Alternative surfing accommodation in Tofo
With the flurry of investment that has been going on here in Tofo the past decade, surfing accommodation in Tofo presents many options nowadays. Surfing accommodation defined as being in close proximity to all the breaks in the area – there are 14 with names here in Tofo so far, many more without.
Tofinho is the main draw card but with surf tours, jet skis and SUPs littering the once lonely line-up, it is nothing more than a decoy to hide what really happens around here.
Accessibility is one issue. Local knowledge the other.
We go by boat. And I live on these waters.
Our 4WDs will get us to at least some of the places we like to surf. The others are way out to sea. Sandbanks that run for miles. Superbanks without names. An ever changing stretching swathe of sandy coastline that goes for miles and gets moulded and brushed continually by weird currents, backwashes and rips. Interrupted occasionally by a cranking right hand reef break or slab or superbank.
If you are planning a trip over here and aim to score some really-hard to describe freaks of nature type waves, then time it with us.
February it hots up as the cyclonic systems hanging around Madagascar start to line up and spit the swells to us in the exact right direction. It’s a short period hard ground swell that hardly lets up. Paddle outs and takeoffs are brutal. You better be fit. Very hard barreling waves that are super fast over shallow sand. Hectic sections, but makeable. Thick lips. Sweet beatings. Roasties.
You gonna need 3 weeks or more, we don’t like coming back at this time, through to June, when the south swells and systems take over again. Boring. Back to Jbay. And Tofinho. Etc…But you can join us wherever we are easily enough. We arrange all of that for you. Just fly into Inhambane airport.
You got to come prepared for survival. Waterproof everything. Your own medical kit. All manners of communication, charging and entertainment equipment. Very strong boards and leashes. Tent and hammock. We gonna be camping, sleeping on the boat, the beach, and then a well-deserved lodge a few nights every now and then.
We gonna catch our meals and eat meat at restaurants we encounter. There are many local stores that carry beer, milk, fresh veggies, fruit etc…wherever we go. It’s an amazing lifestyle that for a few months of the year also produces waves like you will dream about forever after.
To get in touch, email me on umzimkulu@gmail.com
