Popular Surfing Destinations in Africa
Surfer holding board looking out at the waves
Photo by: Tobias Nii Kwatei Quartey
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THE GROWING POPULARITY OF SURFING IN SENEGAL, GHANA AND SOUTH AFRICA
While there is a wide array of exciting and captivating watersports today, one that seems to get immense popularity and growth, especially in the African continent, is surfing.
While surfing certainly grabs headlines in Tel Aviv, Israel, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Lisbon, Portugal, the African continent with its fantastic beaches, is now making similar headlines.
Over the past decades, the African continent has seen an upsurge in their participation in many other sporting activities such as golfing, tennis, basketball, and skydiving. But there has also been a growing interest in surfing.
According to Surfertoday, a popular surfing news website, the surfing industry is worth an estimated ten billion dollars. With such astronomical figures, Africa could be on the lookout to tap in.
Although the surfing industry in Africa is still in its infancy, having a beautiful coastline of over 19,000 miles, things certainly look promising. With some aggressive investments and the proper publicity and media coverage, Africa could become a surfing hotspot in a few years.
Mapping Africa’s Surfing Locations
Surfing in Senegal, Ghana, and South Africa
Countries in the African continent are making moves, hosting international surfing tournaments and competitions. Some of the countries spearheading the industry in Africa are Senegal, Ghana, and South Africa.
Surfing in Senegal
The first popular hotspot on this list is Senegal. With excellent spots to surf like Yoff Beach and Dakar. For example, Dakar's geographic location exposes it to the northern and southern hemisphere swell patterns, making it an excellent place for surfing all year round. A favorite spot, N'gor Island, for instance, is cherished for surfs, but without the large crowds.
Photo by: Janilson Furtado
Surfing in Ghana
Unlike football, surfing in Ghana is still in its infant stage and one with huge potential. With approximately 340 miles of coastline, Ghana manages to attract tourists from all over the world. Among other things, Ghana possesses many surf spots such as Busua, west of Takoradi, a small fishing village. Now tagged as the country's surfing capital. All of which is a testament to the creation of a wide array of shops, schools, as well as surf camps, now present across the village.
Among other things, the wave's swells range from two to six feet, reaching heights of eight feet between April through to September. Other surf spots in Ghana include Dixcove, Takoradi, Mutrakni. Most of which come with swell sizes of about three to five feet.
Surfing in South Africa
The third nation on the list is South Africa, one of the pioneers of surfing in Africa and a huge tourist attraction for surfers worldwide. All of which is a testament to their very developed surf culture. One of the main hotspots for surfing in this nation is the Jeffery's Bay, ranked as one of the world's top 10 surfing spots.
Jeffreys Bay has a swell consistency of 90% and an average swell height of 9ft. With South Africas over 1200 hundred miles of coastline and warm climatic conditions, it has earned its nickname, Surfer's Paradise.