Spy House
Spots Nearby
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Horse Shoe Cove:
7.9 km
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Sandy Hook:
8.3 km
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Skeleton Hill Island:
8.7 km
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Spermaceti Cove:
8.9 km
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Fishing Beach:
9.4 km
Find a Spot
Recent Spots
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LOCATED IN BETWEEN 2 IMPORTANT TOURSIM LOCATION OF kONARK SUN TEMPLE AND pURI BEACH TOWN. -
This is a rare opportunity, the wind must be very south to make it into the bay, but when it ... -
Kalk Bay is a quaint little town on the east coast of the Cape Peninsula. It's neatly sandwiched in-between Fish ... -
The Bluff is about 10-20 mins drive from Durban central, but despite its proximity to the hustle and bustle of ...
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The Kwazulu Natal South Coast is littered with dozens of alcoves, points and beach breaks - Green Point is just ...
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Top Riders
| recent awards | rating | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
 Jack |
The Bronze Spyglass
The Bronze Spyglass is given to those who don’t keep their geographical knowledge a secret, and have discovered 5 Spots for the Beach Guide.
The Silver Spyglass
The Silver Spyglass is a sign of recognition for members of the community who are willing to share their experience and travel savvy with fellow sailors and riders, and have discovered 15 Spots for the Beach Guide.
The Gold Spyglass
The Gold Spyglass is an honor reserved for esteemed discoverers who have made it their mission to spread the knowledge of the world’s best beaches, and have enriched the Beach Guide with no less than 30 Spots.
|
908.500 |
|
Water_Goddess |
The Bronze Spyglass
The Bronze Spyglass is given to those who don’t keep their geographical knowledge a secret, and have discovered 5 Spots for the Beach Guide.
The Silver Spyglass
The Silver Spyglass is a sign of recognition for members of the community who are willing to share their experience and travel savvy with fellow sailors and riders, and have discovered 15 Spots for the Beach Guide.
The Gold Spyglass
The Gold Spyglass is an honor reserved for esteemed discoverers who have made it their mission to spread the knowledge of the world’s best beaches, and have enriched the Beach Guide with no less than 30 Spots.
|
826.002 |
|
Paul |
The Bronze Spyglass
The Bronze Spyglass is given to those who don’t keep their geographical knowledge a secret, and have discovered 5 Spots for the Beach Guide.
The Silver Spyglass
The Silver Spyglass is a sign of recognition for members of the community who are willing to share their experience and travel savvy with fellow sailors and riders, and have discovered 15 Spots for the Beach Guide.
The Gold Spyglass
The Gold Spyglass is an honor reserved for esteemed discoverers who have made it their mission to spread the knowledge of the world’s best beaches, and have enriched the Beach Guide with no less than 30 Spots.
|
660.500 |
|
Liesbet |
The Bronze Envelope
The Bronze Envelope is given to those who don’t shy away from expressing their opinion, and have posted 10 times in comment threads.
The Bronze Quill
The Bronze Quill is given to those who have somehting to say, and have started 5 topics of their own, in either their personal or community Blogs.
The Silver Quill
The Silver Quill is a sign of recognition for members of the community who are commited to contributing news, insights, and their experience to the collective knowlegde on the site, and have posted 15 topics in the Blogs.
|
75.002 |
|
edita_kay |
The Bronze Envelope
The Bronze Envelope is given to those who don’t shy away from expressing their opinion, and have posted 10 times in comment threads.
The Bronze Spyglass
The Bronze Spyglass is given to those who don’t keep their geographical knowledge a secret, and have discovered 5 Spots for the Beach Guide.
The Silver Spyglass
The Silver Spyglass is a sign of recognition for members of the community who are willing to share their experience and travel savvy with fellow sailors and riders, and have discovered 15 Spots for the Beach Guide.
The Bronze Quill
The Bronze Quill is given to those who have somehting to say, and have started 5 topics of their own, in either their personal or community Blogs.
|
65.505 |
|
surferseyes |
The Bronze Quill
The Bronze Quill is given to those who have somehting to say, and have started 5 topics of their own, in either their personal or community Blogs.
