Tag: surf

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East is gonna BLOW in KZN Today by Adam Kamdar in Durban

East is gonna BLOW in KZN Today by Adam Kamdar in Durban

East is gonna BLOW in KZN Today by Adam Kamdar in Durban

East is gonna BLOW in KZN Today by Adam Kamdar in Durban: Although these big east winds might wreck the ocean completely, they do make for really lekker summer weather. KZN is gonna bask in typical Natal summer conditions all day today. With a welcome sea breeze as the day heats up.

Over to Adam, on the spot in Durban…

Thank you Adam! Check out Township Hyper’s Black November promotions right HERE on their Facebook page.

Surfing

Unless you want to go surfing of course. The waves completely break down when this wind blows. Durban in particular gets shut down fast with it’s north facing beaches. The south and north coasts are much the same although there are some places you can find a nook or cranny to hide away in. And catch some unruly waves leftover from the last few days big ocean.

Fishing

Same story…we are right at the end of the winter gamefish season. Garrick, kob, brusher and snoek still hanging around and enjoying the somewhat stable conditions we are in right now.

22 Days until Shad Season opens!

Township Hyper are running their Black November promotions on their Facebook Page which is available at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064584376009.

Diving

Nothing to report at the moment but The Bear will be checking in with his Friday weekend dive and conditions report later this afternoon.

Synoptic

Aside from an ominous-looking low pressure sneaking across the landmass from the west, we seem to be ok for weather and wind for the weekend. That low is hemmed in on both sides by 1024 grade high-pressures indicating some stability to rely on.

The next cold front will hit Cape Town tomorrow and over the weekend. So we look to be clear of moisture-rich air until that front reaches us next week. It looks to be quite a serious front with a long reach right up to the continent this time. And should arrive Wednesday or so. The little South West puff we are gonna get on Saturday afternoon is a result of the little low-pressure hanging about. This is gonna make for a magnificent Sunday.

And of course – Monday!

Sardines and Sighting Maps

It has been a fantastic sardine run this memorable 2024. And all the action has been logged right here on The Sardine News. This year’s map has been viewed 191,000 times and just keeps growing.

Which led us to decide to keep the map live. And keep adding unique marine animal sightings and events. That occurs non-stop all year round. This year we started to log more whale and dolphin sightings. And we even had a shipwreck! And a freaking tornado! And recently a capsized KZNSB boat! We have been updating the map with recent catches too…

These events will from now on be included in the Sardine News Sightings Map for 2024. And on the 1 January 2025, we shall start all over again.

Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps. Great for a windy day like today to research. With instructions to install The Sardine News right on your phone or desktop.

2024 Sardine Map

2023 Sardine Map

2022 Sardine Map

2021 Sardine Map

Channels

Brucifire Surf Retorts – highly entertaining  surf reporting

Master Watermen – news from way down deep

The Sardine News – neva miss a single  sardine

FishBazaruto – 1000 pounds plus

MYDO Tackle Talk – highly technical  sport fishing

Surf Launching Southern Africa – getting out there safely

Water Woes – complain about your municipality here

Websites

umzimkulu.co.za – self-catering right on the Umzimkulu River
umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za –  will get you right out and onto the edge
thesardine.co.za – never miss a single sardine
masterwatermen.co.za – news from deep down
fishbazaruto.com – your dreams are out there

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East vs West as the Winds Battle it Out in KZN

East vs West Winds in Full Swing

East vs West as the Winds Battle it Out in KZN

East vs West as the Winds Battle it Out in KZN

Adam Kamdar reports in from a blustery Durban morning down on the beach today. It is not a very inviting ocean out there at the moment as the east tries its level best to outblow the west that is coming tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y_cgsdUm7s?rel=0

This is the windy month of August and it doesn’t really get better until we are well into spring.

If you also don’t want to get out there today, but you are out and about, pop into Township Hyper and check out the new kit. Loomis reels are on special. The Warrior and the Shockwave. Okuma have a bunch of new rods on the showroom floor. And there is the practical Mebao range of tackle storage solutions.

You can learn more and get in touch easily on the Township Hyper Facebook Page. Click HERE to get there!

Surfing

We have been mentioning the onslaught of perfect conditions and waves at Jeffreys Bay recently. And here is some hard evidence of the good times.

More surfing at https://brucifire.co.za.

Mozambique

Tofo, Inhambane: The big high pressure sitting over the east of South Africa pushed our long-awaited cold front right out to sea. Where it turned into a powerful onshore wind here instead of the offshore we need.

The divers are out there but surfing and fishing are gonna be tough over the next few days. Luckily we have this report from Duarte further up in Vilanculos, to keep busy with for now.

FishBazaruto.com had some dates to shift around resulting in the 22 to 28 November becoming available. This is peak season big momma fishing, follow the link to learn more.

Peak Season Dates Available – 22nd to 28th November 2024 – FishBazaruto.com

If you happen to be in Inhambane and more specifically Tofo…Wednesday evenings are Timbila Evenings!

Sardine Maps

Having intel to make the right decisions can save you hours and hours of frivolous  sardine hunting. We have taken great care to log the activity of each  sardine run since 2021. These records are available for anyone to look at.

If you study the maps year to year, you will see that right now we are only just in the middle of good  sardine conditions. And that in previous years catches were made right into the summer months.

