Yallingup is one of the most popular places in the world!
Do you love the upward swing of economics? When, for example, young, wealthy, socially aware folk move into a depressed town, or neighborhood, and turn it all around? Like Venice Beach 20 years ago, Bondi 15 years ago, Highland Park, California yesterday.
Oh sure locals often get priced out but that’s a small price to pay for good coffee and innovative takes on gastropub fare.
Gentrification!
And a story in today’s Australian Financial Review details how surf can lift a region from struggling to STRUGGLING! Shall we taste?
A study released on Monday by wave-chasing Sydney University academic and economist Sam Wills attempts to quantify the impact a quality surf break can have on a local economy.
By studying 5000 surf locations across 146 countries between 1992 and 2013, he and his team from the university’s School of Economics concluded that a perfect peak, peeling left-hander or freight-train right-hand reef break can add up to 2.2 percentage points a year to local gross domestic product.
Economic growth around the breaks was tracked via satellite images of night-time light emission, and by following population expansion over the same period. The theory was tested along with the influence on wave access and quality of wetsuit technology and climate patterns.
“We conducted four sets of experiments and they all confirm that good waves significantly increase growth, particularly after recent discoveries and during El Niño years [when better swells and winds prevail],” said Dr Sam Wills.
The University of Sydney research, entitled “Surfing a wave of economic growth”, has also yielded a list of Australia’s and the world’s fastest-growing surf breaks over the 21 years to 2013.
Nine of the 10 top Australian breaks are in the Margaret River-Yallingup region of Western Australia. Three of them – Rabbits, Isolators and Yallingup Beachbreak – also make the world’s top 10, after breaks in Costa Rica – a notable beneficiary of surf tourism – Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Wow! The Marg River-Yallingup region is smoking it and why? I think Taj Burrow. I think Yallingup’s most famous export shined a very bright light on his hometown and now it is packed. The locals should throw him a parade! Serve him good coffee! Serve him a Japanese hot dog with wasabi aioli, bonito flakes, seaweed strips, and togarashi powder and house-made spaghetti with pork cheek, Fresno chile, and garlic.
Yeah isolators in perth.
Thanks for the input!
Don’t get me started on the one with the block of units in the beer garden, but it’s still the best pub in the region. You can keep the one with the view of the carpark, even though the same could be said about Settlers. Not sure why you felt the need to be a cunt, but I guess that’s the joy of posting while wearing your big boy anonymous pants.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
May not be anonymous, I think I saw him out at Shallows last week declamating.
“Eugène Green is a U.S.-born French film-maker and dramatist. He is notable as an educator, training a generation of young actors in the revival of French baroque theatre technique and declamation.”
Fucking declamators!
The Prince in Bun Vegas beats them all
I’ve lived South of the border before but prefer the waves North of the border and there is more variety/options up this way, I can see my local from my bedroom window, lounge and kitchen and can walk there in 2 mins, not many places in the Cape to Cape area where you have that
On weekends yes, and at a better pub.
oh yes click on the link to the AFR Article – it’s hilarious.
Dr Sam Willis is on the way to a Nobel Prize for economics with this study. Rabbit’s and Mouse Traps are separately listed as number 8 and number 3 on his list of ‘Australia’s Fastest Growing Surf Breaks” despite being, what, 15 metres from each other.
And where the fuck is “Palestines, WA”. Philistines we have plenty of, Palestines, not so much.
Yeah I’m down there aswell. Never heard of Isolators or Yallingup beachbreak. Where you getting these facts from Chas?
Yallingup, Yallingup Shorebreak, (otherwise known as) Rabbits, (which is right next to) Mouse Traps. One beach, four so-called waves according to this weird report, one township, a campground, one coffee shop, one coffee truck, no restaurants and a pub a 10min walk away.
Next bay over is Smiths Beach (which contains), Smiths Reef, (and) Supertubes. One beach, three so-called waves, no township, some holiday bungalows, one ridiculously priced deli cafe thing.
What crack are these guys on? Is Palestines meant to be Pyramids in Mandurah? Isolators is in Cottesloe, so Perth is in the Margaret River-Yallingup region now? What about the rest of the country? Sydney and the Gold Coast? This thing is just bizarre.
