The Turkish coastline isn't exactly known for its roughness except for a very few spots on the West Coast; and the Black Sea coastline has very strong rip tides. With these reasons combined with my laziness, I never got to try surfing until the age of 25. Little did I know that I came to one of the most popular surfing spots in the world.
Compared to Turkey, South Africa is very generous with the national holidays. If I remember correctly, it was the National Women's Day of 2017. My friends behind whom I was terribly lagging on Devil's Peak suggested that we go surfing to Muizenberg on that day. Being the "yes man" that I am, I didn't even hesitate for a second.
Muizenberg- although now a super-chill side of Cape Town- has a significant place in South Africa's history. It was a scene to a very short battle between the British and the Dutch forces during the 18th century, which resulted in the defeat of the Dutch forces and the surrender of the Dutch Governor. This battle was the beginning of the British control in the Cape Peninsula and the surrounding area. There are a lot of historical remains from that era, including the Rhodes Cottage that Cecil Rhodes (British Prime Minister of the Cape Colony) purchased as a holiday house. Source
Besides the heated military fights, Muizenberg also became the center of a fun activity: surfing. Surfing became very popular in Muizenberg ever since the beginning of the 20th century. Agatha Christie- the famous author of thriller books- was one of those people who developed her surfing skills in Cape Town by going to Muizenberg everyday while she was on a nursing duty in Cape Town. Source
It was me, Besir, Onur, Ricardo, a very beautiful girl from the States that Ricardo somehow (if not by mistake) matched on Tinder and her bestie. The six of us took the train to Muizenberg in the morning. Which reminds me now, it was also the day that I took the train in Cape Town for the first time. So, it was a day of "the first times".
It was a very warm and sunny day, probably around 21-22 celcius during the day. It was expectedly packed with families because of the national holiday.
First things first, we went into the Corner Surf Shop. This was one of the 3-4 surf shops lined up along the shore. We rented wet suits and the surf boards for 100 Rand per person for 2 hours. The owner of the shop told us that we could also get surf classes for 300 Rands per person but luckily the American girl was going to give us some briefing.
Before diving straight in, she demonstrated how to lie on the board,paddle and stand up in one go. Obviously it was very easy to do since the sand was stable.
I was actually a bit worried about the possibility of sharks because I read some news about occasional attacks which resulted in shark bites. These would especially occur in the southern coast of Western Cape. I also heard that even though there are warning sirens in Muizenberg, they sound just like the train sirens when a train is approaching. So, I was thinking about how to distinguish the two sounds before losing a chunk of my body.
Also, it was going to be the first time that I dipped my foot in the Atlantic Ocean. I was preparing to contract all my muscles to hold my scream against the freezing cold... until I realized that it wasn't actually that cold! Yes, my body was covered with the wet suit except the head, the hands and the feet but they didn't feel cold either. I mean, it was the "it's cold but you get used to it" kind of cold. This made sense, because even though we were still in the Atlantic Ocean, Muizenberg was part of False Bay, so it wasn't really affected by the cold currents flowing far out in the ocean. In addition, the waves weren't hectic. This is why Muizenberg is very suitable for beginners.
Nevertheless, it was such a mission to lie still on the board without sliding off, let alone standing up. The board was very slippery, so it took me half an hour just to find my balance on it. The other issue was that I had to paddle really really fast and countinuously so that the approaching wave would have started carrying me along. Most of the time, either the paddling wasn't fast enough so I capsized or the wave wasn't strong enough to drag me along.
Eventually, I did manage to catch some waves but I was mostly kneeling. I had to do that standing up very fast and instantly. I could only do it once or twice, each for 1-2 seconds (more like femtoseconds?) followed by falling into the water.
We were already very exhausted after the first hour, so we couldn't even wait for two hours to return the boards. However, we didn't let go of them without taking some photos of the victory.
Afterwards, we sat inside one of the pubs in the area and ordered some french fries which took hours to prepare.
I also didn't forget to take the photos of the iconic colorful cabins. I just love how Capetownians like to paint things! Can you imagine that these are actually nothing but changing rooms?
So, that concludes my first surfing experience. Later on, I surfed in Elands Bay up the West Coast (for 10 minutes) and in Jeffrey's Bay in Eastern Cape, but Muizenberg will always have a special room in my heart.
Who likes surfing? Did you have difficulty in your first time? Drop me a comment below.
Cheers Cheers!