Business Class: From boardroom to the greenroom

Richard Simpson, managing director of stockbroking firm Hartleys, is generally better known for his handy work in the boardroom than the greenroom.

But Mr Simpson is among a growing band of Western Australian businessmen who are also avid surfers, regularly taking to the waves around Perth and Rottnest Island, or heading down south or even overseas on dedicated surfing trips.

“Everyone who knocks around town who surfs knows each other, and we usually end up at the same spots,” he said.

Growing up in Geraldton in a surfing-mad family before moving to the coastal suburbs of Perth, Mr Simpson said he started surfing as a teenager and has carried his passion on through adulthood.

He still heads out a few times a week, surfing Strickland Bay at Rottnest most weekends, or travels down to his beach house in Prevelley with the family to take in some of the world’s best waves.

The lure of uncrowded overseas surf spots proves too great about three times a year, with Mr Simpson and posse taking in popular surfing destinations such as the Maldives, Bali or Lombok.

“The good thing about it is that it takes you to coastal locations, fantastic locations,” he said.

Surf tourism is on the rise in WA, with a growing number of surf tours and retreats popping up across the state.

There are several options available – from the fully-catered chartered boat tours with on-board accommodation, to land-based tours, where surfers travel on land and stay in accommodation near surf breaks.

Peter Dickson, editor of WA-based longboard magazine Longbreak, says there has been a growing trend towards dedicated surfing holidays among not only baby boomers, but also young professionals in their late 30s with young families.

“One thing I’ve found is that they’re now treating surfing holidays like European ski holidays,” Mr Dickson told Business Class.

“They’re not looking for extreme surf, but more the lifestyle and location.” Capitalising on the popularity of surfing in the corporate world, Longbreak, in conjunction with surfing business consultants Blue Rocket Sales, is planning an exclusive five-day surf business retreat in Buta Karang Resort on Lembongan Island, Indonesia, in September.

Aimed at top Australian business leaders who love to surf, the exclusive surf business retreat will feature a combination of surfing, business development and networking, designed especially for business people who want to recharge their batteries.

Closer to home, most WA-based surf tours and retreats are concentrated in the Margaret River area, which has some of the world’s best surf breaks.

Blue Spirit Retreats runs a series of five-day surfing retreats in the region, taking corporate groups, men’s and women’s only groups, as well as private retreats.

Another company, Samudra, started by WA-born Sheridan Hammond, runs surf retreats in Yallingup and around the world in stunning ocean settings, including Byron Bay, Morocco and the Maldives.

Samudra’s Lisa Archer said the company would bring its headquarters back to WA in June, offering yoga and surfing retreats to the growing WA market.

“Particularly we do tailor-made retreats on demand, like corporate groups, women-only groups and other organised groups,” she said.

Lizzie Nunn, co-owner of the Yallingup Surf School, runs Escape Safaris for Women, which offers women’s only weekend or six-day safaris taking in not only surfing, but also wining and dining, yoga, sea kayaking and whale watching.

Starting Escape Safaris last February, Ms Nunn said she was surprised at the level of interstate and international the tours were attracting, particularly from the US, with most attendees professional women aged in their 30s and 40s and up.

She said the women-only travel segment was a very strong growth area, with a growing number of women travelling solo, especially in the baby boomer demographic.

“Women travel in groups better and learn from each other.

Once you introduce even one or two guys, it changes the dynamic of the whole group,” Ms Nunn said.

“Women also come with such big reasons.

Not just a holiday.

There’s always a real need to go on these things, they’re not just doing it for a bit of fun.” If you haven’t got a beach house down south, there are plenty of accommodation options located near the surf breaks.

The new luxury retreat Injidup Spa Retreat is just walking distance away from the surf, as is Quay West Bunker Bay resort, which offers a walking track down to the beach, or is a short drive away from the famous Three Bears break.

For a boys’ trip, the Injidup Surf Shack is probably more suitable.

Sleeping up to six, the shack is located in a bush setting and close to the surf.

But you don’t need to go down south to enjoy a quality surfing experience.

Near the Perth metro area, the breaks off Rottnest present some of the best surfing conditions in WA, with popular breaks at Strickland Bay, Salmon Bay and Stark Bay, as well as various reef breaks.

Venturing further north, Lancelin, Geraldton and the Abrolhos Islands are also known for their quality surfing.

In the north-west of the state, worldclass surfing and fishing experiences await off the coast of Exmouth, at locations such as Murion Island, about 19 nautical miles off the coast, and north and south Barrow Island.

About 120 nautical miles northeast of Exmouth is an archipelago of more than 150 low-lying islands known as the Montebellos.

The Montebellos are renowned for their quality surf breaks, as well as some of the best game fishing in the world.

Perth-based Heron Charters pioneered the region’s surf tourism late last decade, conducting nine day surf and fishing trips on its 20-metre custom-built vessel.

But this season, while the vessel undergoes renovations, owner Sandy Leggett says the company will host surfing trips to Rottnest Island.

Catering for experienced surfers, the company will run about 15 trips this season, from April to September.

The boat can cater for up to eight people, with the tour fully catered and accommodation on board.

The tour will also travel down to Garden Island and up to Two Rocks and Lancelin.

“We’ll go up and down the coast and chase the surf,” Mr Leggett said.