Surfing with Sharks at Lennox point, Lennox Head

The right-hand point-break at Lennox Head I’d say is one of the best waves in oz. I was so happy that my wife and I were able to swing by to check it out. The town of Lennox Head is only a 15 minute drive North of Ballina.

It can break on any swell over 2ft and is best on SW to SE winds.

The wave looks pretty aggressive, and being super close to the rocks, I can’t imagine you’d want to surf there as a beginner.

Being another ‘Sharky’ hotspot I was keen to ask more questions.

Walking through the little town of Lennox Head we saw upmarket restaurants and a handful of bars. We stopped at a Fish n Chip shop called ‘Fishy Fishy’ for lunch, as I saw they sold Morton Bay Bugs and I hadn’t had any on this trip and they are amazing.

Like in Ballina, I asked the waitress what she thought of the shark/surfer situation in Lennox Head. This girl wasn’t a surfer herself, and lived in Evan’s Head close by, so qualified as a local in my opinion :-p

She said surfers are getting bumped all the time by sharks out there at the point, and it still doesn’t stop them surfing. She also said people drive from many hours away on the weekends to come and surf the point, regardless of the reputation for sharks that it has.

I asked if many people swim here and she said “yes, most of them are tourists and they don’t know about the sharks here”.

I have put some links at the bottom of this post with some shark action Lennox Head surfers have seen over the years.

Sarah and I walked along the beach north of the point called ‘Seven Mile Beach’ and although the Lifeguards had the yellow and red swimming flags out, no one was swimming.

We both liked the vibe in Lennox Head, it had a kinda classy feel, but I also felt I could walk around in my board shorts & flip flops and still feel welcome.

We agreed it would be one of the first places we would consider moving to if we emigrated to Australia. (I am able to as I have dual nationality, so maybe one day we will).

Up on the Lennox Head point you have a great view of the ocean, and it reminded me a little of Beachy Head in England. It would be cool to spend an afternoon up there with a picnic and a decent pair of binoculars.

Unfortunately though, just like Beachy Head, it has become a suicide spot. We saw the signs up the top, and I have read a few articles online about it…bit of a shame.

There is a car park near the top of the headland, it's free and you can rock up and have a picnic and watch the surfers, it's awesome. I could imagine coming here on my lunch break just to chill for a little bit. Some of the surfers park here too as there are steps down to the beach, although I think I'd take the easy option and use the car park at the bottom.

Would I surf Lennox point?

As much as I want to, I don’t think I would. Not so much because of the sharks, but more because I wouldn’t consider myself to be an advanced surfer. I would be more concerned about drowning or hitting rocks.

I would certainly surf the shore break though, keeping my head on a swivel for anything larger than me :-)

If you are that worried about it, you can lower your chances of getting attacked by a shark by not surfing in the early hours of the morning or early in the evening when the sharks are most active…that’s common sense.

The majority of attacks I have read about have been early in the morning.

Apologies for the click bait title (and excuse the pun) but I thought it was good as you essentially are sharing the water with Sharks at Lennox Head, whether you know about it or not.

Anyway, here are the shark articles:

23rd Jan 2018 - ‘Huge shark’ circles surfers, swimmers at Seven Mile Beach, Lennox Head
https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/lifestyle/pets-and-wildlife/huge-shark-circles-surfers-swimmers-at-seven-mile-beach-lennox-head/news-story/805065eb23254eb5efbfa57261f99261

6th Oct 2016 - Bronze whaler seen at Seven Mile Beach metres from shore, Lennox Head

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3824434/Great-white-shark-spotted-shallows-Lennox-Head-kilometres-beach-surfer-savaged-authorities-monitoring-55-Ballina-area.html

26th July 2016 – 2 Surfers knocked off their boards at Sharpes Beach between Ballina and Lennox Head

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-26/shark-knocks-surfers-from-boards-northern-nsw/7662204

Aug 2015 - 20ft Tiger Shark caught off Seven Mile Beach, Lennox Head

https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/597791/Tiger-shark-caught-off-coast-Australia-New-South-Wales

3rd July 2015 - man was thrown into the air when a great white charged him at Lennox Point

https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/lifestyle/beaches-and-fishing/lennox-head-attack-reports-second-person-attacked-by-shark-off-northern-nsw/news-story/3e3748d10111280f86f7b9e965159425

I will post a few more photos below that we took, just to give you an idea of what the place looks like:

Thanks again for reading :-)

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