There’s a swell for your needs, whether you’re a keen long boarder or trying out SUP (stand up paddle surfing). Wavescape Festival Founder and surf legend, Steve Pike helps out by assisting you as to where you could find the idea spot.
If a short board is your choice of ride then the New Pier is a popular surf spot in Durban that is ideal for the high-performance short board.
Short boards are best on a low tide, in a lined-up southeast swell with light southwest winds.
A fast and hollow tube that sucks over sand straight from the take-off. Best way to enter? Jumping off the end of the pier during lulls.
The best breaks for the long board are crisp, smallish lines that roll down a point or mellow sandbar setup. This provides the rider a chance to showcase his or her old-school riding skills like walking to the nose, leaning into that cutback or the iconic soul bottom turn.
Good spots for this are the Surfer’s corner in Cape Town, Miller’s Point in Port Elizabeth and South Beach in Durban.
If you’re brave enough to ride a big-wave board and accustomed to the big winter swells of the Cape, then it has to be Dungeons in Hout Bay. Pull out your 10-foot big wave gun and drop into the endless walls of Cape Town’s brutal surf spots.
This big right-hander is seldom ridden by paddler surfers outside of the event but tow surfers ride it often.
Body boards a.k.a ‘boogie boards’ are the fun-loving little siblings of surfboards, though they have a few tricks of their own, too. Take a drive up to Plettenberg as The Wedge is a renowned body boarder spot. Where swells bounce off the rocks and head parallel to the beach where they merge with oncoming swells, creating a wedge.
A short but fun barrel under the right conditions: low tide with a clean three to- four-foot swell.
Stand-up paddleboard allows for a fun a relaxing way to play on water. Best place you’ll find gentle rollers are Muizenberg Surfer’s Corner. Even large guy’s with no skill can expect a gentle introduction to this fast-growing sport.
In fact, many learn how to do it on flat water, of which there are many locations, from rivers to dams and even canals.
Alice Paulse
