Lizard Island / Mangrove Beach, Australia

Located in the northern trade wind belt it gets consistent SE winds most of the year, but especially April to September. There can be good SE winds during summer but you are more likely to get lighter northerlies at that time. It can be very windy here, with wind speeds of 20-35 knots common throughout winter, and gusts into the low 40?s on the really windy days. SSE winds are generally more gusty than SE or ESE winds at this spot.

Mainly shorts, but on colder days in fall and winter a shorty is needed.

All kind of conditions, from flat to medium waves. Beautiful clear water. Waves on the outer reef. It works best on the lower tides, tending to be very choppy on the higher tides. You need to be careful not to ride over the darker coral areas once the tide falls below about 0.7m, as they will be very shallow. The coral is exposed at about 0.35m. The sandy area directly out from Mangrove is the best spot at low tides, getting smoother the lower the water falls. There are wind waves breaking on the windward reef edge, and these can be fun to play in although there are not really any peeling waves worth riding on a surfboard. The reef at the lagoon entrance and the bommies off the middle of the windward edge occasionally throw up a wave that winds off a little bit. You need at least 0.8m of water to get into the waves, and at that point it will be about knee deep over the reef crest. Best waves seem to be at tides of about 1.0 to 1.4m but we are still exploring this aspect of riding the island.