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KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Surfski

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Vetchies - Westbrook Downwinder


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Locales


Durban Area


Dolphin Escorts



"Durbs"

Durban vs. Cape Town

  • Robin Mousley: “This kind of paddling (Durban downwinding) has a different flavour to the downwinds that we do over here in Cape Town. The runs tend to be bigger and longer and fast and the water's much warmer than ours. We tend to be nervous of the surf when we go to Durban; when they come here they always exclaim how cold the water is!”

Durban Swell, Waves, and Surf

  • Barry Lewin: “What people don't realise when they look at the weather reports from Durban is that it isn't the most windy town, well it doesn't have to blow hard to get cooking downwind if the swell is running. The swell and wind combined make for big technical downwinds and the perfect place to hold both the national champs this year and then world champs in 2025 . What makes Durban paddlers a little different is the same swell that creates great downwind, also creates solid surf. Every entry and exit through breaking waves which most of the world would think are crazy, but to those from Durban, its not just the norm, its paying homage to the sports history, tradition and heritage, surf is part of surfski here, and we love it. ”

Downwinds


  • Ballito
  • Tiffs (Tiffany's Beach)
  • Durban Point Waterfront/Point Beach/Addington Beach at the southern end of the “Golden Mile” of Durban harbor beachfront there is a km or so where paddlers traditionally put in or take out for downwinders along the beach that is “protected” (we hear not completely - maybe the beach is not so bad, but farther out?) by a submerged reef.

pointbeach.jpg

Point Beach - photo Kendall James for Google Maps


The best known Durban waterfront gathering spots for laps and downwinders are “Marine” (Marine Lifesaving Club), “Vetchies” (Vetch's Pier & Beach) and “DUC” (Durban Undersea Club), but they all represent the same general beach area. Marine is at the south end of South Beach about 1 km northwest of the North Breakwater & LIghthouse. DUC and Vetch's “Pier” (just a rubble reef now) are at the south end of the beach close to that breakwater. The South to North direction of most of the following run listings is indicative of the more common SW wind for downwinders.

  • Scottburgh - Winklespruit (Winkle) 25 km

Surf


  • Scottburgh beach surf break video from Scottburgh to Brighton Beach race
  • Durban
    • Addington Beach Area, Limestone Reef that transects Vetchies video
    • The Mound is a sand bank (artificial, caused by dredging) surf break a bit over 1km (? some sources say further out, but videos say the wave break is about this distance from shore) offshore from Durban which can produce steep, fast waves when the swell is big enough (when really big, the waves will continue to shore) Surfski.info

Richards Bay


Conditions

Safety

  • Portuguese man-of-war - more common in beach areas in the summer with strong northeast winds and/or high tides, commonly known as “bluebottles
  • Shore Break

Injury and Recovery


Races

Videos

Coaches

Surfski Equipment