10 minutes walk to a pub? Where in Australia is anywhere more than 5 minutes from a pub?
I’m sure you can do it in five sober, have never tried.
5 minutes to get there but an hour or so to get home. Lots of shit to stumble in to on a moon-less night on the ghost track.
Hats off to him for milking this spurious project [as per the AFR article] …”Dr Wills will present the findings at the International Surfing Symposium conference at the Gold Coast this week in the lead-up to the Quicksilver Pro..”.
Sounds like Uni of Sydney [or someone] is flying him up to the Goldie for a nice old Junket. Aaah, good boy, get your snout in the trough and nuzzle hard for the good bits.
Yals has more than 4 waves… bubble, mainbreak, shorebreak, rabbits, mouse traps, boogers, shallows. That’s 7!! No wonder its fuckin packed with tourists and kooks all fuckin summer!
Well aware, but they’re the four named in the article. Not that anyone surfs the shorey, nor calls it that.
Pretty weird outcomes to a potentially interesting study. Number of lights on was the measurement of economic activity. Places like Canggu and Uluwatu initially spring to mind as being a lot more rapid.
Im glad Byron Bay & surrounds hasn’t suffered this gentrification you speak of…
I blame Kieren Perrow.
Actually, it is my fault. When I lived there it was the land of milk and honey. But these 3 things happened, in no particular order (other than to satisfy my need for order and to angle for the listicle position at BG).
1/. The town got a roundabout in front of Timperley’s Garage.
2/. I moved out of town.
3/. Those who owned the businesses that made money moved from town into the hinterland.
And fucken Danny Wills. The kid could have been anything, but chose to stay at home rather than chasing world title dreams which made people think it might be a nice place to invest in.
2.2 seems low, grit.
Ain’t me. It the scientist.
Please provide historical comparative analysis of real estate value adjacent the Kelly Slater Wave Pool to verify the claims of referenced article, kind regards.
Shit, a nuclear waste dump would be an improvement over your typical Lemoore neighbor.
All the records were destroyed in a meth lab fire.
I don’t buy the Costa Rica claim. Many rich Americans went and bought cheap ocean front property because it was cheap and ocean front. I happen to know several business men that did that and they don’t surf at all. They fish, specifically sport fishing for marlin and the like. Costa Rican sailfishing is probably some of the best in the world, plus it’s cheap, or was cheap. Plus they used satellite pictures at night and claim that is tangible data. I call BS.
But what about Yallingup? Do you live there?
Nah, Florida. Several of my captain friends work in Costa for said business men. Works well for them as they get access to multiple million dollar yachts and legit houses.
Paid $75 a week for a room on the Hill 10 years ago. Now pay three times for one now. I wouldn’t say that young, wealthy, socially aware folk have moved into Yalls and turned it around, my place is surrounded by houses that are empty 70% of the year. The community is dying and the wave is still fat and full of longboarders / SUPS. Don’t bother coming.
Pics or nans.
“Nine of the 10 top Australian breaks are in the Margaret River-Yallingup region of Western Australia. Three of them – Rabbits, Isolators and Yallingup Beachbreak – also make the world’s top 10, after breaks in Costa Rica – a notable beneficiary of surf tourism – Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam.”
Mind. Blown.
Patently false.
But the assuredness with which they say it is astounding! It’s like they read an Inertia article titled “The Objectively Best 100 Waves in the World” and took it as scientific fact.
FAKE NEWS! Mikey, me lad.
They’re referring to the top ten fastest growing surf spots, not the quality of the wave ya muppets
Really, in Vietnam? In Malaysia? I know for a fact this is untrue.
Dependent on the A/C strength, brand of bubble bath, and water pressure, my bathtub can be the world’s 11th best break
Comparison – I assume – is to those breaks similarly studied in the surf tourism academic literature – which is all he can compare it to unless figures are known about the actual best waves and those figures have been arrived at with the same or close to same methodology.
Alternatively, he is a non-surfer basing the claims on lonely planet guides – alternative facts!