Surfing museum riding a wave of visitors

THE Australian National Surfing Museum is continuing its swell of popularity, with bumper attendances for each month this year.

The Torquay museum’s Wipe Out! exhibition is proving a sustained hit, with attendance during April the highest in 20 years and increasing numbers of locals at the head of queues.

January visitation was highest since 1999 and February highest since 2000. Visitation for 2018 is 2,500 ahead of 2017.

“Visitors of all ages are clearly enjoying very positive experiences. Good word travels,” Surf Coast Shire mayor David Bell said.

“It seems that locals and families are rediscovering the museum, particularly with the Wipe Out! exhibition.

“The museum has also had some great reviews by TripAdvisor, Lonely Planet and media.

“I hear that one recent visitor commented that they had been to six surfing museums across the world and ours was by far the best.”

Media visits have included filming by Network Ten lifestyle program The Living Room, due to go to air early in September.

Cr Bell said providing activities for children remained an important focus given the growing number of families in the region.

Wipe Out!, featuring family-friendly activities and sensational footage of some of the world’s most extreme waves, will finish in early November.

The next major exhibition, set to open in December, will feature ancient predator marine mammals and the fossils they left behind.