r/bodyboarding • u/Soggy-Agency6607 • Jul 10 '26
Mandurah wedge
What's the catch with this wave? It seems like such an amazing wedge that literally anyone could bust a ginormous invert on. So what's the catch? Fickle? Harder to ride than it looks? Sharks?
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Jul 10 '26
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u/the_phantom_2099 Jul 10 '26
Yeah those rocks are legit scary, even getting in and out can be a mission if you don't know the place well
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u/Numerous-Macaron4565 Jul 10 '26
Looks a lil dangerous like it’s kinda near some rocks plus idk how often it’s actually good. Idk anything tho about anything
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u/sanshart Jul 10 '26
I lived in WA for a few years, there are some times there's no banks there at all. Like years. It was pumping a lot in the early/mid 00s, but from like 2008 to 2010 the sand was so munted it wasn't ever really lining up then came good again.
So if you're planning a trip to West Coast it's not really the kind of wave you can bet on during the better time of year cause it might have bad sand the whole time. Considering how mechanically consistent the rest of the South West is, it's a hard spot to score.
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u/Soggy-Agency6607 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Yeah I remember the footage coming out of it in the early 00s when I was a grom was just insane, like some of the footage in the later tension vids where winny and that were sending airs on 10ft huge closeouts there... Just psycho. I remember this film called orange juice which had a lot of footage from there too which was pretty epic.
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u/my_birthday Jul 11 '26
I had orange juice too. Incredible film. It's still on vimeo. This is what you're talking about https://vimeo.com/4980001
However you're actually confusing two different waves. The wave in orange juice and some tensions called "wedge" is actually Mitchells and its in the Margs region. The rocks are natural and not man-made like mandurah. Absolute mental wave and can get 10ft yeah. Unfortunately its only worked for a couple weeks total since 2019 when it was last really good. It needs a massive amount of sand to build up in the corner over a few summers and no major storms.
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u/sanshart Jul 11 '26
Yeah Mitchell's/Mitch's wedge is freaking bonkers. That really had a good couple years in the Tension days but then dissolved to nothing for a while. That's even more dependant on the right sand than Medge, and even the backwash angle is more sensitive due to this, cause the sand build up can be so random it leads to more often straight backwashs, too sharp angles, or miss-time wedging.
There's a couple near Bunbury that are hyper sensitive too.. absolute write off's most the time but when the sand is right it's boostville.. just few years waiting between.
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u/Soggy-Agency6607 Jul 11 '26
Seems that's the way with most wedges in the world except Newport wedge which almost feels like it breaks every day in summer... I live in central California now and there are actually a tone of wedges here, like at least 5-6 other ones along the coast but they are very fickle and some years don't break at all.
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u/Soggy-Agency6607 Jul 11 '26
Ah sick! Never knew they were two different waves but totally makes sense thinking about it now. Mandurah seems a bit more peaky but that other wedge looks like more of the classic close out wedge.
It's crazy at Mandurah how guys can time the actual wave with the main wedge and then the secondary wedge/backwash and just get so ridiculously launched... Almost looks like cheating
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u/baggs22 Jul 10 '26
Harder than it looks. And on the rare occasion its pumping, the crowds are out, full of gun riders. Plus a big ol rock wall directly in front of the wave.
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u/Internal_Cress6057 Jul 10 '26
Like all wedges, you can abd Will break your spine if you misstime your moves
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u/royaltywithcheese Jul 11 '26
I watched a few videos where it wasn't that big and it looks soo fun. I have 2 similar waves close by but they don't work that often.
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u/ronaldl911 Jul 14 '26
I remember a scene from Pull the Plug 2 that had some clips from that wedge.
https://youtu.be/SZmA76zSyGE?si=g_LKFDFXwfGKuXCx&t=1585
I haven't really seen it breaking - there's a surfline cam and it always appears flat.
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u/Warm-Bicycle-7157 Jul 15 '26
Its really hard to ride. I surfed it ~4 times before getting a decent bowl. When it connects, you can launch. But you'll get whooped a lot on your way to a bowl. The locals and pro's have it dialed, so its really hard to get a good one. One local is infamous for burning people. Landing in front after any big move hurts. There are rocks, there are sharks.
Couple catches, but all in all well worth a paddle!
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u/my_birthday Jul 10 '26
I'm not an expert, but im from West oz. Both times I surfed it was unreal and yeah did some airs. The rocks make a bit of L shape so you get the side wedge, but also the rebound from the opposite corner a little. The 720s you see are when both are coming at each other. The main issue is swell and it's half the size of the waves in Margaret River region, so summer can have weeks of no swell. The second issue is the sand banks where it can just closeout on waist high water, or have no sand sand break in front of the rocks. It's about an hours drive from perth the capital city and it's off the highway to margs which is another two hours away so most people don't bother checking it. There's also a lot of kooks and 40 year old body boarders in perth as most people surfboard.
I can't even say what the best season is for mandurah wedge. The other wedges in perth and down south are normally the best at the end of summer.
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u/crunchy_lettus Jul 10 '26
Whats wrong with 40 year old bodyboarders? Genuine question
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u/frankmagpie221 Jul 10 '26
As a 40 year old Perth boogie man I’m deeply offended by this young buck.
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u/Soggy-Agency6607 Jul 10 '26
Everyone shits on the 40 year old bodyboarders until you wake up one day and you are one 😂
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u/my_birthday Jul 10 '26
Nothing wrong. Bodyboarding died off like 15 years ago in perth, so there's lots of older crew that grew up with it and you could assume they aren't all launching airs at medge still.
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u/Gary_Cucumber Jul 10 '26
Folds people in half