Stormrider Guide to surfing Durban

South Africa, AFRICA

The Wedge, Chris Van Lennep

Summary

+ Consistent	- Lots of onshore days
+ Quality beachbreaks	- Crowds
+ Urban entertainment	- Street violence
+ Cheap	- Sharks at un-netted beaches

Despite better waves elsewhere in South Africa, Durban has become the country's surf centre because of a high density of surfers and a great year-round climate. South swells wrap around the Bluff Peninsula and focus on the long piers and groynes that trap the sand in perfect triangles. On the Bluff, powerful, hollow beachbreaks, plus the world-class tubes of Cave Rock are always bigger in S swells and cleaner in NE winds.

When to Go

The lows have to travel pretty close to the coastline to provide 3-10ft S-SE swells on the Durban beaches. In summer (Nov-April) flat spells are common and long, although the pesky NE winds can produce headhigh, choppy, onshore waves. Occasionally, 4-8ft E swells come from tropical cyclones between Jan-March. Best conditions occur through the winter with plenty of S swells and offshore SW winds, before strong SE (onshore) winds blow out the surf by lunch time.

Surf Spots

Brighton Beach is an all-direction swell-magnet that has some hollow options like the left off the pool and the powerful shifting beachbreak, but it is easily blown out. When any S swell gets overhead, Cave Rock becomes a world-class, Hawaiian-style, righthand barrel that explodes across the dangerous shallow reef. The Pool section peels in front of the tidal sea pool while the gnarlier Rock rights are often faster and hollower at low to mid tides. Paddling out at either is a real mission so time the lulls carefully. Anstey’s is only 800m up the beach (past the lefts of Inbetweens) where slightly less-critical peaks hit the sand on all small to medium swells. Gets crowded with average Joes escaping the town breaks, while the locals rule the other hollow spots on the Bluff. Next to the Natal Bay harbour entrance is Vetch’s Reef, a rare right pointbreak over a semi-submerged old harbour jetty. Huge S wrap or cyclone NE-E swell will throw up hefty barrels from Pinnacle Rock or carvable walls on the inside Urchins reef section. The Wedge can be a quality, hollow left in E swells, giving goofies respite from the rights and thicker crowds on the other side of the New Pier. Beginners should drift south down to Addington and beyond. New Pier is Durban’s most popular and impressive wave, bending any S swells into a speedy right with tube and turn sections up to double overhead. NE-E swells also work and at higher tides there are lefts running back towards the pier on the inside. Easy wave when small, but quickly transforms into a sucky, punishing experts-only wave. Gets hideously crowded at all times and sizes. Dairy Beach milks the swell into A-frame peaks and some good lefts in E swells, plus there’s a bit of onshore wind protection at higher tides. North Beach is almost as good as New Pier, with the same firing right off the pier’s end and a high tide left bowl on the inside. Gets packed with bodyboarders during the 9am-5pm surfing ban. Bay of Plenty used to be the best wave in town and main contest site but the sand has moved, making the right quite sectiony and less consistent than North or New piers. On its day, 200m rights will rifle over the triangular bank, allowing big rail work and short tube rides for a less zealous crowd. On average days there will be peaks up the beach and the usual inside left bowl at high tide. Between the shorter piers of Snake Park and Battery Beach, sand-dependant peaks will pick up more swell and wind, but less crowds than other town breaks. Tougher paddle-outs with fewer defined rips. Country Club is the new name for Africa Beach in front of the Golf Course and if the wind is calm, there can be a good shorebreaks from the casino to the Mgeni rivermouth. Always bigger in S swells but suffers in onshores and from longshore drift.

Statistics

dominant swell

N -E

N -S

N -E

swell size (ft)

4-5

2-3

consistency (%)

dominant wind

N -NE

S -SW

N -NE

average force

consistency (%)

water temp (C)

wetsuit

boardshorts

springsuit

Travel Information

Weather
The Natal coast is subtropical and has 230 days of sunshine a year. Summers (Oct -Feb) range between 20°-30°C (68-86ºF) with big afternoon thunderstorms. Winter temps never drop below 10°C (50ºF) and often rise above 20°C (68°F). Cyclones occasionally hit the coast to the north of Durban. The Agulhas Current keeps water temps above 20°C (68°F). Wear a fullsuit only on the chilliest of mornings.

Lodging and Food
Downtown Durban offers the full range of accommodation options. Surfer friendly guesthouses starting at $15/d. More upmarket options include Blue Waters Hotel (fr $66/dbl/n). A good meal costs about $10.

Nature and Culture
Visit the Natal Sharks Board or the Timewarp Surfing Museum one onshore afternoon. Durban nightlife rocks. Go on safari in the Kruger and Kalahari Gemsbok national parks.