Surf's up this April 7-18, as the finest surfers in the world converge on Bells Beach in Australia to determine who is the most talented shredder on the water. The Rip Curl Pro Surf & Music Festival is now in its 37th year, and this year's contest aims to be the wildest yet, with scores of male and female pro surfers showing off their sickest moves on the glass and in the tubes. Bells Beach is an ideal venue for a surfing event of this magnitude. The natural headland is the closest thing surfing has to a stadium, allowing a crowd of 5,000 to watch from the hill and grandstands, and another 1,000 can line the water's edge. As for the waves themselves, they don't get much better. The reef break has two sections, "Rincon," with its "fast, ripable wall" that breaks for up to 80 meters, and "the Bowl," which holds big waves of up to 15 feet. Past years have seen surfing legends such as defending champion Kelly Slater reign supreme, but Mother Nature is always the wild card in this battle. Accompanying the action on the water is a two-day live music fest, where Australian bands such as Ash Grunwald and the Goons of Doom will serve up the 21st century version of surf music on Easter Saturday and Sunday. Sun, surf, and tunes. It doesn't get much better than that. Bells Beach is just a 40-minute drive from the Four Points by Sheraton Geelong and about one hour and 40 minutes from the Westin Melbourne.
