It was late in the season and the winds were iffy in the far North of KwaZulu-Natal. The windows for quality surf were becoming fewer and even more far between. We’d spent days and nights at Zag HQ, hunkered over our computers analysing the patterns on Windy. Digger, our guide and masterful boat captain was getting fidgety. Maybe we’d have to delay the long-held plans to explore this hidden corner of coast for some undefined future date…
We’ve been scoping the region for a few years already. The main attraction being that you can blitz up from Durban smash two days of truly perfect tropical surf and be back in the office with a smile on your face, salt in your ears and a bit of sunblock still on your nose. Carrying stiff shoulders and a bit of fatigue into the rest of your week.
Finally, the window opened, just a crack, spring lows in the morning, two days of gentle winds, mainly in an offshore direction and most importantly, a pumping East Swell. Two frothing surfers in Davey van Zyl and Saxton Randall, ready to drop everything in a ‘surfer’s minute’ and hit the road, a vehicle, a tank full of petrol and a videographer in the form of Michael Veltman. We made the call in the morning, finally managed to collar the surfers (we had to wait for Davey to come back from a night training flight before we could bail), then shop for supplies, and we finally made the open road by 10pm.
A few short few hours of kip, then up at 5 to greet the day on the beach, pile all the gear into Digger’s rubber duck and weave through the stiff lines on the boat launch and out into the open sea. This stretch of coast is wild, dolphins are the locals but there are plenty of humpback whales, turtles and signs of gamefish everywhere.
And the waves… well there were some of those. Watch the full edit below for proof. And the good news is… this swell wasn’t even perfect. A little too straight to properly wrap around and rumble through the Cove. Which can only mean one thing… We’ll be back to explore this amazing region at the next golden opportunity.
Now sit back, relax and enjoy Zag’s almost perfectly executed strike mission to Digger’s Cove!
*Big thanks to VANS for pulling the trigger with us to make it happen.
An epic place.I travelled from Oz and got taken there by http://www.sasurfari@gmail.com.The waves were fantastic,didn’t see another surfer and our hosts Rich and Digger were champs.South Africa is a special place and the people are incredibly hospitable. Thanks SA.