Colour-Coding for Gold Coast surf spots?

As the Gold Coast City Council prepares to release its highly anticipated surf-management-plan in response to surf rage along the coast, one idea that’s being floated is a colour-coding system similar to those used by snow resorts.

“When you go to the snow you can go on a black run, or a blue run, or a red run, or whatever… And the thought was, ‘Why don’t we do this with surf breaks?’ Burleigh Heads councillor Greg Betts told the Brisbane Times.

The scheme is one of several being decided upon by the council in a bid to manage the exploding popularity of surfing along the coast. Stab can reveal another option being looked at is the creation of more surf spots using artificial reefs.

“The Gold Coast City council is looking at building five artificial reefs over five years,” revealed Chairman of the World Surfing Reserve’s Local Stewardship Council, Andy Mckinnon – one of the groups responsible for helping the Gold Coast City Council implement their surf management plan.

There remains several unknowns about the colour-coding system. Most notably, that a green ‘beginners’ spot could turn into a ‘double-black-diamond’ depending on the conditions. Still, it would only take one person to change over the colour, and maybe another to identify and single out careless kooks to return to shore and surf elsewhere. And so we wait for the Gold Coast to unveil its Surf Management Plan in full…

Everyone wants a piece of this. Mick Fanning usually gets it. Photo: Azad Sellars