Sardine Map 2024

Sardine Map 2023

Sardine Map 2021

Channels

https://youtube.com/@Brucifire – highly entertaining  surf reporting

https://youtube.com/@thesardinenews – neva miss a single  sardine

https://youtube.com/@fishbazaruto – 1000 pounds plus

https://youtube.com/@mydotackletalk – highly technical  sport fishing

https://youtube.com/@surflaunchingsouthernafrica – getting out there safely

https://youtube.com/@waterwoes – complain here

Websites

https://umzimkulu.co.za – self-catering right on the Umzimkulu River
https://umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za –   sardine run coming up
https://thesardine.co.za – never miss a single   sardine
https://masterwatermen.co.za – news from deep down
https://brucifire.co.za –  surf and conditions reporting
https://fishbazaruto.com – your dreams are out there
https://mydofishinglures.co.za – technical  sport fishing

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Surfing Mozambique’s surprise left-hander

Surfing Mozambiques surprise left

Surfing Mozambique’s surprise left-hander

Cyclone Dineo caused serious havoc in a lot of people’s lives, leaving behind destruction that will take years to rectify. But it also left us a proper left-hander. Right in the corner at The Dragon in Tofinho.

After imagining many times that one day a left would magically appear in Mozambique, it would appear out of nowhere – be a top to bottom pitching barreling rip wave that made you work and sweat and surf and surf and surf…well, it appeared. The featured picture is more to show where it is, there was only Captain Gallop and myself in the water AGAIN! So no more pics, but the main factor in this miraculous birth of a wave is very clear in the seascape. THERE IS NO SAND.

Right from Praia do Rocha in the south, past Backdoor, around the point at Tofinho, across the Dragon, into the bay, and all along to Tofo. There is nothing. Beaches have vanished completely. The football pitch sized beach on the wild side (if you can call it that), of Praia do Tofo, is gone. You have to walk half up the dune at high tide. It’s an amazing spectacle. The coastline in Mozambique is so subject to change by the elements.

Back to the top to bottom pitching barreling rip wave that made you work and sweat and surf and surf and surf.

The first day my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I saw it in the perfect blue warm conditions we came here for. It was hammering through. Head high and mean.

What had happened, is that the removal of all the sand scoured out the bay at The Dragon, right back to the primary dune. Exposing a reef! So the waves that come off The Dragon point reef (which is well surfed every high tide every day when this happens), spill into the corner, the water escapes north and drags across this reborn reef and straight out into the oncoming swells. Ok the current was mean, but that’s what makes these kind of waves stand up and go so fast.

We had to stop surfing eventually!

The next day was the same as the tide barely moved being in full neaps. Luckily for the neaps as the current would have been undo-able in spring tides. Water moves so fast with the 4m spring tide range around this area.

The next day was the same.

And the next.

And the next, until it was time to make travel arrangements and go West.

We left it there for any takers. A cooking powerful hollow EMPTY left in Mozambique.

PS except for Tofinho, the other waves are all still operating just fine. Backdoor is a bit wild as the lack of sand means it breaks right onto that shelf. I still cannot get over the power that bay holds. At 10 foot the ground shakes when the sets break – huge perfect a-frames that will shake your bones. The bay in Tofo has many different faces through the tides with the sandbanks producing long running lefts and rights at low tide and playful shorebreaks at high.

For any other surfing info or accommodation or tour options, buzz Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com…or click here for more.

https://www.facebook.com/thesardine.co.za/

 

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Casa Algodoal for perfect waves…

Casa Algodoal for perfect waves

image
Matt VW captured this sick shot of Dustin “Krusty” Volker sitting tight in the green room adjoining Casa Algodoal. Great shot Matt! Copyright Matt VW. All Rights Reserved.

Dustin Volker, in the proverbial green room, not far from Casa Algodoal, in Tofo, Inhambane, Mozambique, this week already. Casa Algodoal is top drawer modern holiday living…with unobstructed views out over Praia da Tofo.
Tofo is a favourite beach destination, and is scattered with backpackers, surfers, divers and travelers out in the warm winter sun looking for adventure.

The diving is world class and many Scuba operators offer all kinds of diving and all kinds of reefs. Humpback whales, dolphins and whale sharks frequent the clear warm waters of Inhambane, and you don’t have to blow bubbles to swim with them…take an ocean safari and snorkel if you like!

The famous calm clear waters of Inhambane Bay are home to seahorses, dugongs, starfish, panzy shells…all sorts, and the bay is great for swimming and snorkeling with whole family. And you can get a boat to the islands or Linga Linga across the bay.

The “manne” can book deep sea fishing trips to target tuna, wahoo, king mackerel and billfish…black marlin, striped marlin and sailfish are all taken off Tofo regularly…which is just down the coast from the famed Bazaruto Archipelago.

Inhambane town is a wonder on it’s own, attractive old buildings, some from centuries ago, characterise the overall state of Mozambique. The place can be challenging but if you maintain your senses and take it on…it’s extremely rewarding.

Contact Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com to make a booking.

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Banana Beach estuary cleanup video #2

Banana Beach estuary cleanup

Local surfers have started cleaning the completely congested Banana Beach estuary. Water Hyacinth took over the blind estuary in a matter of a week or so. The Injambili River just north has also been taken over these alien plants.

When they have completely covered the surface of the water body, fish cannot get to the surface and in the shallows get caught up by the root system of the floating plants.

The worldwide problem of hyacinth can only really be combatted by physical removal, in a manner that does not affect the environment too much. This means getting in and getting dirty…

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