Arabic version: غولد كوست تدرس تجربة لركوب الأمواج ليلاً تحت الأضواء الكاشفة
According to The Guardian, Gold Coast city council has endorsed plans for a $100,000 temporary trial to floodlight Snapper Rocks for night surfing during the 2027 World Surf League championship tour event at Coolangatta. The proposal still requires city permits and has prompted debate over crowding, environmental effects and shark risks.
Snapper Rocks, at the southern end of Rainbow Bay, is a rocky outcrop and world-class right-hand point break. Council’s report identifies overcrowding as a challenge, saying annual surf craft riders rose from 1.1 million to 3.2 million in the decade to 2025. The proposed event is intended to provide an evidence base for further night surfing.
Andrew “Andy Mac” McKinnon, who led efforts to establish the Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve in 2016, said Snapper was well suited to lighting for major events. But he warned that using floodlights seven days a week could be “inviting trouble”. McKinnon has surfed and organised night events before, including a floodlit Queensland event at Surfers Paradise in 1996.
Griffith University shark expert Dr Vincent Raoult said bull sharks are particularly active after sunset and into the night. He noted Snapper Rocks is near the Tweed River, where river-mouth conditions are associated with heightened bull shark activity. Raoult said a well-planned one-off event could have negligible environmental impacts, but regular lighting could attract bait fish and squid, followed by predators including sharks.
Harry Gordon of Surfrider Foundation Australia’s Gold Coast and Tweed branch said surfers already use Snapper after dark when moonlight allows. He supported consideration of a one-off spectacle but said longer trials or permanent lighting would need significant assessment and consultation. A city spokesperson said its Surfing Infrastructure Masterplan examined ecological and safety impacts, including shark interactions, and identified measures such as limiting lighting to specific periods and avoiding operation after heavy rainfall.
