Surfing
There is more to J-Bay than Supertubes
Sure it's the most famous, but there are some pretty fine other breaks in the area.
When Supers is on but just too crowded, there are other waves to surf.
Magnatubes is just around the corner, and in its day gets really good. It’s often uncrowded, with just a few mellow locals out. Having said that, they might appear mellow, but normal JBay rules apply here as well. Be cool, and don't be selfish. You’ll get some waves. Magnas prefers a small swell and loves a higher tide.
There is a beach break between Magnas and Boneyards that sometimes gets good. It’s more of a summer wave, when the onshore breaks up the swells and forms little sand banks here.
Boneyards sits at the top of the point, and while it gets pretty good often enough, it is quite heavy and quite localized. It’s not really suggested that you paddle out there as if you own it. You will be addressed.
Impossibles sits at the end of the Supertubes section, and some very competent surfers choose to surf this section only. It does barrel, but it is the trickiest section of the wave because a wipeout here on a good day has possibly dire consequences.
Tubes is hollow, and gets fun and uncrowded on good days, but it is a short and intense ride, with no space to get flowing and carving.
Lower Point however, gives you all the time in the world to get your speed up, to carve on the face and practice your moves, and to have fun in JBay without the mad hassle that is sometimes Supers. Point does get crowded, but it’s a different crowded to Supers, which can get dysfunctional on a good days’ surf.
Albatross is at the bottom of the point, and it also can get quite good and is always uncrowded. Sometimes, when the waves are fun and of medium size, Kelly Slater make a surprise appearance here, getting a few quest waves by himself. Quiet that is until the paparazzi find out where he is, and arrive en masse in the small car park and start setting up tripods and etc.
On the other side of town is Kitchen Windows, a fun sandstone reef that runs both left and right. It’s a great wave for beginners or for surfers who don’t like the hype of the whole Supers vibe. Plenty of beginners and of long boarders and SUP surfers give it a go out there.
A couple of clicks away in the direction of Cape Town lies the legendary Bruces Beauties. Discovered in 1966 by Bruce Brown, the wave rarely breaks, needing quite a tight squeeze swell direction to get around the corner but when it does get good it gets really good. Right up the point is the Killer section that love a spring low tide and a bit of a bigger swell, while the regular Bruces section, still a ghost of its’ former self, has moments of grandeur on perfect swells and tides. The only problem is that the swell direction is now so clearly defined and known that when it starts looking like it might get good the whole world and their dogs arrive in the tiny carpark. Some of them spill over to the lefts of Huletts Reef, bit neither that reef or the Bruces set-up can handle much of a crowd.
Around the next bay are the popular Seal Point and the Seals Beachie. Always got some sort of wave to ride, always crowded, and always quite slack and soft, the Seals environment is a good fall back if you’re desperate for a surf and will paddle out and surf anything. Point likes a high tide, beach likes a low tide, and there are a bunch of other waves within striking distance that we can’t talk about…