Doubtless Bay Surf

05/01/2026

Great time of year to get out on the water. Photo credit. Snapper Brown

04/10/2023

Michael has just started a surfers journey. Sharing the stories and character of the surf and hinterland from Alaska to deep into South America. Check out that journey here Michael McNamara

Regular updates and more here

patreon.com/user?u=92767727

Michael McNamara Photography

~ 'God almighty said to Moses, peace be upon him: Take an iron staff and wear iron sandals, and then tour the earth until the staff is broken and the shoes are worn out'. - Muhammad bin al-Sarraj.

~ “Uncertainty is the true essence of adventure, and that’s why we feel so attracted to it.” - Kepa Acero.

There is a lot to see and do in this World. There is still adventure for those willing to seek it. Ibn Batutta, Marco Polo and Kepa Acero have shown us this. Peter Troy and Kevin Naughton also led some interesting travels and lives.

I knew what I wanted the moment I opened the Surfer Magazine edition featuring Erik Aeder's photos of Nias. I was around 12 years old at the time and I was so wowed by what I was seeing. I could not even begin to relate to the beauty of the place, the unimaginable quality of the Waves and the part of the World from where it was all happening. I just knew that I wanted that.

Years later, from high upon the mast, deep within the Indian Ocean, I shot this in the waning light of day.

11/09/2022

Sure is a great day to get out on the water!!!

25/12/2021

Summer has arrived. Let us know if you want to get out on the water.

28/10/2021

This photo always makes me pause

27/04/2021

Some days are perfect !!! Let me know if you want to get out on the water.

13/01/2021

Wave of the month/year/decade? Peter Mel, Mavericks. January 2021 Enjoy. Great time of year to enjoy a peaceful quite paddle or push yourself if you dare !!!

04/08/2020

Must watch. If you care for the ocean and your future.

Documentary online now

20/05/2020

So I’ve had a few cool experiences involving dolphins. This one today however has to top them all. I’m at my local beachy, pretty early and there is no one out, it’s about three to four foot and a gentle breeze has started to push in onshore. I decide not to watch too long, it’s a day to get out there and get fitter, not be fussy. So I grab my hobie 8,11” Sup and slide out the back in a rip and drift down to a promising patch of bumpy brown rippling water showing a strong rip and where I had spotted the bigger sets forming up left hand breaking waves. As I get there it’s bumpier than I thought and being pig headed and determined I work hard to not fall off staying relaxed and concentrating on staying up while reading the rip and positioning myself for the upcoming sets. Today it gets me as i loose my concentration for a small moment and get tossed into the water. I clamber back up and fall again. I’m thinking to myself that’s not like me though nothing I can’t haven’t seen before. So I tune in and I’m back up in time to watch a large pod of thirty very large dolphins join me in the brown surging water and I notice they begin to jockey for position for a wave like me. Now this is not something new and although I’m delighted I’m also concentrating hard to stay up so keep my mind on the task when I notice three dolphins come over to me for a closer look. My board is 8 foot 11 inches and the biggest dolphin now right beside me is longer than that. Pleasantly surprised I think they will come for a snoop and move on. I have to keep paddling and to stay up and they swim beside me and then start to dive under me and then dart back to be beside me again. A bigger set comes in and I’m in overwhelm a bit as five big dolphins and a baby catch a wave outside and glide right by and under me As I choose to go over the wave. The next wave looks good so cool it’s my turn and I swing around and dig my paddle in deep to pull myself down the face when I hesitate slightly as I’ve got three dolphins right underneath my board and beside me. They are aiming on catching the same wave. I reorientate my mind and my paddle and work with them and we drop into the wave together. The wave fizzles out and we head back out. I notice that we are in tune it seems and the pod is not scared of me and they take turns diving under and around me and swimming right beside me. It occurs to me if I fall off I will land in them. Don’t be silly I say to myself that thought will make me fall of and as I look up i see a big dolphin drop into a wave and then roar out of the water into a back flip just five feet from me. Now that is cool. Now I get the feeling that this break we are on is turning off and just as I decide to head back up the beach against the wind back to the car the pod packs up too and heads up the beach with me. I’m thinking this is very cool. Maybe we can surf the next break. Still just me and the dolphins out. You see maybe the surf does not look the greatest from the beach. The pod is moving a bit quicker than me and so I quicken my pace and put my head down. As if in sympathy for the slow one or maybe just as support I see four drop back and they join me. Now I’ve been on boats that have dolphins on the bow. So when these dolphins join me on my bow as I churn away into the breeze I’m astonished. A half hearted wave comes by and we try to catch it. And don’t. They have taken off again to rejoin the pod. So I put my head down again as the gap between me and the pod has widened and then to my disbelief again four drop back onto my bow and we arrive at a sand bank right opposite my car. I honestly think thanks guys I bet I’m gonna get a beauty wave now all the way to the beach. How else could this end. I think I don’t need to stay out any longer this experience is gonna beat any wave I get today. Sure enough I paddle over a couple of waves and I see a beautiful long wave, as I drop in I say goodbye and as I ride i think I better pay tribute and ride this graceful, like a dolphin. So I smooth out my style and eventually step off on the beach. As I look back the pod is already at the next peak up the beach swirling and playing and a contented feeling drops into my body to stay with me for the rest of the day - and beyond.

13/03/2020

Head down and see us at the Mangonui Waterfront festival today 12noon to 6pm. Great day of fun music and activities. SupExplore.

23/01/2020

Stand Up Paddle, surf and kayak hire and lessons in doubtless bay. Call 0220102003

10/01/2020

Sup Master Coach and 9 x Australasian national champ Stuart Murray is doing a free ocean awareness and Sup question and answer this Saturday 9am at coopers beach. Come down and listen in and learn as he reveals some of the Murray Method of ocean awareness and surf survival. Specialising in the disciplines of Stand Up Paddle, Surf and Kayak. Ph 0220102003
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/Supexplore/
https://www.facebook.com/Doubtlessbaysup/
https://www.facebook.com/Doubtlessbaysurf/
https://www.facebook.com/DoubtlessBayKayak/