Bogangar Beach (NSW 4) runs almost due south for 8 km from Cudgen Headland and Creek to the rocks just north of Norries Head. Access in the north is from a car park located just past the bridge over Cudgen Creek. For most of its length it is paralleled by a sealed road a few hundred metres in from the beach with three major tourist and residential developments called Salt, Casuarina and Cotton Beach, extending for 4 km behind the centre of the beach, all built in the early 2000s. The state’s newest SLSC was established at Salt in 2005 (Fig. 4.8). A single 4WD access is located just north of Cabarita township for a limited number of permit holders. At the southern end in lee of Norries Head is the Cabarita Beach development which commenced in the mid-1960s, with Cabarita Beach SLSC established in 1964 (Fig. 4.9). The club was redeveloped in 2005. The entire beach is backed by a 500 m wide barrier, then low backbarrier flats which extend to the meandering Cudgen Creek, which drains 100 ha Cudgen Lake in the south. The barrier was extensively mined for heavy minerals in the 1960-70s and is now covered casuarina trees where not developed.
Bogangar Beach has a double bar system with a rip-dominated attached inner bar, a deep tough and an offshore bar cut by periodic rips. Be careful if swimming along the beach as longshore and rip currents can be strong. Cabarita Beach SLSC is located at the southern end with slight protection afforded by Norries Head. While this protection lowers waves out of the south, periodic pulses of sand moving around the headland result in elongate bars running past the surf club, usually separated from the beach by a deep trough containing a northward current. There are also lifeguards at Salt and Cabarita, however most of the long beach is unpatrolled.
SLSA provides this information as a guide only. Surf conditions are variable and therefore this information should not be relied upon as a substitute for observation of local conditions and an understanding of your abilities in the surf. SLSA reminds you to always swim between the red and yellow flags and never swim at unpatrolled beaches. SLSA takes all care and responsibility for any translation but it cannot guarantee that all translations will be accurate.