SOUTH AFRICA PRETTY MUCH HAS EVERYTHING. FROM GIANT, FRIGID CAPE BOMBIES, TO WEDGY DURBAN BEACHIES, AND ALL KINDS OF MYSTO REEFS AND SECLUDED POINTS BETWEEN, AS WELL AS OF COURSE, J-BAY, STILL REGARDED BY MANY AS THE VERY FINEST POINTBREAK, IF NOT WAVE, IN THE WORLD. SO IF YOU’RE NOT RELISHING THE PROSPECT OF DRIBBLY BEACHIES AT HOME THIS SUMMER, ARE BORED OF FRENCH CLOSEOUTS AND DON’T FANCY INDO (HUH?!?) YOU’D DO WORSE THAN GET YOURSELF DOWN TO THE RAINBOW NATION!

Flight from London: about £900 this July

Dangers: Crime, HIV/Aids, sharks, picking up the accent, probably in that order.

Favourite Surf Sons: From 70’s legends like Shaun Tomson down to today’s big wave lords like Twiggy Baker and tour gods like Jordy Smith, the Saffa talent pool runs super deep, bru.

What not to do: Hitch-hiking

Why go there instead of Oz? These days, mainly the price. Australia is one of the most expensive places anywhere. There’s also no jetlag to get over, and a much shorter flight… plus they’ve got lions!

Also: If you see a honking swell coming for the Atlantic coast, you could do worse than bolt up to Namibia and surf one of the longest lefts in the known universe…

And:
South Africa is that easy hard trip you always wanted to go on but never did. Australia with the obligatory Indo/Bali side trip is kind of a no-brainer, everyone does that. But SA somehow seems to split the pack… Folk seem to either go there early in their travelling days and become an instant convert (possibly picking up a few accent touches and calling a bar-b-q a ‘bry’ and the plural of elephants ‘elephant’, or go never.