Simply looks awesome

So high on my to do list.
January. Fingers crossed anyway.

Anyone been?

I was looking for an article I had read about this place and could not find it again.

It described what it was like to surf this place for an average surfer.

Between the sweep, pro surfers and what he described as wash throughs that ran the point but didnt barrel getting one was pretty tough.

Other articles talk about visiting pros from SA spending two days not making one drop.

Other complication is that you need large swell from the right direction and right winds.

But ....

One wave here could simply be mind blowing.

One lid rider got a barrel for over a km. Apparently he had to sit down and just reflect on what he had just caught.

Surfline description below

While history sections will forever proclaim that Surfing Magazine, Google Earth and a vainglorious Internet geek discovered Skeleton Bay in Namibia, the locals would beg to differ. Ten years prior to Corey Lopez's ridiculous wave, they were surfing it, or attempting to surf it. Emails were bandied about often enough between a few hardy Namibian locals and the South African surfing mag editors, telling them about the spot, inviting them up, begging them to have a look. Being the dumb, unbelieving fools that the editor's were at the time (me) they never took the offer. When Corey's wave was revealed to the world it, arguably, had a similar effect on the collective surfing consciousness that Laird's Millennium Wave had - no one believed either waves were possible. Have a look at Corey's wave again sometime - .
For Skeleton Bay to come alive it needs a pretty specific swell, and it needs a bunch of other things to come to life. The tide needs to just right, the wind needs to be fresh offshore (it often is) and the swell needs to have a perfect direction. When one sees a massive storm heading for Cape Town, and the resultant swell being kicked out from the west, one needs to start thinking about it.
The cat isn't entirely out of the bag yet, so if you want to go, you're going to have to do some homework, regarding the conditions required, as well as how to pull off the mission. There are places to stay nearby, there are cars for hire, and there are surfers who will escort you in, and drive your vehicle up and down the beach doing pick-ups, but you need to work that out for yourself.
The wave is long, probably the longest barreling wave in the world. The current is unimaginable, and it is pointless expending one iota of energy against it. There are plenty of sea creatures around, but they're pretty well fed, and it is a bleak, wind-swept beach that you spend your time on.
You're going to need a couple of fairly chunky, strong barrel boards, and you're going to need to bring your A-game. If you're on your backhand you're going to be pig-dogging and not much else. If you're on your forehand you're going to be threading some serious barrels. Either way, you're going to be challenged.
Walk, or catch a ride up the point. Wait for a gap in the sets, run and jump and paddle like mad. Watch the shoreline racing by as you start getting sprint-washed down the point. Wait for a wave. Paddle for the first one that comes your way and go. Might be a closeout, might be the barrel of your life. Surf as far as the wave allows you, and head for the sand. You would have traveled pretty far down the point, even if you got closed-out in the first section. Miss-time the jump-off on a solid day, get caught by a set, and you're going to get washed for 2kms down the point.
Some people call it the best left in the world, others call it the most technically demanding wave they have ever surfed, and others - surfers on the wrong side of 30 who have been pole-axed and pile-driven for want of two perfectly apt clich?s - call it a close-out.
If you're a pro surfer, this destination has a lot going for it. If you're just a competent surfer Skeleton Bay is going to test you.

I was looking for an article I had read about this place and could not find it again.

It described what it was like to surf this place for an average surfer.

Between the sweep, pro surfers and what he described as wash throughs that ran the point but didnt barrel getting one was pretty tough.

Other articles talk about visiting pros from SA spending two days not making one drop.

Other complication is that you need large swell from the right direction and right winds.

But ....

One wave here could simply be mind blowing.

One lid rider got a barrel for over a km. Apparently he had to sit down and just reflect on what he had just caught.

