When Byron Rains, No One Surfs.

Have you heard the saying “When Byron is raining, it could have 6ft barrels and no one will be out”? I experienced this for myself a few weeks ago. 

Image captured by myself (@cisca.studio) from a session a while back at South Stradbroke Island. Not at The Pass.

I decided to make the trek down to Byron from my hometown on the Gold Coast to spend some time to myself and have a fun surf at one of my favourite surf breaks, The Pass. I pull up at The Pass, have a quick gaze at what the surf is doing and was surprised to see only around 5 people in the water. Anyone that has surfed The Pass would know that it’s quite a popular surf break & normally has a lot of people in the waves. 

On this particular day, it was overcast, a little rainy but nonetheless beautiful in all it’s glory. It also was PUMPING. Think perfect forming waves, with a good face on them and around the 4ft mark. 

I made my way out into the break with the few surfers out and watched some locals get some seriously good waves. I thought to myself, “Why the heck is no one out”! I started thinking to myself “has there been a shark sighting or something” I had no idea what was going on. Then it came to me. I remember someone saying the phrase to me that “when Byron is raining, it could have 6ft barrels and no one will be out”. It all made sense now. 

I found it super interesting as on the Gold Coast, the rain definitely does not scare the crowds. If anything more people are out as the waves tend to be a little better pre/post storms. So, on this day I was pleasantly stoked to be sharing some awesome waves with a few locals that aren’t scared of a bit of rain. I entered the water feeling confused & a bit scared to tell the truth, but left so incredibly satisfied surfing one of the best surf breaks in the world with the people that appreciate it the most.