers paddled out at Kirra to send a message to the powers that be that they’d love to see Kirra restored to it’s former glory.

Mick holds a board with artwork showing Kirra as it use to regularly break. Image: Simon Williams ©

The story was well covered by Surfline. Mick spoke to the crowd on the beach about his relationship with Kirra. Here’s a copy of his speech for you to check out…

“Kirra was never an easy wave to surf but it was always worth the trouble. Anyone that surfed it at a decent size knows how hard it was to stay in position against that current… they know how torture the crowds were… how gnarly the rashes were from the long run around the point… and they can probably still feel the last heavy wipeout they took out there.

We endured all of it for a shot at a set wave. Because if you had a good wave at Kirra – or even an average one – you didn’t forget it in a hurry. I can actually still clearly remember entire rides I had out at Kirra and I’m thankful for that.

In surfing there’s no greater feeling than scoring a good barrel. And the thing that made Kirra so special was its tube. I’ve surfed incredible waves all around the world and had a lot of memorable barrels but none of them measure up to a good Kirra pit.
I’ve surfed short intense tubes like Teahupoo in Tahiti and Pipeline in Hawaii. I’ve had ridiculously long barrel rides in Indonesia and up the street at Snapper and Greenmount. But it’s hard to find a tube that’s really long and really really intense, especially one that breaks on sand. Kirra was it. It was the best barrel-ride on earth and more people deserve to experience it.

Joel Parkinson, Dean Morrison and myself spent a good part of our childhoods battling the current and racing along Kirra’s walls. This is where we learned to ride inside the tube and I don’t think we would have gone as far as we have in the sport if we didn’t grow up surfing this super-challenging wave.
I remember coming home from being away when I was kid. Coming off the highway into Kirra, passing the Kirra pub and Pizza Hut and looking out to see waves reeling across that shallow sand bar. I’d see my heroes out there, my friends and total strangers scoring the rides of their life. I’d feel sick I’d want to be out there so bad.

These days when I get home I take that same road and as I pass the pub and Kirra comes into view, I peer out across all that sand, in hope of seeing it happening once again. Sadly, I see nothing. Not even a ripple. I feel sick, not because I want to get out there, but because of the state of the break.I think we should invest the time and energy into trying to revive Kirra because it always was and still is… worth the trouble.”

Go to www.kirrapoint.org for more info.

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