Surfline description below

While history sections will forever proclaim that Surfing Magazine, Google Earth and a vainglorious Internet geek discovered Skeleton Bay in Namibia, the locals would beg to differ. Ten years prior to Corey Lopez's ridiculous wave, they were surfing it, or attempting to surf it. Emails were bandied about often enough between a few hardy Namibian locals and the South African surfing mag editors, telling them about the spot, inviting them up, begging them to have a look. Being the dumb, unbelieving fools that the editor's were at the time (me) they never took the offer. When Corey's wave was revealed to the world it, arguably, had a similar effect on the collective surfing consciousness that Laird's Millennium Wave had - no one believed either waves were possible. Have a look at Corey's wave again sometime - .
For Skeleton Bay to come alive it needs a pretty specific swell, and it needs a bunch of other things to come to life. The tide needs to just right, the wind needs to be fresh offshore (it often is) and the swell needs to have a perfect direction. When one sees a massive storm heading for Cape Town, and the resultant swell being kicked out from the west, one needs to start thinking about it.
The cat isn't entirely out of the bag yet, so if you want to go, you're going to have to do some homework, regarding the conditions required, as well as how to pull off the mission. There are places to stay nearby, there are cars for hire, and there are surfers who will escort you in, and drive your vehicle up and down the beach doing pick-ups, but you need to work that out for yourself.
The wave is long, probably the longest barreling wave in the world. The current is unimaginable, and it is pointless expending one iota of energy against it. There are plenty of sea creatures around, but they're pretty well fed, and it is a bleak, wind-swept beach that you spend your time on.
You're going to need a couple of fairly chunky, strong barrel boards, and you're going to need to bring your A-game. If you're on your backhand you're going to be pig-dogging and not much else. If you're on your forehand you're going to be threading some serious barrels. Either way, you're going to be challenged.
Walk, or catch a ride up the point. Wait for a gap in the sets, run and jump and paddle like mad. Watch the shoreline racing by as you start getting sprint-washed down the point. Wait for a wave. Paddle for the first one that comes your way and go. Might be a closeout, might be the barrel of your life. Surf as far as the wave allows you, and head for the sand. You would have traveled pretty far down the point, even if you got closed-out in the first section. Miss-time the jump-off on a solid day, get caught by a set, and you're going to get washed for 2kms down the point.
Some people call it the best left in the world, others call it the most technically demanding wave they have ever surfed, and others - surfers on the wrong side of 30 who have been pole-axed and pile-driven for want of two perfectly apt clich?s - call it a close-out.
If you're a pro surfer, this destination has a lot going for it. If you're just a competent surfer Skeleton Bay is going to test you.

How hard could the drop be??? Just slide in pig dog style I recon. Would actually be easier on your back hand.

How hard is Rabbits, Northies or Jakes with a dozen frothing pros and twenty locals? Extrapolate those numbers by five and you might be getting close.

Don't see the comparison. Somewhere like jakes has the tiniest take off area ever, but skeleton bay looks so long it would spread the crowd out. Never been there so could be wrong.

Well, use the Superspank as an example then, apparently Skelton Bay is getting about as busy as it is fickle.

I love the idea of the joint but you can have the reality.

I'll keep on driving.

Been there last year. Drove 27 hours non-stop for 1 day of 2-3 ft waves. Swell was right size, direction was off. Very swell direction specific. A mate is there right now who is having better luck with tapping into some barrel time. Even tho i had stuffed ribs (from kite surfing accident days before) and it was only 3 ft on the sets, one wave there and you'll remember it for life. The hardest part was getting to my feet because of my ribs, but i knew if I could just withstand the initial pain of getting up and clasping a hand on the rail, the rest would be easy. And sure enough, any surfer who can negotiate a moderately steep drop and a barrel is going to have alot of fun here. The sustained view you'll receive from riding one wave down the point is one you wont forget in a hurry.

You'll need a reliable 4wd, some barrel riding know how, a map, some directions from someone who knows the lay of the land. And alot of luck. Only breaks in certain conditions and is very fickle. You'll typically drive 2 days (depending on where you launch from) to catch 1-2 days of swell. Then either wait in a dusty cowboy town devoid of much at all until the next swell with perfect direction is sent up, which could be weeks or months away and only in certain seasons too. Last year there were reported 40 + pros and others battling the line-up for one swell. You'd spew if you made the trip only to find it over-run. The locals are cool as, so don't deserve their spot becoming a circus. And since its pretty much an island made of sand in the middle of the ocean, it's future to maintain its shape for too much longer isn't certain.

But if you are that side of the world, are inclined to check it out, are smart, have some strong short boards in your quiver (double glass, extra thick stringer, etc...), and have a sense of adventure, it will make your annual crowded indo escape seem soo **** in comparison. Its typically a shorebreak that hits the shore at such an angle so you can just barely outrun the tube going at full throttle, my kind of wave.

I had a crack about two years ago...........