Tag: south coast

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Umzumbe Backpacker options

Justin Maisch about to paddle Umzumbe backpacker options

Umzumbe Backpacker options

The good old days of living out of a camper van, or in a tent…carpark to carpark…in the sixties, gave us the dream in the first place. Those days are long gone now, and all we have to compensate for the lost nostalgia is the backpacker scene.

Umzumbe back in those olden days was heaven. Nobody. Not even cops!

Surfers lived in the carparks. For weeks/months/years at a time! Surfing. Fishing. Diving. Living.

But that golden birth of the surfing adventure is now way gone. Everywhere seems to be blown up by now…

Including Umzumbe.

And even then, backpacker spots, which were just that, are now, star worthy. If you don’t got en suite for the lady, you are nowhere in the backpacker business. Yuppies and all. There are now a bunch of accommodation offerers around the place, queuing up to serve you a marginal percentage slice of the dream. They even got hot showers?!

Justin Maisch and his highly motivated wife Hayley, run the Pumula Surf Camp. The closest thing to the dream, since Justin’s Dad lived and surfed and fished and dived at the very same beach. Peter Maisch. Nuff said.

Justin works at Wedge Surfboards, where he and his ilk have been thumping out bespoke surfboards of the elitest type, for decades. Justin, Hayley and Roosta run surf tours and coaching, for the lucky few. It’s a small and unique operation. You need to book way in advance. And, you can get hands on and help shape your own surfboard. Packages available.

So, there are remnants of the golden era of surfing lying around the south coast of Natal, you just got to look really hard, through the jungle, to find the real deal.

The rest is just imported capitalism looking for a place to grow money.

Enjoy another surf video shot near Umzumbe, on the way to the Transkei Wild Coast – featuring Calv and The Roosta, remembering the fun times of yesteryear…

Get in touch with us for advice about Umzumbe Backpacker options.

We will make sure you get the right vibe!

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Surfing the real Flintstones

Surfing the real Flintstones

After getting in a good session surfing at Flintstones Too, a few days later and we got back on the jungle trail around Port Shepstone. This time the path led straight to the real Flintstones and the guns were out.

Roosta, Calvin and Buzz took on the shallow reef ledge with lefts and rights coming in like a little miniature North Shore. The spot seems to hold semblance to a bunch of others close by – powerful, fast and challenging.

It has been a fantastic summer so far, the swells have been thick and fast – we even had a few bigger days at the end of January. In fact, speculation in the carpark calls the summer a better winter thus far.

The offshores have been holding way into the morning, and the water has been over 24 degrees most of the time. Crystal clear too! The fishing conditions are superb and many a spinning angler can be seen at our favourite beaches up and down the KZN South Coast. Today was another surfing treat as Hibberdene turned on the juice for an entire low tide – barrells in summer!

These videos are part of a series documenting the Wedge Blacktop series of surfboards – stay posted for more Surfing the South Coast in summer!

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Light the Fire

Bungee jumping, jet skiing and charitable donations planned for Light the Fire familiarisation trips

light the fire

The second annual Light the Fire lifestyle biking event has a non-stop line-up of familiarisation trips which will take a number of VIP guests to the tourism hotspots of the South Coast from Thursday 28 April to Saturday 30 April.

 

“This will be a forerunner to the main Light the Fire event which runs from 30 April to 1 May,” explained event organiser, Sinethemba Dhlomo of Integrated Concepts. “This will give us an opportunity to showcase the amazing venues, sights and activities on offer in and around the Paradise of the Zulu Kingdom.”

 

Participants of the familiarisation tourism excursions will include the main sponsors – the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development Tourism & Environmental Affairs and Tourism KZN, among others – as well as VIP celebrity bikers, Motorcycle Club (MCC) presidents, media and other invited stakeholders.

 

On Thursday 28 April, visitors will get to experience the Wild Swing at the top of Lehr’s Waterfall where bungee jumping or ziplining 165m over Oribi Gorge will start the weekend with a serious adrenaline rush. This will be followed by a game drive, or horse ride for the adventurous, at Lake Eland Game Reserve and brunch at Leopard Rock overlooking a quintessentially African view. The day will ease off with a sunset boat cruise, snorkelling, jet skiing and shark cage diving at Shelly Beach and sundowners at the upmarket Stages Restaurant & Lounge, promising 270-degree ocean views from Port Shepstone’s beachfront.

