I had to drive to Cape Town last weekend, past so many of my favourite surf spots.
I have loved the road down south for so long and it is such a joy to go surfing with no passports, no airfare, no major costs, great waves and small crowds, if you know where to look, and especially out of season.
Sadly, on this trip, I was on a tight time budget loaded with chores and so I did not take a board or wetsuit along but I did look at a few waves and reminisce along the way.
First off, Port Alfred is a cracking sandbar on its day. If you get the Kowie River Mouth on a good day, the memory will stay with you for a long time.
As we crossed the Swartkops River Mouth going into Gqeberha, a fabulous left-hander rolled across the outside sandbar with a light, direct northwest wind to groom the face.
This bar moves around from season to season and year to year.
I have had some of the best tube rides in my life in this river mouth.
Zoom, zoom, straight past JBay, quite literally one of the best waves in the world and I am not even talking about Supertubes.
That wave is too crowded and pressurised for me. The whole town of JBay is honestly a smorgasbord of good waves.
Just down the road from there is Seal Point at Cape St Francis.
Have I died and gone to heaven? How did I get to live and surf for 10 years in this area? I should go to church and give more thanks.
Knysna does not have waves but just over the hill at Buffalo Bay, fun waves are aplenty.
A chip and a putt away, I saw on this trip, that the sand has returned to Lookout Beach.
The northwest wind was still on and grooming some runners, both left and right.
On and on to Wilderness, I didn’t even stop at Victoria Bay. Now there is a wave of world-class entertainment.
I am very blessed that I have surfed many waves at this break.
Mossel Bay next up is a sight for sore eyes. Inner Pool and Outer Pool are great waves.
I have only ever surfed Dingdangs at Mossels once in my life and I will never forget it. This easy, rippable perfect left-hander is a goofy-footer’s dream.
I drove into Stillbay for my overnight just in time to see Jongensfontein rolling a few joyful right-handers through in the south-west wind.
While I was there, I met a young woman who had just got out of the water and my phone rang.
While taking the call, she spirited away and I was unable to ask her to lend me her 6’10” wide nose pin tail twin fin for a ride. The one that got away. Perhaps just as well because I had chores to do.
Final destination was the Milnerton, Blouberg, Table View stretch of coast.
A shivering 14°C of offshore waves and water failed to tempt me.
Besides, all the waves were closing out or in old school parlance, just straight dumping.
I was a little shocked as I walked about 5km and returned over about two hours and never managed to see one running left or right wave from Big Bay to Blouberg.
I saw plenty of surfers but not one rider caught a single wave I could envy. It was a horror show and just brought to mind how crazy spoilt we are in Buffalo City.
On Sunday evening, as I got back home, I had a quick paddle out at Nahoon Corner, by myself nogal, and had a few waves that would bring tears to the eyes of Table View surfers (in 19ºC water).
Keep in mind the comment from Tom Lindhorst, recently returned from Morocco, that we are spoilt for choice in Buffalo City.
I did a quick little summary in my notebook and counted 32 different wave breaks from Whispering Waves in Kei Mouth to Kowie River Mouth in Port Alfred that I have enjoyed over the last 45 years.
Any Table View local who gets to surf Nahoon Reef on a good day, and our 31 other breaks, will be sad when they have to go home.
We are spoilt for choice here and I don’t mind that one bit.
Weekender
