Back in the 1990s, when I was a student in Cape Town, a West Coast surfing trip offered the Great Escape. A long weekend up to Elands Bay with boards and beers was the holy grail, especially after year-end exams. For many Cape Town youngsters, ‘E Bay’ meant the first kiss, first babalas, the first green tube of eternal stoke.
Thirty years later, and still a sucker for surfing in all its forms, I planned a road trip to my old West Coast haunts. I loaded the car with surfboard and windsurfer; Tracey packed hampers of food and strange, practical stuff like sunblock and maps.
It was a bright and breezy summer’s day as we hit the R27, Californian rock filling the car and our grins as wide and carefree as 18-year-olds’. We paused to check the breaks at Blouberg and Melkbos, then pressed on to Yzerfontein. There we hired a self-catering apartment, On the Beach, for the night. Boogie-boarding grommets splashed in the shore break while a few silverbacks rode a large, fast wave at the back, carving its face with awesome precision.
![J Fox Surf Safari0030 J Fox Surf Safari0030](https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=2000&s=d2c796a6f54f93223e0d6665fe694c6c 2000w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1800&s=b39592b49a7cc63a3a96d3e2d93d0247 1800w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1600&s=d192887e77e818fd55ea64527fca540a 1600w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1400&s=968cab6add69ffd698c85441c0b20156 1400w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1200&s=7d69eb5af76c9d793ae0ca6bf8601209 1200w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1000&s=47d4e8e9e11a944982212c51ba1f6119 1000w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=800&s=f9b2c6b4920dbb9031784c83e506ac4b 800w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=600&s=eaf34940e9a89e0232b7cccfef72411e 600w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=400&s=71d53aa085f36f310a116c5e79d5daa1 400w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0030.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=300&s=c1226327ecf44a63f0667133abec3cf0 300w)
📸: Justin Fox
Next, we hit Langebaan – a Mecca for all forms of sailing on the West Coast – and checked into a guest house attached to the Cape Sports Centre, which caters for watersports on the lagoon. It offers rentals, lessons and a shop that sells equipment ranging from surfing and windsurfing to stand-up paddling (SUP), kayaking and kitesurfing.
In the morning, while the wind was still light, Tracey and I tried SUPping. It was a pleasant, if wobbly, few hours learning to paddle and taking colourful tumbles as a tiny swell played havoc with our balance. All around us were novice kitesurfers and windsurfers learning the ropes, and groups of instructors shouting directions from the shore.
When the wind got up, clearing the grommets from the water, I rented an 86-litre Tabou windsurfer and raced across the lagoon. Back and forth I sailed, to Schaapen and Meeuw islands through shallows alive with gulls and cormorants, until I was too exhausted to even stand.
![J Fox Surf Safari0040 J Fox Surf Safari0040](https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=2000&s=5784194aa205ada3c4259f35c62c07b6 2000w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1800&s=e6aa6521bf4e56488dd52149a5085962 1800w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1600&s=c97e22dbfd1c5acddaff2c5b6c693a67 1600w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1400&s=3f1b8a53572b439291751b6a57482e2f 1400w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1200&s=ca0ecca2a8f607c9e4dbf96b49f490d0 1200w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1000&s=e99ff7a7cc9c8951b3eb1af8ec0448c7 1000w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=800&s=dfd170888eb67c8f45049f88fb012b08 800w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=600&s=b40fa16ec8d42ccc6515e8c07dc6918b 600w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=400&s=656eab63588085f9b8bae0529778ac69 400w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0040.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=300&s=3a912f06682c2a95aa2a88314996f955 300w)
📸: Justin Fox
North we drove, bound for legendary Elands Bay, arguably the best surf spot in the Western Cape. We checked into Elands Bay Hotel, an old-school establishment that’s been around since the surfing elders were grommets. It’s no nonsense, no frills, and lies just above the beach and caravan park where we used to camp on student jaunts.
The wind was building and a decent swell bent into the bay. I joined a bunch of lads rigging windsurfers in the parking lot and soon we were dancing out across raking blue hillocks. Gybing onto a face and creaming down the line, smacking the lip and tearing clean bottom turns with the southeaster howling over Baboon Point and across the bay.
Later, as the sun slipped into the drink, Tracey and I walked along a rocky, mussel-strewn ledge where surfers come to worship at the Atlantic font. We climbed the bluff to a cave filled with San paintings. A giant eland adorned the rock, like a totem to the surf god of the point. Beside us, a group of dreadlocked surf rats smoked zol and gazed glassily at the pearly dusk.
