Our time in J-Bay can simply be described as incredible. We arrived at our backpackers (Island Vibe) to find everything we could possibly need either at the backpackers or walking distance away. We had a restaurant, bar, pool table, foosball table, beer pong table, picnic area, lounge area, surfboard repair shop and just to top it off a simple stroll down to the beach to find an awesome wave break called ‘Kitchen Windows’ and Chris Bond called it when he said the best wave of our lives is out there for us and that was the case for most of us.
We had had a tough week previously in Plett as a direct easterly swell battered the coastline and we had some big surf and challenging conditions to deal with so the team was relieved to be back in waves that were a lot more user friendly and easier to manage. During our stay we decided to take a short drive back down the coast to a spot called Hullets in St. Francis in what was arguably the best overall group session of our stay as everybody had a few great rides and really made the most of the favourable conditions.
Coming all the way to J-Bay we couldn’t not surf the legendary point and in our 2nd week we headed down to Lower Point and surfed a section of the worlds best right hand point break and reminiscing with the guys about it later it was largely agreed that Lower Point was the best wave break of the whole trip thus far.
When we weren’t surfing in J-Bay we were thinking about surfing and when we weren’t doing that we managed to get some retail therapy in as just about every surf brand has a factory outlet in J-Bay and the whole team got some great deals on merchandise that is usually very expensive. This is just another perk of visiting this lovely little surfing town.
On every stop of our trip we make a real effort to get involved in the community and this stop was no different as we joined the Supertubes Surfing Foundation in a nearby disadvantaged community. They encourage the kids in the community to collect recycling and to once a week bring it down to their premises where it is weighed and exchanged for credit which the kids can then use to buy things from the Supertubes Surfing Foundation shop which includes items like clothing, toys, sporting equipment, stationery, staple food products, school books and more. We helped them sort through recycling and manage the crowds that came through to partake in this great initiative.
On the extra mural side of things we got to do a couple really fun things in and around J-Bay. A couple of the girls in the group are very talented equestrians so we thought we’d spend an afternoon going for a trot on the beach. For the equestrians amongst us it was a lovely gallop along untouched coastline in golden sunshine and for the rest of us it was a death defying rollercoaster ride which left us bruised and battered for the next few days. Jokes aside though it was a great experience which everybody thoroughly enjoyed.
We spent the afternoon down at the sand dunes to try our hand at Sand Boarding. The instructor was quite adamant in explaining that Sand Boarding is not like Surfing or Snow Boarding and that we should at no stage attempt to turn or carve sand. I had to find out for myself and soon found myself face down in the sand feeling embarrassed. After a few tumbles we all got the hang of it and made our way up to the big dune which was a lot more intimidating and some of us decided to go down on our stomachs.
One of our best days as a group was spent down at the waterfalls where we braai’d (South African barbeque) and swam and just spent the day chilling out. There were a few adrenalin charged activities along the river though with the option to Zip-line or rock jump which a few of us did otherwise it was a relaxing day bathing next to the river singing, playing guitar and reminiscing about our journey so far and bonding over all the great experiences we’ve already shared together as a group.
Our time in J-bay has really solidified the friendships amongst us all and bodes well for the rest of our journey together.
Luke Geldenhuys