South Africa surfing is powered by two oceans and endless swell. Between Durban in the east and Cape Town in the west, there’s almost always somewhere working a charm. Discover more in this ultimate guide…
An introduction to South Africa surfing
South Africa caps off the whole continent with which it shares half a name, between two of the most swell-heavy oceans going. There’s the Indian Ocean to the east and the great Atlantic Ocean to the west, both of which continually fire out S, SW, and SE swells to set basically the entire 1,800 miles of shoreline on fire for much of the year. So, we’ll say this to begin with: If it’s the consistency you’re after then the Rainbow Nation will oblige.
The surf scene revolves around two cities: Cape Town and Durban. The first is the superior if you ask us, mainly because it’s the gateway to the whole of the Garden Route, which links up 190 miles of perhaps the finest surf territory in Africa, culminating at everyone’s favorite barrel factory in J-Bay. Durban is more reliant on monsoon storm swells and needs offshores to shape up its beaches, but it has spots that are eminently accessible and good vibes all round.
Knowing the winds is key to nailing the right spots in SA, though perhaps not so much in Cape Town, where the three-sided Cape of Good Hope ensures somewhere is always offshore. As you cruise to the Eastern Cape it becomes more and more important to have W offshores in tow, making February and March the better months.
Downsides to South Africa surfing? Shark bites probably come tip top on that list. But there’s also the fact that key spots are crowded these days, plus you’ll almost certainly need a car unless you want to stray further than the urban beaches of Durban and Muizenberg.
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This guide is a part of our larger guide to surfing in Africa.
South Africa surfing at a glance
The good:
The bad:
What’s in this guide to South Africa surfing
The best places to surf in South Africa
South Africa has oodles and oodles of amazing surf destinations. One of the true joys of this country is in hitting the Garden Route and the East Cape highways and finding them for yourself. Expect everything from old-school whaler villages with frothing points to windswept beaches where you can catch peaks by morning and go safari by afternoon.
Here, we’ll home in on the places that really stand out from the crowd…
Cape Town
Cape Town is blessed with a fantastic location for surfing. You can go south and east to pick up any wrap-around SW sets off the Atlantic or catch head-on E swells from the Indian Ocean. Or you can stick to the west-facing beaches – spots like Long Beach – to hoover up any summer season westerlies. There’s essentially ALWAYS something to enjoy here. The top beaches are Muizenberg, everyone’s favorite beginner mecca (more on that below) and the wedgy barrel at Llandudno (not the Welsh one!).
Check our complete guide to surfing in Cape Town
Muizenberg
Muizenberg is a great place to start your trip surfing in South Africa. It’s the designated beginner spot in the country; sort of like the Rainbow Nation’s answer to Kuta Bali. That means some of the top-rated surf schools and surf camps in the country, but also waves to suit all levels.
The beach is long and sandy, so you never really have to worry about nicking the jagged reef you get on other sections of the Garden Route. Swells need to curve their way through the Cape of Good Hope and into False Bay to make an impact. That takes the sting out of them, meaning there’s a fun mellowness to sets here most days.
Check our complete guide to surfing in Muizenberg right here (coming soon)
Jeffreys Bay
J-Bay. It’s as if God designed a right-hand barrel to model the whole lot on. They say this is the best right-hander in the world and the truth is it probably is.
The prevailing SW swells curve in around the ever-so-perfectly angled coastline and combine with good offshores that come from the NW to offer up uber-long rides that can surpass two minutes or more. It’s very much the flip reverse of Skeleton Bay only with five distinct sections, starting with the steep drop at Boneyards and followed by the long barreling shoulders that peel off Supertubes.
Further along, there are take-offs at The Point and Albatross which aren’t that popular anymore because J-bay has graduated to a shortboard haven but they can still be fun. Watch out for localism and don’t expect any action when the WSL guys are in town.
Check our complete guide to surfing in Jeffreys Bay right here (coming soon)
Durban
Durban hosts the very best beach breaks in South Africa. You’ll be relying on a whole different weather system here – the monsoons that pass through the central Indian Ocean at varying times of the year. It all really hits a high come February and March, when the big sets are combined with neat offshores from the west. When that happens, you can score beautiful barrels all along the Bluff Peninsula, most of them between the various breakwaters on Ansteys Beach and the urban beaches.
Check our complete guide to surfing in Durban right here (coming soon)
When to surf in South Africa?
The winter is the best time to surf in South Africa, which means between May and August down here in the Southern Hemisphere. That time sees the strongest S swells and best N-NW winds to help keep Cape Town firing.
That said, there’s basically never a bad time to surf here, save for some flat months in the peak summer over on the Eastern Cape. For Cape Town and the Garden Route, there are beaches that work on S, E, and W swells – you just gotta’ keep an eye on the prevailing wind.
Over in Durban, there are two main surf windows. The first is the whole winter, when big S swells can wrap-around and feed into sandbanks up and down the city’s shoreline. The second is around February time, when storm patterns start to cross the Indian Ocean and the offshore W winds begin in earnest.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!