Where to waterski in Brisbane

The Capital of Queensland — Australia’s Sunshine State — Brisbane is a small city (by European standards) set along the banks of the Brisbane River. The city centre is just 20-minutes from the Brisbane Airport and offers lots of great attractions, activities, and wining and dining options.

The Southern Region of Waterski Queensland (the governing body of tournament skiing in Queensland) bases itself in Brisbane, and there are lots of opportunities to get involved with both tournaments, come and try days, and ski sessions around the city.

Checking out the new Malibu at a Lake Kurwongbah waterski tournament

Lake Kurrwongbah is about 45 minutes to an hour north of Brisbane, and 30 minutes from the Brisbane Airport. Lake Kurrwongbah is open to members of the Lake Kurrwongbah Waterski Club and their boats. The lake is quite large, and the limit on the number of memberships means that even when there are several boats on the lake, skiing is still awesome there. The slalom course is tucked into a corner in front of a public park and boats take turns to use use the slalom course. If you want to ski at Lake Kurwongbah contact the club to organise skiing with one of their members.

Waterskiing at Camp Somerset near Brisbane

Somerset Dam is a waterski site close to Brisbane that is open to the public. There is no slalom course available, but it is a great place to go with a group of beginners and introduce your friends and family to the sport. To make a weekend of it you can book very reasonably priced camping at Camp Somerset. Skiing from Camp Somerset rather than the main boat ramp means not only can you be one of the first on the water in the mornings (if you are an early bird!) but it is also a much quieter area of the dam. For those tournament skiers that don't often find the time to just "social ski" or "free ski", waking up early and being able to ski for hundreds of metres without worrying about slalom bouys or the man-made tournament lake ending is quite novel.

Sunset skiing at Camp Somerset

Another option for waterskiing in Brisbane is Bushy Brown's Adventure Ski Park in Woodford, about an hour to an hour and a half from the city. This is a private lake that you can either hire and bring your own boat or book a ski with the club boat. The slalom course is very sheltered and the warm shallow water here makes for excellent skiing conditions.

Woodford Bushy Brown's Adventure Ski Park — Waterskiing near Brisbane

Whether you have just moved to Brisbane, you are travelling for work, or visiting for pleasure, there is a lot of skiing around!