Snapper Rocks is a small rocky outcrop on the northern side of Point Danger at the southern end of Rainbow Bay on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. [1] It is a famous surf break and today the start of the large sand bank known to surfers as the Superbank.
It is believed that Snapper Rocks were named by W.L. Edwardson, captain of HM Colonial Cutter Snapper which passed by Point Danger in July 1822. [1]
Snapper is a point break, which as of 2007, forms the first part of the man-made "Superbank" surf break.
Since 1995 the Tweed River sand bypass system has pumped sand from the Tweed River mouth to beaches to the north to ensure the river mouth is safe for shipping, and to stabilise coastal erosion north of the river. This has resulted in a large build-up of sand between Snapper Rocks to Kirra, which as of 2007, has extended the beaches in this area seawards around 100-200m, and created a new, world-class sandbar surf break called "the Superbank".
The Superbank extends from Snapper Rocks Point, through Rainbow Bay, Greenmount Point, Coolangatta Beach, and Kirra, for a distance of around 2 kilometres (1.2 mi). Multiple barrel sections can now occur at any point along this length. The quality of the surf in the first 4 of these sections has markedly improved since the 1990s, creating one of the longest, hollowest and best waves in the world. However, the quality of the last section, Kirra, which has long been regarded as one of the world's best waves prior to the formation of the Superbank, has suffered. There have been calls to modify aspects of the sand bypass system to attempt to restore Kirra to its former quality, although exactly how this is to be done is not clear. It is possible that an optimum, medium build-up of sand (such as was reportedly the state in the early 2000s) may create the longest and best waves over the entire length, including Kirra.
The sheer quality of the man-made wave has greatly increased the level of surf tourism in the region, which has also resulted in extreme crowding of the wave. On a good day, over 500 surfers can be counted over the 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) distance, with multiple drop-ins. [2]
In 1956 Jack Evans built the Snapper Rocks Sea Baths, with an adjacent shark pool for public viewing. Later that year the Boyd brothers, local fishermen, caught two bottlenose dolphins in the Terranora Creek which Evans took and put in the pool for the Jack Evans Porpoise Pool show. [3] [4] The pools moved to the mouth of the Tweed River near to Duranbah beach in 1961. [5] [6] [4] Only remnants of the pools remain today. [7] [8]
The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane and immediately north of the border with New South Wales. The area was previously occupied prior to European settlement by the Yugambeh language people. The demonym for the Gold Coast is Gold Coaster. With an estimated population of 679,127 in June 2018, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, Australia's largest non-capital city, and Queensland's second-largest city.
The Tweed River is a river situated in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales, Australia. From the middle reaches of its course, the state boundary between New South Wales and Queensland is located approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north.
Tweed Heads is a town in New South Wales. It is located on the Tweed River in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Tweed Shire, next to the border with Queensland and adjacent to its "twin town" of Coolangatta, which is a suburb of the Gold Coast. It is often referred to as a town where people can change time zones – even celebrate New Year twice within an hour – simply by crossing the street, due to its proximity to the Queensland border, and the fact that New South Wales observes daylight saving whereas Queensland does not.
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Greenmount Beach is a beach located in Coolangatta on Queensland's Gold Coast in Australia.
Rainbow Bay is a bay, beach and locality at the southern end of Coolangatta within the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
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Campbell Hill is a mountain located in Piggabeen, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It is located in the region of the Tweed Shire in the state of New South Wales, in the eastern part of the country, 900 kilometres (560 mi) north of the capital, Canberra, approximately 107 kilometres (66 mi) from Brisbane and 24 kilometres (15 mi) from Surfers Paradise. Campbell Hill is approximately 123 metres (404 ft) above sea level. Piggabeen is situated in the hinterland approximately 5 km behind the Gold Coast Highway and the Gold Coast International and Domestic Airport. Piggabeen and its valley adjoins Currumbin Valley in Queensland.
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'One of the chief attractions on the border is Jack Evans porpoise pool at Schnapper Rocks, beneath Point Danger.'
'The idea of the show came to Mr. Evans about ten years ago when he put two dolphins in a small aquarium at his swimming baths at Snapper Rocks, Tweed Heads.'
'Jack Evans built ocean pools at Burleigh Heads (1953) and Snapper Rocks (1957) and, still fascinated by sharks, built a second pool for them at Snapper, before re-establishing at the mouth of the Tweed River in 1961.'
Although only remnants of the pools survive, the site has archaeological potential to yield information that will contribute to the understanding of the nature of a coastal aquarium.