 

Day two will have a gentler start with breakfast at Mac Banana, a unique shopping, food and entertainment destination with a fantastic Lifestyle Centre. Here visitors can stroll through the food emporium, participate in paintball, quad biking and adventure golf or peruse the art gallery and animal farm. The day’s highlight will be a mass charity ride to Gamalakhe Sports’ Ground to hand over a cheque to the Gamalakhe Community Development Foundation which assists the local community with uniforms, school shoes, tertiary fees, career training and business opportunities. Ending off the day will be a fantastic rooftop pool party at Hillbillion Estate where guests can enjoy a complimentary three-course dinner, welcome drinks and Top DJ line up to start off the lifestyle entertainment of Light the Fire 2016.

 

The following two days will be a spectacular motoring extravaganza with a motorcycle manufacturer exhibition, custom bikes show and shine, spinning and stunt area, drifting, kids’ action zone, motorcycle club village, novice and advanced riding demonstrations, live stage music and other entertainment all staged at the scenic Dezzi Raceway, Marburg in Port Shepstone. There will also be amazing spinning, wheelies and stunts by Seipei ‘Biker Queen’ Mashugane, Alfred ‘King Donut’ Matamela, Brian Capper and other MCC riders. A much anticipated race is the spectacular showdown of bike vs car with Africa’s fastest brother, Gugu Zulu, behind the wheel of a Backdraft Racing Cobra. There will also be a VIP precinct offering upmarket hospitality for the signature biker lifestyle including cigar and whiskey lounge, photo booth, sushi bar and prize giveaways.

 

During the two-day event there will be a number of cash prizes for winners of the best showcase and/or stunt man/woman in a variety of categories:

 

Motorcycle club with most attendees – R10 000

Best show-and-shine motorbike – R2 500

Best motorbike anthem – R2 500

Best wheelie – 1st place: R5 000; 2nd place: R3 000; 3rd place: R2 000

Best donut – 1st place: R5 000; 2nd place: R3 000; 3rd place: R2 000

 

To enter the best wheelie or best donut, participants must upload a video by 15 April 2016 of their stunt onto our Facebook page; Light The Fire SA with their biker name and name of motorcycle club. Semi-finalists will then be shortlisted to perform the donut or wheelie at the main event.

 

Tickets for Light the Fire at Dezzi Raceway are available at Computicket – R80 for general, R50 for pensioners and children under 12 years and R350 for VIP tickets. Limited VIP weekend passes, which include the Rooftop Pool pre-party at Hillbillion Estate on 29 April 2016, are only available frominfo@thesociallink.net

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Jason Heyne spearfishing report

Jason Heyne spearfishing report

Although this was from Friday, the gallery gives you a clear look at what is going on up and down the North and South Coast of KZN Natal.

 

“The conditions this week have been fair with the game fish action being sporadic and the sardines not really putting in a showing. Apparently the garrick are coming out again south and some cuda and snoek north. Broderick had a good day today with snoek cuda and even a GT! There is good viz up and down the coast but ground surge is quite heavy and some swell and a north east wind predicted tomorrow. Sunday looks awesome conditions wise. Good luck to everyone diving the natal champs shore dive comp tomorrow.” – by Jason Heyne

 

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Late January saltwater fishing forecast for the South Coast of KZN

Late January saltwater fishing forecast for the South Coast of KZN

January is a fantastic time for gamefishing along the KZN South Coast. The ‘couta will have started moving down to us again – hopefully we will catch even a portion of the huge fish taken on ski-boats last year – most notably down south of Port Edward, in the Transkei. The beginning of the season is normally characterised by shoal ‘couta, or “darts”. These fish used to come through in huge shoals, but last year, there were literally no “darts” caught anywhere. Most of the fish were huge! This can be a worry as it seems that over the past few decades, the “darts” have petered right off. It could be that we have missed a few generations due to over fishing elsewhere in the Indian Ocean, but either way, we have to watch our ‘couta fishery very carefully, or it will dissappear.
Natal Snoek (Queen Mackeral) also favour this time of the year on the KZN South Coast – they can actually be caught year round in our waters – but from now until winter, we can hope to encounter them in shoals and on the feed. Queen mackeral generally enjoy the same conditions as ‘couta. They are easily caught on small feathers and spoons, and when they are on, they are on!

Continue reading Late January saltwater fishing forecast for the South Coast of KZN

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