Night surfing may be coming to Snapper Rocks. At a meeting Tuesday, the Gold Coast City Council backed a proposal for a trial night surfing event, which could potentially pave the way for more permanent developments.
As ABC News reports, the proposed trial would take place during the 2027 Championship Tour event at Snapper Rocks. In it, temporary floodlighting would be installed to allow WSL surfers to take part in a specialty event. While the setup would be temporary, and only available to professional surfers taking part in the CT event, a successful event could pave the way to a more permanent arrangement.
While Snapper Rocks is one of the all-time great waves, that comes at the cost of a notoriously dense crowd. A report to the Gold Coast city council last year found that, since 2015, the number of surfers in the area increased from 1.1 million to 3.2 million. “Recreational surfer numbers continue to rise each year, while the resource people rely on — our beaches and waves — remains finite,” read the document. Proponents of the proposal say the addition of night surfing could help alleviate this concern.
However, while the council backed the proposal, it is still far from a done deal. Tuesday’s vote was simply an endorsement of the concept, rather than full approval. “Should this be endorsed as an event, we still have significant work to do in terms of legal, environmental, technical, and we would be coming back to council with that gate one project approval,” said Infrastructure Gold Coast director Michael Kahler.
The plan did have its opponents, however. Councillor Donna Gates brought up the concern that the lights would attract sealife. “I have been concerned about this because of the dawn and the dusk issue, with potential shark bites or attacks,” she said. She was the only councillor to vote against the motion to back the proposal.
