Foam to the horizon: 80ft waves batter the KZN Coastline

Foam to the horizon: 80ft waves batter the KZN Coastline

“Hey Roosta, you better get ready to reverse pal!”, was me as I saw the first real set come charging in towards us in the gloom.

It has broken up into the carparks before and this was threatening to drown us as the huge waves towered up blotting out the horizon and sending plumes of spray hundreds of feet into the air.

Luckily it’s not as big as The Tides of March swell, but it’s up there. The surge from the set turned the bay and channel into a maelstrom but never made it up the pathway. With Roosta’s Hawaii experience, it was good to guage his reaction, as a reference to that place.

“We have to surf it at this size all the time. At least two or three times a week. We surf Sunset wild and woolly just to stay in the game.” – Roosta describing the scene.

“But the thing is, that theres a hundred guys, all prepared for this type of surfing, ready and raring to go, at any time!”

“Then the real hardcore guys, they surf the outer reefs, paddling traditional style, a kilometre or more, just to get to the huge waves. We offered a guy a ride once, we were on a power boat, but he just went – ‘Nah, paddling only for me’!”