Avalon Surf Culture

Avalon Beach’s surf culture runs deep. Generations have grown up salt-soaked at Avalon Surf Life Saving Club, where nippers, longboarders and future pros all start their journey. It’s where early-morning board meetings happen, literally, and locals swap a coffee before paddling out into familiar waters.

Whatever your vibe, it has your back. Avalon gives you that cruisy longboard glide when the swell is soft, but turns it on for the high-performance surfers when conditions line up. North Av offers a safer, more sheltered pocket for groms and learners, making it one of the best places to grow confidence before venturing to heavier breaks.

Avalon Beach is where surfboards rest permanently in backyards, sand lives in the car for months, and locals plan their day around the tide chart.

North Avalon Surfriders Association

North Avalon Surfriders Association, better known as NASA, has been a cornerstone of the community since 1970 and remains one of Australia’s biggest boardrider clubs. Members gather once a month to surf, compete and have fun, with a strong junior scene leading the charge. This year’s standouts include 14-year-old Loci Cullen, who claimed the STAB High Bottle Rockets division twice and won the Rip Curl GromSearch National Final, and 14-year-old Lucette Bullen, runner-up in the 2025 NASA Open Women’s Division and currently competing at the Australian Junior Titles. A favourite moment is always the Champion of Champions event and the year-end presentation at Avalon SLSC. Best wave at Avalon. Secret Spot. Make it through the keyhole and you’ll find it.

@nasurfriders

Luke "Howie" Howarth
Howie Shapes

Luke ‘Howie’ Howarth is a true Avalon original, a salty lifelong surfer and the founder of Howie Shapes. Growing up with asthma and eczema, he was told to live in the ocean, a prescription that sparked a lifetime in the surf. Competitive from a young age, he travelled, trained and shaped alongside some of the sport’s greats before turning his hand to crafting boards full time. Today, when he’s not in the water, you’ll find him in his Mona Vale factory shaping custom boards for rising talent, or spending time with his daughters, Jasmin and Seaenna.

@howieshapes
howieshapes.com.au

Locana
"Loci" Cullen

Meet 14-year-old Northern Beaches super-grom Locana “Loci” Cullen, a pocket rocket who’s been charging since he could stand. Inspired by his older siblings, he now surfs with power far beyond his years, mixing clean rail work with fearless commitment in heavy sections. This year he competed at Stab High Japan in May and scored back-to-back wins in the Bottle Rockets Division at Stab High Sydney in October. He also lit up the Soundboks Oz Grom Open with a perfect 10 to win the U16 Boys final, before travelling to France for the Rip Curl GromSearch International Final. Off the sand, he lives an active life between the skatepark and jamming music at home, where he and his siblings play everything from didgeridoo to harp and bongos.

@loci.cullen