SURFING: A South African surfing road trip that even makes my wife happy?? The West Coast is the Best Coast!!

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Hello everybody on HIVE and especially the Surf Hive Community. I am writing to you from Cape Town, South Africa!

It was my wife Julia's birthday this weekend, and I was super happy to find out that her ideal way to celebrate it would be to go up the West Coast of South Africa to a small fishing town about 3 hours north of Cape Town...


The town itself has a nice beach break, even if it was a bit small this time...


Here's my view - this is one of the more well-known spots in the area, but I was all alone...


Actually here's another time we visited which was also super uncrowded... there is almost nobody in this part of the world between the small fishing towns and very spacious farms... (Photo of me by my wife Julia)


Besides this quality beach-break, there is a fantastic long left-hand point in the even smaller town about 30 minutes to the South, and apparently an assortment of lesser-known spots in-between that I would love to be shown around or even just explore when I have more time! (Photo of me by my wife Julia)

So why did my wife, who doesn't surf, want to come here?


It is undeniably beautiful despite the dryness (it doesn't rain much here!!) The locals often say "Die weskus is die bes kus" which means "the west coast is the best coast" Haha - I actually think most of South Africa's coastline is stunning, but this is probably the most remote and uninhabited part, especially when you leave this town to go even further north!


Julia loves bird-watching and the town has the only breeding area for Cape Gannets that is accessible from the mainland - here you can watch 20 000 of them at once, which is a wonder to behold, even if it is a little bit stinky! Haha!


This guy seems to personify the slow-moving vibe of the area... nothing is happening really fast here!


Even lunch can take all day here - especially at the open air seafood buffet restaurant where you can eat as much as you like... paella, crayfish, calamari, all sorts of fish... all super fresh of course! Meat stews and steak and various other things as well! My wife's family get on really well with my family - so both families drove out for the occasion! This restaurant is probably the real reason my wife and her family love to come to this funny small town - a chance to eat an assortment of seafood at an affordable price!


Oysters getting prepared!


My baby daughter - well on her way to becoming an adventurous beach bum? Actually, I am already trying to slowly introduce her to the water and the beach! Haha!

So... it's not often you get to have a road trip to a great surfing area, and it was your wife's idea all along! It is usually quite difficult to balance surf adventure with destinations that are family friendly for the rest of the family that doesn't surf...

Do you have any locations where this is possible in your country? I'd love to hear about them!

THE END



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Oh yeah get that baby surfing!!!

Nice left! I've been trying to practice my backhand as there has been some left banks appear at some of my most frequented breaks but it's always tricky as I've always surfed rights.

Now everyone says this to me in Australia but it's not sharky where I live, but SA always seems sharky to me! Does that worry you? Or is that just J Bay?

It's hard to balance family and surfing. My hubs SUPs but didn't grow up with it and isn't as obsessed as me. So our trips don't focus on surfing though we always take the boards JUST IN CASE.

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Yay - thanks for popping by! Well, the baby enjoys being pushed around on a surfboard in the pool, so we must slowly and safely see if she enjoys the sea with dad when it's warm enough and small enough! Don't forget babies aren't as good as us at keeping their core temperature warm! Hahaha!

Sharks - well, I know some parts of Australia are pretty hectic, and I'm glad your part is not one of them!

South Africa - no, it's definitely not just J Bay. Great whites seem to be around most cold places, and the zambezi/bull shark seems to take over up the east coast when the water gets warmer. We've had attacks at several places in my home town of Cape Town but the statistics are pretty promising in that it's only a couple over about 20 years... Apparently some orcas have chased the Cape Town ones away lately and the shark cage diving operators are upset about it!

The two places in South Africa where I would think twice about surfing is a town called Port St Johns, which had about 8 shark attacks in one year, and more recently a town called Plettenberg Bay. I surfed there in late June, and there was a fatal attack a week later, and another fatal attack since then as well. There is a big seal colony on a peninsula there, and you can see the sharks as you look down from a hike around that peninsula!

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some orcas have chased the Cape Town ones away lately

Go orcas! We were blessed with some here of late, magic. We often get whales and dolphins and there ARE sharks, but thank goodness we never get fatal attacks and I don't see them at all.

Omg I'd never surf anywhere near a seal colony! I am haunted by a story of a guy I know surging in a remote spot near a seal colony and a seal popped up on water next to him WITHOUT A HEAD. I don't know if that's an urban myth but gee it rattled me..

It seemed like such a cliche to ask you about sharks but I think I'm justified by sounds. There's a lot of places that would scare me to surf in Australia and thank goodness my coast isn't one of them! Surfed for 4 hours yesterday without a worry in the world.

Stay in one piece! 🦈

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Four hours???!! That was me in school maybe Hahaha! No plans for kids then? To chop it down to the odd hour if you're lucky? Haha

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Been there done that!!!! I feel no pain in the water so will stay out til the waves aren't working anymore!!!!!

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What? You don't look old enough to be finished with raising kids in that gargoyle face picture from the other day?

PS. Caught my first wave with baby daughter... Tagged you in a post about it... Hope you enjoy!

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West Coast a place I must visit, very much on my bucket list, possible move over that way, very tempting.

Have been a little ways up but never far enough to enjoy what you had here, wish your wife a belated birthday and have an amazing weekend.

!LUV to the Cape!

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Oh that’s beautiful. Wish I was there with my battered board. Love your baby, adore you and your wife. Gorgeous pictures. South Africa forever🤗💕❤️💕💕🤗🤗🌸🌸💕❤️💕🤗🤗

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Ah! So you have a board to bring to that new house on the South Coast of KZN once things get sorted out?

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Noice, looks like a a great surf spot.

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EEK! Your gif video looks like Jaws in Hawaii? Cape Town has some massive waves too, but I leave them to the crazy people!

I have just bought a 7'0 board to help me get a little bit braver... maybe 3-4m high at most though!!! I have a wife and child!!! Not those crazy mountains on 9' to 10' foot massive boards for me thanks! haha!

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