Warner Beach / Baggies

Durban & KwaZulu-Natal

Auszug aus dem KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE:

Down south, Palm Beach is the region’s best windsurfing spot. Wind often arrives here first, perfectly cross-shore in both common directions and generally 5-10 knots stronger than further north. Swell breaks 100-200m offshore on flattish reefs so the shorebreak’s seldom bad. Messy in NE wind but glassy with excellent riding in SW. It can be hard to get out back in a big swell as waves break on ever deeper reefs offshore, plus there are a few rocks at low tide. Scottsburg offers point break wavesailing in NE wind / S-SE swell, but rips and launching over the rocky reef can be tricky in light winds. Kites launch to the far north of the rivermouth. Sail south of the headland if it’s blowing SW. Within half an hour of Durban, Warner Beach / Baggies – or 'Baggies’ after the take-away restaurant – is a favourite windsurfing location with an epic point break. The shorebreak can get big and there’s a nasty rip upwind of the rocks, so stay downwind of them. Durban Bluff enjoys typically bigger surf than central Durban, and can often be sailable when the wind’s too light in town. The wave is powerful, breaking on a reef that runs through the shorebreak. Good set-up with showers and parking. Bayhead is the Boardsailing Club of Durban’s private spot, sailable on all but the lowest spring tides – neaps mean standing depth water. Both common winds blow cross-shore at the launch but the marked shipping channel limits runs to about 500m. Vetch’s Beach offers good entry-level coastal sailing – NE is onshore and a reef breaks up the worst windswell at low tide. Shorebreak can get big but the sailing’s mostly bump-and-jump either side of a reef, which has claimed many fins. SW is offshore and very gusty close inshore. Further up the same stretch of sand, 1km north of Suncoast Casino and just near the Durban Sharks rugby stadium, Durban Kitebeach, Country Club Beach – or Country Club Beach – is a rock-free beach-break that’s well set-up with parking, showers and a grass rigging area. NE blows onshore with a rip and messy waves. Southerly winds usually produce medium waves and shorebreak: SW is cross-off, gusty and light on the inside but with clean waves; SSE offers the cleanest riding. If the wind’s blowing southerly Umdloti South Side quarter of an hour north on the M4 offers a very clean point break. Good parking with showers, but rocks litter the beach and shorebreak. Umdloti North Side breaks left so suits a NE wind, it’s an advanced spot with generally more wind and swell than Durban plus another heavy shorebreak. Just north of Umdloti, the water’s super-flat at tiny La Mercy Lagoon. Parking’s tricky and the area is congested with fishermen though. 55km north of Durban, Tinley Manor Beach offers a lesser-known point break in a NE wind. Park on the point. Richards Bay main beach has big powerful waves yet no major currents to worry about. Just inside the harbour there’s flat water in SW winds at Pelican Island and beginner wavesailing when a big swell breaks gently on a sandbank about 200m offshore. Way up north towards the border with Mozambique, drive onto the vast sickle-shaped beach at Sodwana Bay and pick a launch at the region’s best kite spot. The prevailing NE blows most consistently up here, and there are myriad launching options – just watch out for dive boats. It’s onshore bump-and-jump for windsurfing except in Berg winds (Aug-Sep) when a morning NW blows port-tack cross-shore.
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Kite and Windsurfing Guide
Nur 0,5 h von Durban liegt mit Warner Beach / Baggies ein Pointbreak epischer Qualität – nach dem dortigen Take-Away auch 'Baggies'genannt.
Within half an hour of Durban, Warner Beach / Baggies – or Baggies' after the take-away restaurant – is a favourite windsurfing location with an…
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