The Silver Quill
The Silver Quill is a sign of recognition for members of the community who are commited to contributing news, insights, and their experience to the collective knowlegde on the site, and have posted 15 topics in the Blogs.
|
63.002 |
|
Sean |
The Bronze Quill
The Bronze Quill is given to those who have somehting to say, and have started 5 topics of their own, in either their personal or community Blogs.
The Silver Quill
The Silver Quill is a sign of recognition for members of the community who are commited to contributing news, insights, and their experience to the collective knowlegde on the site, and have posted 15 topics in the Blogs.
|
59.500 |
|
Deneice |
The Bronze Quill
The Bronze Quill is given to those who have somehting to say, and have started 5 topics of their own, in either their personal or community Blogs.
The Silver Quill
The Silver Quill is a sign of recognition for members of the community who are commited to contributing news, insights, and their experience to the collective knowlegde on the site, and have posted 15 topics in the Blogs.
The Gold Quill
The Gold Quill is an honor reserved for esteemed mentors who have made it their mission to share their knowledge and experience with the community, and support other sailors and riders in their endeavors by posting with no less than 30 topics of their own.
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54.002 |
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artem_kay |
The Bronze Envelope
The Bronze Envelope is given to those who don’t shy away from expressing their opinion, and have posted 10 times in comment threads.
The Silver Envelope
The Silver Envelope is a sign of recognition for members of the community who keep the dialogue going with their contributions, and have posted 25 times in comment threads.
The Bronze Spyglass
The Bronze Spyglass is given to those who don’t keep their geographical knowledge a secret, and have discovered 5 Spots for the Beach Guide.
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53.300 |
|
Irish |
The Bronze Envelope
The Bronze Envelope is given to those who don’t shy away from expressing their opinion, and have posted 10 times in comment threads.
The Bronze Spyglass
The Bronze Spyglass is given to those who don’t keep their geographical knowledge a secret, and have discovered 5 Spots for the Beach Guide.
The Silver Spyglass
The Silver Spyglass is a sign of recognition for members of the community who are willing to share their experience and travel savvy with fellow sailors and riders, and have discovered 15 Spots for the Beach Guide.
|
32.100 |
Recent Posts
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A lot can be told and written up about safety and security while living on a sailboat. The previous weeks, I touched the subjects of safety gear, safety and security nets, anchoring technique, dinghy security, robberies, and piracy with a focus on the Eastern Caribbean, since that is the area I am most familiar with at the moment. This week, I will conclude this “series” with a few more odds and ends that have to do with taking care of your and your boat’s safety while sailing the world and the Caribbean. Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions or thoughts at any time!
Remoteness might interrupt the "peace of mind" © Liesbet Collaert
Boat Boys
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The global explosion of the Internet has changed things forever for anyone with computer access – the way we buy things, the way we socialise and the instant access to an infinite number of resources on any subject you care to mention. Surf travel used to be full of mystery and for the intrepid only. The web has changed all that meaning any surf travel planning is incredibly easy.
Huge amounts of research and fact finding can be done on any surf break in the world without leaving your house as well as finding and booking accommodation and travel in advance. How easily can I get there? What will the waves be like in December? What are my other options nearby if the swell direction changes? Is there anywhere I can get wax? How expensive will it be? There are a wealth of websites that will answer these and many other questions and concerns but which are the best? Here's my top 5.
Wannasurf
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Safety and security is a hot topic these days in the Caribbean and even in other parts of the world. The recent economic climate makes it harder for people to make or keep a living and that is -sadly- represented in the higher amount of crimes. In my last blog, I briefly hit the topics safety gear, the safety and security nets and anchoring techniques. Now, I’d like to focus on a few other aspects that have to do with safety and security on the water.
Do we lock the dinghy or not? © Liesbet Collaert
Dinghy Security
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Surfing is hard. It seems to have a steeper and far less forgiving learning curve than so many other sports, other ocean water sports being an exception. The ocean is a difficult learning environment – it is unpredictable, fraught with hazards and no two waves are ever the same. All these factors can make learning to surf very, very difficult. Most of the problems beginners have are caused by the same few common errors and in most cases easily put right. Knowing what these are and how to correct them can mean faster progress and avoiding the severe frustration which results from making the same mistakes over and over.
