A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Beschen, Shane

Right-breaking Australian reef wave located three miles southwest of Torquay, Victoria. Facing the chilly and powerful Southern Ocean, and flanked by limestone cliffs, Bells Beach—named after the Bell farming family—has for decades been a venerated surf break. Bells is at its best from March to October, as Southern Ocean storms frequently produce six- to eight-foot surf, with waves sometimes topping 15 feet. Rain and wind are common at this time of year. Air temperatures range from the mid-50s to the high 70s; water temperatures range from the mid-50s to the mid-60s.

The wave at Bells is sloping and wide-based, strong but rarely hollow; deep tuberides at Bells are rare. The break consists of three main sections: 1) Little Rincon, located to the south, needs a higher tide and a sub-six-foot swell. 2) Outside Bells, the main break, is a long, fast, evenly formed wall that begins to take form when the surf is about six foot. 3) The Bowl is the steep final section of the Outside Bells wave. Centerside, located 150 yards outside of Little Rincon, is an inconsistent right that eventually closes out. Southside, located further around the Bells Beach headland, is a left-breaking wave that spills into a nearby bay. Winkipop, the reef just east of Bells, is a spectacularly fast and hollow right-breaking wave, and generally regarded as superior to Bells proper. (Four-time world champion Mark Richards once called Bells "a dud; the most overrated wave in the world.")

Bells was first ridden in the late 1940s by Torquay natives Vic Tantau and Owen Yateman, but it remained a surfing backwater until 1956, when a group of visiting American surfer-lifeguards introduced the area to the lighter, more maneuverable balsa-core Malibu longboards, which were easier to carry down the long dirt track leading to Bells than the heavy plywood surf skis popular at the time. Early Bells standouts included Peter Troy, Joe Sweeny, China Gilbert, and George "Ming" Smith, all members of the 1958-founded Bells Boardriders Club.

The annual Bells Beach Easter contest, inaugurated in 1962, became the Rip Curl Pro in 1973, after Torquay-based Rip Curl Wetsuits signed on as event sponsor. Bells event winners over the years have included world champions Nat Young, Margo Oberg, Mark Richards, Tom Curren, Barton Lynch, Tom Carroll, Kelly Slater, Mark Occhilupo, Lisa Andersen, Sunny Garcia, Layne Beachley, Andy Irons, Mick Fanning, and Stephanie Gilmore. Torquay-area local and five-time national champion Gail Couper holds the record for most Bells victories, with 10. Favorite son Wayne Lynch, from the nearby town of Lorne, won four consecutive Bells juniors division titles, from 1966 to 1969. Bells also hosted the early rounds of the 1970 World Surfing Championships.

Australian surfers in decades past often used Bells as a test track for new board designs: Nat Young, Bob McTavish, and Midget Farrelly rode first-generation vee-bottom shortboards here during the 1967 Easter contest; local boy Wayne Lynch reinvented high-performance surfing here in 1968; Mark Richards unveiled his new twin-fin design during the 1978 Rip Curl Pro; and Simon Anderson proved the worth of his new tri-fin Thruster by winning the 1981 Rip Curl Pro, the middle rounds of which were held in 15-foot-plus surf.

, a 1998 documentary series produced by Opper Films; the break has also appeared in dozens of surf films, videos, DVDs, and web series over the years, including 

Bells was declared a Surfing Recreation Reserve by the local community in 1973. In 2011, Bells was placed on Australia's National Heritage List.

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

The Sunday Joint

Videos

Contests