Location: Africa and Indian Ocean
Tags: jeffreys bay
/ south africa
/ eastern cape
/ j bay
/ beach
/ supertubes
/ waves
/ jeffreys
/ bay
Jeffreys Bay
South Africa
Ask any surfer about the curls at Jeffreys Bay - J-Bay to anyone who ever waxed a board - and watch their eyes frost over with delight at the thought of that swell, those tubes and the most consistent wave formations in South Africa, a place that knows about surf.
J-Bay is in Eastern Cape, an area with some of South Africa's wildest coastline, which is backed by some of Africa's most spectacular sub-tropical rainforest. Once a sleepy hollow, J-Bay is now a flashy town with rampant development: low-rise apartment blocks, beachside resorts and chrome-benched cafes are becoming the norm here. But despite the yuppiefication, J-Bay remains a surfie town through and through. It's charged with a surf vibe as relaxed as it is friendly, and this tends to soften the effect of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous set who have made this part of the coast their own.
J-Bay is the location of the world famous Billabong Pro every July, at the aptly named Supertubes beach (most of the planet's world champions have proclaimed Supertubes the most perfect and predictable wave in the world). The tournament, often delayed due to the presence of sharks in the area - there's more here than just about anywhere in the world, due to the warm Indian Ocean waters - attracts the absolute crème de la crème of world surfing, as well as just about every grommet worth their sex wax.
Waves can get big, sometimes as high as 3m (20ft), but this place is surprisingly renowned for its safety. Surfers go as part of a pilgrimage, to pay homage to the legend and to ride beaches with names as diverse as Boneyards, Kitchen Windows, Magnatubes, Phantoms and the Albatross, and there are places that can provide you with a ride as long as three minutes if you catch them when the swell's right.
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