1) Eland's Bay
Elands is about three hours' drive up the West Coast from Cape Town. There's an “outback” style hotel, a few guest-houses, backpackers and a camp site, but otherwise it's pretty frontier. The wave here works best in summer, when a south-easter holds up a westerly swell to produce a cranking left point break (surfers will get it) as good as any. Think of it as J Bay (see below), reversed.
2) Long Beach
This Kommetjie spot, on the Atlantic side of the southern Cape Peninsula, offers the best and most consistent shore break in the Cape (maybe second after Durban). Works best on a southeaster, in small to medium swell. If you're after bigger fish, the Outer Kom kicks up massive curlers on a big westerly swell that are not for the faint hearted.
3) Muizenberg
Long Boarders' paradise, this extremely popular swimming beach known as Surfer's Corner. In summer it's best to get there early, before the crowds and the pumping south-easter ruins things. Works best on a north-westerly in winter, but can be surfed most days of the year with a long board.
4) Stil Bay
One of several bays long the Cape south coast, east of Cape Agulhas, that are constant producers (some of the others being Mossel, St Francis, Jeffrey's and Algoa-Port Elizabeth bays). Stil Bay has a pretty constant shore break in front of the village, but the hotties wait for a big south to south-east swell, when the right-hand point break really grinds.
5) Victoria Bay
A very narrow, steep-sided bay that is jealously guarded by young locals when its working well. Vic Bay works most of the year, due to the shape of the bay, and is suitable for all levels of surfer.
6) Buffels Bay
Close to Knysna on the celebrated Garden Route, it's got a half-decent shore, point and reef break. Buffs is "only half-decent" because it is not a celebrated surfing venue. But what it lacks in dynamic surf it more than makes up for with consistency and easy conditions most of the time. Nice laid-back village atmosphere
7) Jeffrey's Bay
Supertubes, need I say more? This is South Africa's premiere surf spot and one of the world's most consistent tubes. J Bay is also the only place in the country where you could end up on the sharp end of local surf xenophobia.
8) Cape St Francis
This is not to be confused with St Francis Bay, in the cusp of the bay, that was made famous in the 60s surf classic Endless Summer. Excepting when the reticent wave known as Bruce's Beauties is pumping down the arm of the bay and you get barrels rolling literally for kilometres. The Cape, or point of the bay, is a much nicer place all round, with a variety of point and shore breaks, best of which is Seal Point near the lighthouse.
9) Bay of Plenty
Or, for the less surf savvy, Durban. There is seldom a day when the wave is not working, and you can choose your spot according the size of the swell: it gets bigger from south (uShaka Beach) to north, at Blue Lagoon at the Umgeni River mouth. Look for the locals, who gather mostly at Diary or North Beach, near the north-most pier.
10) Dungeons
I’ve left this one for last, because it works only on a winter storm surf, and is classed as one of the world's “big wave” venues. The 15-30 foot swell at Dungeons breaks over a shallow reef on the sea-side of Hout Bay and is accessible only by water craft. For the brave only (the new game in town is to body surf the monster).
Hope you all know now were your next trip will be.
Catch you all in surf
Peace
