It's fair to say jet ski riders on Adelaide's metropolitan beaches have received a bad rap in the past.
Described as "noisy" and "disruptive", there was little love for the "stink machines" among visitors to Grange Beach in Adelaide's west in an online forum 2013.
In response to public complaints, The City of Charles Sturt pursued a summer exclusion zone along 3 kilometres of beach between the Torrens Outlet and Grange Road, which would ban motorised craft from coming within 200 metres of shore.
The ban was made permanent last summer, prompting critics to say it would create a greater concentration of jet skis on other Adelaide beaches.
The ABC visited beaches from the city's south-east all the way to the Mid South Coast to find out if beachgoers had been inundated with jet skis, and to ask if the stereotype of cashed-up bogans tearing around the water on "stink machines" was a fair one.
"I know a lot of people who hate them, but as long as they are out far enough and not bothering any of the swimmers, they're not a problem," Eileen Williams said at Brighton.
"They shatter the peace and quiet on the River Murray, but they're not a problem here," her husband Robert said.
"They look really fun. I wish I had one actually," student Mia said at Brighton.
Existing regulations for motorised craft — including personalised water craft (PWC) like jet skis and wave runners — outside the exclusion zone allow them to travel within 200 metres of shore, provided they travel no faster than 4 knots.
The 4-knot speed restriction also applies within 50 metres of a person in the water, a person in a canoe, kayak, surf ski, surf board, sailboard or similar unpowered recreational vessels, and a vessel or buoy indicating there is a scuba diver below.
Stand Up Paddle SA principal instructor Nat Gohl said the interactions between board users and jet skis had been minimal at Seacliff.
"They are the coolest thing because they go so fast," Mr Gohl said.
"But it's very easy to forget where you are and what you're doing and that's when you can be an idiot before you know it."
The local City of Holdfast Bay created by-laws that banned boats from being launched or retrieved from any foreshore at Holdfast Bay.
Mayor Stephen Patterson said they had received just three complaints regarding illegal jet ski launches from Seacliff in 2015-16 — four similar complaints during 2016-17 — and there were no plans to ban them.
"The City of Holdfast Bay has no authority to police or prevent the use of jet skis on our waters," he said.
"That authority lies with the State Government's Department of Transport, Planning and Infrastructure [DTPI]."
Few complaints in the south
At the surfing beaches of the Mid South Coast, surfers Lisa Jackson and Emma Gryczewski believed the majority of jet ski riders caused no problems, but like everything, "there was always one".
"On a surf break, if you're out there to get waves and they're just ripping it up and causing chop of the waves, that's when it's a bit more disrespectful," Ms Gryczewski said.
Ms Jackson said a problem was a lack of surf etiquette — the rules of the waves learnt by every surfer as they progressed from an exhausted novice to a seasoned surfer with built up paddling strength.
The most important rule learnt by every surfer was not to drop in, i.e. allowing the person closest to a wave's breaking peak to have the wave, and to stay out their way.
"Then there's these people with these motorised crafts, and it's like, 'Boom, I'm out in the surfing line-up and I have absolutely no concept of the social norms, the etiquette, the stuff that comes with struggle and learning something'," Ms Jackson said.
At the Christies Beach Surf Life Saving Club, which overlooks a protected marine zone at Horseshoe Reef, president Madeline Nurni said the riders stayed away from the zone and there had never been a problem.
But a regular beach-goer was not so positive, telling the ABC they circled and jumped waves on the reef, sometimes in close vicinity to surf skis and stand up paddle board users.
Further south at Moana, from where jet skis launch in high numbers, locals on the beach said they had caused few problems.
"They stay away from all the swimmers, which is good," Sharon Pepper said.
Ian and Lorrain Osborn also reported no issues.
"I think the people who use them are aware of keeping away from the swimmers," Mr Osborn said.
"I've never actually ridden one myself. It would be nice," Mrs Osborn said.
The City of Onkaparinga believed current regulations for motorised water craft were adequate and used sign posts to illustrate where water craft could not be launched.
It issued three expiation notices about inappropriate jet ski use in 2016-17.
"The State Government's Marine and Harbours Officers also conduct regular patrols of our foreshore during the summer period and engage with jet ski operators if necessary," a spokesperson said.
A DTPI spokesperson said it did not have any statistics on complaints made about personal water craft but added that no councils other than Charles Sturt had requested any changes to current laws.
The strongest criticisms the ABC heard came from the very beaches from where jet skis have been banned throughout summer.
"I get annoyed when jet skis are at the beach because they disrupt the peaceful and calming atmosphere I come to the beach for," Lucy Black said at Grange Beach.
"It would be different if they were just going past like boats, but it's the revving and the circling.
"Can they just be designated a beach somewhere else away from swimmers and surfers?"