![J Fox Surf Safari0071 J Fox Surf Safari0071](https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=2000&s=2661f432efc5b68e6f6a54e003a6ffeb 2000w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1800&s=4adcae74949bea902b40c61056a29286 1800w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1600&s=6e2c11bbf70b75ebe0a40b4dfb5ce23d 1600w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1400&s=36ef0cf2fc6fd9a8a5de3243893062af 1400w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1200&s=a874615c8b582314ae8d46a2073759cf 1200w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1000&s=285da0f076abc6d3d44c228ee15abd93 1000w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=800&s=78a402691e650dc41cc58cce13d51579 800w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=600&s=22c2f55e4dae974d5ef4e9262036c949 600w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=400&s=4d3c56afc99cb509f056d0dcb9001f82 400w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/JFoxSurfSafari0071.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=300&s=3adf4423128865d43339454f8dc59dd5 300w)
📸: Justin Fox
We retired to the Wit Mossel Pot, a beach-style backpackers and restaurant that serves hearty fair and delights the surfer crowd. The décor was old surfboards, dream catchers, flotsam and sea wrack. Supper was proper hake and calamari and slap chips washed down by a workmanlike Two Oceans white. The music was deep, mellow trance. A sign on the wall read, ‘you book out but you never leave.’ Damn, I thought, if I had a spare year to burn, I could easily mislay it in a place like this.
The road led north toward Lambert’s Bay. When I was a lad, Farmer Burger’s was talked about in hushed tones: a secret spot on a private farm. Legend. These days, it just so happens that Farmer Burger junior (a charming surf acolyte called Albert), rents out surf-shack-chic accommodation on his family farm, Steenbokfontein. It’s got the whole Robinson Crusoe thing down pat with seashells and driftwood, bathrooms embedded in the rock and home-made Jacuzzis fed by donkey burners. It’s as close to surfer heaven as the West Coast gets.
![Steenbokfontein 22 copy Steenbokfontein 22 copy](https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=2000&s=b1207f020b63455c8145144538d5040c 2000w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1800&s=8d5fe4ed368a4467854e529a4b27f374 1800w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1600&s=88898220359a5586699b8fc5f519a593 1600w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1400&s=37d7f8e45f67eb67af52a6ab6baa0213 1400w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1200&s=0c9e9fd95c92ba6f9083cd410df1d2e4 1200w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=1000&s=126c45e103f264ab110824dc6e1fd591 1000w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=800&s=eaa870935aacad638ffc669c7ee83594 800w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=600&s=a4dc4785353193b3bca5d23d95b51ec6 600w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=400&s=8d41ee50386a6696b1c24f1d96ba7d41 400w, https://wesgro.imgix.net/uploads/files/Steenbokfontein-22-copy.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=clip&q=90&ratio=&w=300&s=e228837e4cfd15d5039d6904c2aea776 300w)
📸: Justin Fox
That night, as the boerie and tjops sizzled on the braai, we wallowed in our outdoor tub, frothing with rooibos foam, and watched the stars surfing that long, long Milky Wave all the way to the horizon.
It was time to turn for home, except for one last stop in the sleepy fishing dorp of Lambert’s Bay to squiz the surf. As it happens, Yo-yos was cooking. It’s a reef break in front of the caravan park that goes both left and right. I suited up and joined a pod of dolphins and whooping teenagers shredding the wave. Hell, I could still just about do the schoolboy thing, despite my twoscore years and ten.
My car honked its horn. Tracey was waving from the parking lot. Damn and blast: Cape Town was calling. So back we drove, down the long and lovely West Coast road, past the many spots that make this a surfer’s paradise. Our stretched weekend had filled us up with wind and waves, calamari and chips and a home-made Jacuzzi under the stars. We’d be back.
‘How about next weekend?’ said Tracey.
VISIT IT:
Accommodation on the West Coast is plentiful and varied.
We stayed here:
🏨: On the Beach in Yzerfontein has two, elegant apartments for self-catering.
🏨: Puza Moya guest house in Langebaan is part of the Cape Sports Centre.
🏨: Elands Bay Hotel and campsite is on the beach in Elands Bay.
🏨: Steenbokfontein Farm, south of Lambert’s Bay, has self-catering units as well as the delightfulWeskus Hokkie, Weskus Grotjie and Weskus Quarry.