The best-known board surfing spots are around Cape Town, Durban, Jeffreys Bay and East London, but there are loads of great, virtually un-surfed waves elsewhere. The many backpackers hostels around the country are geared up for board rental, escorted ‘surfaris’ and surfing lessons. There are also dedicated surf schools in Durban and Cape Town.
Best Surfing Spots:
- Jeffreys Bay Supertubes along the Eastern seaboard.
- Bruce’s Beauties in Cape St Francis (these were the waves featured in Endless Summer – the classic surfing movie of all time!)
- Bay of Plenty, Durban. This is known as ‘Surf City’ for those in the know.
- Noordhoek in the Western Cape. Awesome waves and challenging surf.
- Victoria Bay along the Garden Route, not great during peak season – but fabulous any other time of the year (when the crowds have dispersed).
- Kalk Bay, Cape Town – big surfing destination, pop into one of the many restaurants afterwards for a seafood platter and an ice-cold beer.
- Elandsbaai on the West Coast, great swells, no crowds.
Other Sea-Going Options
South Africa has awesome windsurfing and kitesurfing spots. Langebaan, near Cape Town, is internationally recognised to be one of the top boardsailing venues in the world - and there are many others.
A more accessible way to experience the sea is in a specially designed sea kayak. There are escorted trips around Cape Town, Hermanus, Knysna, Plett and Durban. For a bit more of a challenge, try surfskiing - it's becoming a rather trendy pastime and can be very competitive.
Surfskis are really fun boats to paddle - fast, responsive and with the approximate stability of a razor blade balanced on its edge. There is a whole series of races throughout the year all along the coast.
Sailing Schools
The South African coastline is one of the most challenging in the world to sail, with few harbours, stormy conditions and, often, very rough seas. So it's not a good bareboat option. However, it's a great place to learn to sail - there are sailing schools in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban - and we feature on all the major round-the-world races.
There are loads of local races, too, and the Cape to Rio is one of the most accessible ocean crossing races in the world, attracting a large cruising contingent.
Diving
If you need any convincing about the seriousness of our coast, you need look no further than the many historical and recent shipwrecks. Of course, these were all tragedies but still good news for local divers. We have more to offer than these poignant sites, though. Our underwater environment is absolutely beautiful and varied and we have lots of wonderful diving sites.
South Africa has an enormously long coastline ranging from about 35°S to 27°S, which isn't quite within the usual range of tropical diving. Despite this, our country boasts some of the best dive spots in the world, with magnificent marine life to be spotted on KwaZulu Natal and Cape Coasts.
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