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Lennox Head Surfing Reserve

The Lennox National Surfing Reserve - which incorporates the surfing breaks at Flat Rock, Boulder Beach, Lennox Point and Lennox Main Beach - was dedicated in February, 2008 as the second surfing reserve in NSW. Those breaks have been surfed by thousands of men, women and children since the late 1950s, and have played a major role in the development of surfing and surfing equipment - not only in the region, but on a national and international scale.

The jewel in the crown for the Lennox National Surfing Reserve is the world-famous Lennox Point, regarded as a testing ground even for surfers of the highest ability.

The boundaries of the reserve are from the south side of Flat Rock to the Lennox Head SLSC. The southern boundary being very significant as Flat Rock was one of the first breaks surfed in the area well before Lennox Point. The reserve area extends 500 metres seaward of the mean high tide mark to comply with the National standard.

The Lennox National Surfing Reserve commemorative booklet is a 'must-have' for anyone who has surfed in the area. It tells the stories of some of the first people to surf in the area from Flat Rock to Lennox Main Beach. Ballina resident Barry Regan, now aged 78 and still surfing, tells how he and his friend Peter Bannister stumbled across eight-foot surf at the Point way back in 1958. Back then, most surfers still rode the old 'match-stick' wooden boards. Bob Smallcombe tells of growing up in Lennox Head in the early 1960s and how he and pioneer women's surfer Judy Gibbon owned the only two boards in the village, and how all the Lennox kids took their turns riding them. Well-known Byron Bay surfing identity Max Pendergast tells of surfing the region in the early 1960s, while Chris Brock, who featured in the classic surfing movie, Morning of the Earth, tells how surfing Lennox Point led to radical design changes in surfboards in the late 1960s. There's also chapters focusing on Ballina identities Phil Calnan and Phil Myers, and they speak about the early days surfing in uncrowded conditions. The book also has photographs from those early years, right through to the current era. By buying the book, you're also supporting plans to establish a Lennox National Surfing Reserve Trust. All money raised by book sales will be donated to the trust and used to improve facilities at the beaches in the reserve area. Take the link below to order your copy today.

To view a gallery of photos taken at the dedication ceremony by Deb Tinker, click here ..

For more information regarding the Lennox Reserve, as well as ordering your copy of the book and viewing some great photos of the classic break, visit the Lennox Surfing Reserve's website by clicking here.