9:35a.m. 6th January 2009

| Hayley Nissen

Surfers enjoyed a metre swells plus the occassional bigger set as the increasing south easter wind kicked in. Photo: Barry Leddicoat/180259

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Surfers made the most of the above-average swell on Monday, crowding Coast beaches after a weekend of pumping action.

The Daily’s surfing expert, Robbie Sherwell, said waves reached the two-metre mark on Sunday and fell slightly yesterday to 1.2 to 1.5 metres.

“It’s been very crowded surf, let me tell you,” he said.

“Everyone has been wave-starved.”

Robbie said that while the swell dropped by one third overnight on Sunday, crowds still made the most of it.

“It’s pretty solid still,” he said.

“It’s a great treat for surfers.”

He said the swell was likely to drop even further, but should start to pick up again from tomorrow through to Friday as a low deepened about 500km north of Bundaberg.

“It’s not going to be real friendly for swimmers until next week. People should take heed and swim between the flags at waist depth only,” Robbie said.

While this is typically the time of year for some serious wave action, Robbie said we would have to wait to see what would unfold in the next couple of months.

“This time last year we had the biggest swell we had had in years,” he said.

“Possibly in the next couple of months (we can expect similar), but this is a nice start.”

All beaches remained open for swimmers yesterday with no reports of any serious incidents.