Thurso East (alternatively, the North Shore) is a coastline section of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

east of

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great ...

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

, northern Scotland. It is situated at the mouth of the

River Thurso The River Thurso ( gd, Abhainn Theòrsa) has Loch Rumsdale in Caithness as its source, about 26 kilometres south and 14 kilometres west of the burgh of Thurso, Caithness, and about 2 kilometres south of the railway line linking the burghs of T ...

, overlooked by the remains of Thurso Castle. The reef is made of layers of

flagstone (the same stone that paves the Strand and much of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

). It is Scotland's prime

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

venue on the north coast.

Surfing

Thurso East is a fast reef break and has hosted many international competitions. The reef holds swell from upwards of and is primarily a long walling right-hander with several barrel sections depending on tide and swell direction. Thurso East came into the spotlight in 2006 when it was used to host the inaugural O'Neill Highland Open WQS surfing competition. The event was won by British surfer Russell Winter. From 2006 to 2011 O’Neill sponsored an international surf contest at this location which was latterly called the Coldwater Classic and the event regularly attracted big name surfers. In 2012 O'Neill announced that it wouldn't be renewing their sponsorship deal, in order to direct resources elsewhere.

Surfing

See also

References

See also