(Frostnova)
First things first - An easy solution to some beginner's mistakes
One common factor among beginner surfers who are struggling is their choice of board. When you are starting out you need as buoyant and stable a platform as possible and this means a big long board with lots of volume. Narrow, short boards, which may seem so appealing, prolong the novice stages and have no forgiving factors for early errors.
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In theory it's a surfer's dream – the manipulation of ocean bathymetry, or the sea bed, to create waves where previously there were only surfing scraps or no waves at all. However, despite many attempts by surf reef architects and oceanographers and many years of work, research and information gathering, there are still only a small handful of permanent surfing reefs worldwide. Some projects, eagerly awaited for months if not years, have subsequently turned out to be spectacularly expensive flops.
So, are we any nearer to the dream of creating a predictable surf break wherever we want it?
Construction in progress for Bournemouth's ill fated artificial reef (Cornerhouse)
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My first son was born at the beginning of Japan’s typhoon season. It was great knowing that I’d got him out and my stomach had shrunk in time for the big swells, but I underestimated how much time it would take me to get the strength to surf solid waves again. Despite remaining incredibly fit right throughout the pregnancy, only us mothers really can know just how draining childbirth is. Hours, sometimes of days, of incessant pushing through extreme pain is followed by feeding like a dairy cow every two hours adding to the sleepless nights that many husbands don’t realize we experience right throughout the last months of pregnancy. Then there’s the hormones…jumping and twirling all over the place, launching us into barrels of tears and bouts of depression no matter how grateful we are for our little bundles of joy. And that’s just scratching the surface.
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Life on the water is a little bit more challenging than on land, for more than one reason. Just like you don’t just walk out the door to go for a walk or jump in the car to go shopping, you don’t pick up the phone to call for help, park the dinghy in the garage or close the door behind you and are safe. Dinghies don’t have seat belts and sailing routes don’t have traffic lights or lanes. When you fall overboard during a (night) passage, chances that you survive are low; when you are anchored in a remote area and somebody means harm, chances that they get what they want are high.
Seas can be rough during a crossing © Liesbet Collaert
Safety Gear
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The Alaia, an ancient wavecraft which the native Hawaiians used for surfing, has been enjoying a resurgence in modern day surfing. Being that it is one of the earliest forms of surfboard, top surfers from all over the world are using it to test their skills to see how they measure up to their predecessors, the ancient Hawaians, who called surfing 'he'enalu' (roughly translated, 'wave sliding'). But what is the story behind the Alaia and when was it first discovered?
espn.go.com
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Ask any surfer what their ideal conditions are and, allowing for different opinions on wave height, the answer will almost certainly be the same – clean waves in well spaced sets. So, why are these conditions not a constant for us surfers and why do North Sea surfers experience it less often than Cornish surfers for example? The answer lies in the difference between groundswell and windswell and how waves are generated from the very beginning.
STUART WEBSTER
A Wave is Born
A wave starts its life when currents of air rushing from areas of high pressure to low pressure affect the flat surface of the ocean. The place where the air is most turbulent is called the storm centre. These air flows randomly exert pressure on the water surface which push down in some areas while the displaced water forms a bump at the side. The small undulating motions this produces on the ocean are called capillary waves – this is the birth of a wave.
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Our little island way down south.
With only a handful of local riders, Tobago is a well kept secret..........
Not many people have heard of Tobago but the answer is YES, we do exist, there is wind, there are waves and with our rich cultural heritage, you will definately find something to pass the time. When in Tobago, come see us for an exhilerating kitesurfing or widsurfing experience, visit our website for more info;
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While cruising up and down the Caribbean island chain for a few years in a row, you get used to certain routes, sights and anchorages. After the first year, you have favorite places to stop and hang out and you look forward to coming back to certain areas and their charms. The familiarity feels good and the fact that you’ve been to these places before, makes the planning and the voyaging easy. All you basically have to “worry” about is the weather, but all the rest (where to provision, where to find fuel, where to anchor in the best holding, who to meet and greet…) is knowledge you gathered previously.
