Our favourite 5 designer surf clubs

Australia’s beloved surf clubs are having a makeover, one divine architectural design at a time. Out with the red and yellow and in with the cool whites, raw natural woods and sleek steel.

Here, our our favourite five from across the country. There are a lot of great clubs out there for your R&R, so get your country club membership now.

1. City of Perth SLSC, WA

Sitting beside Perth’s beloved City Beach is no ordinary surf rescue centre. Taking almost two years to build, this leisure precinct is complete with restaurants, parkland, function areas, gym and an al fresco green roof for picnicking. Complementing the coastal dunes, the sleek concrete club has won awards for its design. citysurf.asn.au

2. North Bondi SLSC, NSW

One of Australia’s most famous surf clubs for more than 100 years underwent a rebuild in 2013 and is now being dubbed ‘The Opera House on the Sand’. The new four-level building boasts an exterior of curved lines and is clad in mottled Trencadís mosaics that sparkle in the Sydney sun. The facility includes a gym, sauna and two function rooms with panoramic beach views, as well as a courtyard, bar and members’ lounge. northbondisurfclub.com

3. St Kilda Clubhouse, VIC

The recently completed St Kilda Clubhouse replaces the 1970s surf club in Melbourne’s famous beachside ’burb. With a function room, training space and terrace area that extends onto the beachfront, the new clubhouse has been built with an environmentally conscious design and echoes the rebuilt Stokehouse next door.

4. Kempsey Crescent Head, NSW

Located in one of NSW’s much-loved sleepy beach towns, this state-of-the-art building was awarded ‘best public building’ at the 2016 NSW Architecture Awards. Described as quintessentially Australian, the Kempsey Crescent Head Surf Lifesaving Club’s façade was inspired by the soft colours of pipi shells with its pastel-glazed bricks completely engaging with the coastal environment. crescentheadslsc.com.au

5. Devonport SLSC, TAS

Treated as a sculptural element, the new build of Devonport Surf Club in northern Tasmania comprises two pavilions (one for the surf club, the other for the restaurant and cafe) with aluminium sheeting lining the roof, said to represent the rise and fall of the tide. Its outdoor space has also won a landscaping award for its family-friendly facilities including a playground, barbecues and public plaza.

Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington , like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.

We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”

A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes — Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours . While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.

holding Portarlington mussels — See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.

As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.

The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels

blue mussels off Portarlington — Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.

Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

Portarlington mussels with lemon and chilli — Mussels served with lemon and chilli.

“Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”

a hand holding a Portarlington mussel — Mussels are a sustainable food.

Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.

But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.

guests sampling Portarlington mussels onboard — Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.

Our favourite 5 designer surf clubs

Australia’s beloved surf clubs are having a makeover, one divine architectural design at a time. Out with the red and yellow and in with the cool whites, raw natural woods and sleek steel.

1. City of Perth SLSC, WA

2. North Bondi SLSC, NSW

3. St Kilda Clubhouse, VIC

4. Kempsey Crescent Head, NSW

5. Devonport SLSC, TAS

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This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels