Jeffreys Bay is the holy grail of South African surfing and so its a no brainer as to why it is one of our extended stops on our 10 week long trips. Besides the fantastic waves and surf potential the small coastal town offers it is also one of the few places you can go to and completely immerse yourself in surf culture. Everything in Jbay seems to be built around surfing, every building, restaurant and shop has a display board on show or some or other kind of surf themed arts and craft. All of this is because of one of the greatest surf discoveries.. Supertubes, unofficially the worlds greatest right hand point break and home to the Jbay Open, one of the most eagerly awaited World Tour events on the WSL
The view from our accommodation at Island Vibe Beach Backpackers
While Jbay is home to some of the most incredible waves on the coast and the go too for surf adventures in South Africa. It is also home to a lot of wind and unfortunately our first few days there were completely blown out with what felt like a permanent state of hurricane! So while there was no surf on offer we headed out to a nearby river and waterfall which was more sheltered from the wind. The afternoon was spent swimming, doing rock jumps and zip-lining.
When the wind finally switched and backed off we headed to Supertubes where a few of the guys who were up to the level decided to try their hand at surfing one of the most perfect yet challenging waves in the world. Supertubes breaks over relatively shallow volcanic rock, its what gives this wave its iconic shape and big long walls, the problem is that the wave breaks really quickly and is all about speed, it can take a while to get your rhythm and feel for the place, even the pro’s struggle out here. Led by Jarred the boys managed to get a few off the crowd and looked good out on the worlds best right hand point break.
Another highlight that we have in Jbay is the privilege of having access to the infinite life knowledge of local legend and shaper Mikey Meyer. I’ve gotten to know him over the past few years and every visit leaves me with something new to chew on, whether it be about surfboard performance and shaping, perspective on current affairs or general life advice. He’s a kind of ‘Gandalf’ figure, a soft spoken man who when speaks manages to effortlessly hold the attention of the whole room. He’s been living, surfing and shaping in Jbay for the past 35yrs and the stories and wisdom that come along with his experiences are something we always look forward to hearing and learning about. He’s a man of years past with a raw passion for shaping, working with his hands in creating works of art, more than a machine can offer, he puts a bit of his heart and soul in every board he shapes, 5 minutes with him in his factory is all you need to know this.
After 5 weeks together we’ve all become quite comfortable around each other and friendships are really starting to take shape, we’ve already experienced so many amazing things together and Jbay marks the part of the surf adventures in South Africa where we get to host our own party at the backpackers, Island Vibe, which is almost infamous for having a good party. We themed our party “jungle” and did our best to dress up accordingly, it was a night filled with beer-pong, punch, some solid laughing and a whole lot of bonding.
On the surfing front we got to experience quite a bit, we really encourage as much free surfing as possible being based right on a beach that is home to an exceptionally good wave in ‘Kitchen Windows’. We also had 5 lessons with another local legend Etienne, I’m not even sure what Etienne’s surname is, he simply goes by the name ‘Etienne Jeffreys Bay’.. That tells you everything you need to know about him. Etienne is also the surfing South African mens senior coach and had a lot to offer our guys in the water. We marked the end of our lessons with Etienne by taking a short road trip down to Cape St Francis, a town made famous by the surf film ‘Endless Summer’. St Francis then was believed to be home to the worlds most perfect wave ‘Bruces Beauty’ before the eventual discovery of the point in Jeffreys Bay and Supertubes. Unfortunately conditions meant that Bruce’s Beauty wasn’t breaking but we did score a few waves at two of the beach breaks nearby namely, Seals Beach and Soweto’s. I got in the water with Lexie’s housing and tried my hand at some water photography for the first time during our session at Soweto’s.
We’re all about responsible travel and at every stop we try and contribute positively to the community that hosts us so well. The guys at the Supertubes Surfing Foundation let us know that with all the strong winds we’d experienced the beaches had been riddled with litter and so we set out to clean as much as we could before sending it off to recycling. It’s quite over-whelming seeing how much makes its way to our oceans..
We had a new recruit join us for a 10 day surf camp whilst we stayed in Jbay. Graham A.K.A Panther Boy from the UK was an awesome addition to our already awesome vibe, he fit in seamlessly and contributed greatly to our exceptional time in Jbay. The crew misses him already and we wish him all the best as he heads back to work today (thinking of you buddy!)
A real mans man, he grew this beard in a few hours.. Majestic!
I apologise for the lack of updates over the past two weeks, I have found myself consumed with the trip but to make up for it I made you this cool video to show you some of our Jbay experience. We’re on the Wild Coast now and currently in Chinsta… its beyond beautiful, you’ll see soon 😉
Till next time 🙂
cheers
Luke