The swell is 10-12ft coming out of the southwest in 5 wave sets.

“We gonna battle to find manageable waves in this swell guys!” chirps Jules.
“What about G Reef?” says Glenn. “I could really handle 10ft plus lefts peeling for 300m!”

The crew’s minds are working now, mentally ticking off the possibilities.

“We gonna surf Wild Point, guys”, announces Louis. “It’s spring low tide”, I mumble to no one in particular. “Then we’ll get it cooking on the push,” says Louis.

“OK, your car, your call” is the consensus.

Louis skilfully points the Hyundai northeast, and we’re on the road.

A good highway carries us towards the Wild Coast, but this smooth passage is going to get rougher. Oh yes, much rougher. Louis is on his cellphone. “Hello Dave. Listen, we are going to Wild Point. Remain on standby please”.
“Who was that, Louis?” we ask. “My mechanic”, he says.

Thirty minutes later we are on a dirt road, and Louis is practising all his driving skills to find the smoothest section of a dusty road in the middle of nowhere.

Fifty km later we are negotiating a little bridge over a stream that runs onto a remote beach.

A hairpin bend takes us to a lookout spot in a bay.

“Holy mackerel” is the cry as a 6 ft set peels across the inside and runs for a time before bombing out on a shallow sandbar. The boys are out of the car. “That was a bit quick”, I exclaim. “That was a tube ride of note”, we agree.

“Let’s check out the point”, says Louis. “It’s gonna be firing”. This is a bad road, but we negotiate it in record time and move steadily along the trail before bumping to a halt at the tip of the point.

A perfect offshore is warm already and fans a set which rolls in slow motion down the point. Wild Point at last!

“When it’s slow motion it’s bigger than it looks”, say I, the wise one. “Let’s check out the next set”, says Glenn. “It’s only a little overhead”.

The next set looks mellow. Probably get bigger as the tide pushes.

We wax up. The next set is way overhead and it’s a scramble to suit up. We gingerly pick our way along the waters edge where fresh spring water bubbles onto the shingle.

As we stand on the point waiting to jump off, a 6-8ft set roars through. It’s getting bigger! The boys are whooping and screaming.

I leap off the rock after these beasts have peeled past and get out without getting my hair wet.

The others follow but I’m first up on the first wave of the next set. The air rushes past my ears as I paddle like hell, and drop into a beauty. A bottom turn draws me onto a big wall which stands up in front of me. I must use all my skill to pick a high line along a thick wall. It feels like my board is just touching the water surface. My eventual exit far down the line is spectacular as I fly high like a kite surfer! Slow motion waves, my ass.

Whooping and yelling, we fly along fast powerful waves for 3 hours. Exciting drops. Power bottom turns. Carving high-speed top turns. Round tube sections. Jules gets the tube ride of the day.

Not a soul in sight. Good call Louis! This is our wild coast.

Louis and Roger run Dawnpatrol, a surf tour operator based in East London on South Africa’s south east coast. They and their support team move up and down the coast, surfing the best waves on offer between Jeffrey’s Bay and the Natal South Coast. Check out their site on www.dawnpatrol.co.za.

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