Around the corner of Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou © Liesbet Collaert
A big group of long time sailors in the Eastern Caribbean stick to this beaten path between Grenada or Trinidad and St. Martin or the British Virgin Islands. They enjoy running into other cruisers they know, they take advantage of the steady trade winds to sail from island to island and don’t mind spending years in the same area. Most of these people are retired and are living their dream in the tropics, with the comfortable reassurances and familiarities of places they know. Mark and I do a bit of the same, revisiting places we like, as long as they have internet. But, when the weekend comes around and we can afford to take some time off, we like to do something different or even sail to a new place. Sometimes we want to explore on shore, but most of these times, just relaxing in a pretty environment is all we desire.
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It is possible to surf and not understand the first thing about how and why waves break – I have a few surf buddies who fall into that category. However, some knowledge, even at the most basic level, could help to maximise your surfing in each session. Beginners particularly, who are more restricted by the conditions in which they can learn to surf most easily and safely, will benefit from a little advance knowledge.
MARTIN CATHRAE
What is a wave?
In order to get a breaking wave it is necessary to have ocean swell or in other words, energy travelling in a certain direction which has been generated by either local or far distant storms. Waves are created when that swell moves into shallower water and comes into contact with the sea bed. The top of the unbroken wave or swell line will continue to travel at the same speed as before while the bottom of it will be slowed down by the ocean floor. This makes the wave unstable and it breaks. How the wave breaks and what kind of ride it will create for a surfer is dependant on the bathymetry or shape and make-up of the sea bottom. This is because some waves release their energy slowly as the swell moves gradually from deep to shallow water while others release their energy all at once if the transition from deep to shallow is sudden.
Understanding refraction
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Sitting here at the computer today working on my article for BLUE magazine, I busily flicked through photos Kuni has taken over the years of really inspiring surfers. Young to old, we've been priveleged to work with numerous wave sliders from timeless heroes to underground soul surfers and aspiring kids. Having been kept out of the water myself for the duration of my current pregnancy due to the disaster in Japan, there are days when I am about to crack and feel desperate for the chance to grab even the simplest of waves. I find my looking at Kuni's shots and re-reading interviews I have conducted over the years helps ease the tension of my temporary life on dry land, encouraging regular 'mind' surf sessions that are inevitably food for life.
I'm dedicating this blog to those who have contributed to us putting food on our table, but mostly for their profound addictions to living the simple life and connecting to nature through surfing. Without these people I would no doubt have jumped in contaminated water by now!
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One of the greatest things about owning your own sailing catamaran, while living and cruising on it - whether it is in an exotic place or closer to home - is that you can be “away from it all” for an extended period of time. You don’t even have to get off your boat for days or weeks on end, if you choose to and if you prepared well enough. Cruising sailboats are set up and equipped to be self-contained and what a joy that is, to just have your house with you wherever you go and be comfortable without external help.
A little piece of paradise in the Grenadines © Liesbet Collaert
The next greatest thing while living on the water is to be one with nature. Isn’t it just awesome to accept, collect and use what Mother Nature provides? Sometimes your dependence on the environment is a bit risky and tricky and totally unreliable and many times, you are just a puppet of what the elements have in store for you. You stand by and watch; you have to take it as it comes and base all your decisions on the present and the predictions. You have to let go of all the plans, hopes and expectations. You have to be able to not get what you want (anymore). But, the days when nature does provide some perfect wind, well-needed sunshine or useful water, are the happiest in a sailor’s life!
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Most surfers would probably agree that you never stop learning to surf. We are forever striving to improve our performance, increase our wave count, ride a slightly bigger wave or take on more challenging conditions. For most of us there are always going to be better surfers; some-one in the water who seems to catch every wave they paddle for, have an almost uncanny knowledge of exactly where to bag the prime waves and when up and riding leave the rest of us gaping with admiration and envy.
It is inevitable then that each and every one of us has a personal list of our most admired figures, heroes and heroines who have established their place within surf history and culture.
As a soul surfer to whom surfing is a spiritual thing and who is not particularly interested in the competitive circuit, it is rarely the championship contenders who catch my eye. I tend to find my heroes come from other walks of surfing life.
