Day 2 The Unlimited Kite Experience Powered by Kitesports

Of all the days on the expedition, this is the one that I was looking forward to the most. It’s the most untouched and inaccessible part of the coastline that we are traversing. I drove it once, with my best mate and his old man, before the ban on beach driving. It was a fantastic day back then, what better than to do it again with another close mate and a pair of kites. Epic.

After waking up with another dull ache between the eyes (thanks Hansa), we headed down to the beach full of expectations and as excited as yesterday. The first 2 hours were insane. With big flat inside sections, crystal clear water and some really good waves, it was definitely one of the best kiting experiences of my life. Totally world class.

It was also a great day for sittings. 5 minutes out of Sodwana, I saw the biggest leather back turtle of my life. He was absolutely enormous. Just after that, I spotted what was either a small shark or a Cobia (Prodigal Son) basking in the sun, then later a whale. This stretch is well known to have a high shark concentration, mainly Zambezis,  but  recently there have been rumours of some Great Whites being spotted. Needless to say, we were grateful for our shark pods, despite being nailed by them every time we fell.

We stopped in a Leven Point for lunch. It’s a favourite spot amongst South African spearfisherman, and for good reason. I have some of my best diving memories there, ranging from shooting my first couta to all of us being totally overcome with sea-sickness and laughing at each other while shooting cats after a bull’s party. Regardless of how many times they are warned, I am certain that young men will continue to dive with hangovers well after we are all gone. There are few experiences more horrendous.

During our break, the wind really came through hard. We spent the 22km home run getting absolutely hauled. By the time we got back to the beach, it was gusting to 39 knots and we were on 10 meter Ozone Reo kites which are optimally suited to about 18 knots. Happy to arrive in one piece, we debated pumping up our 8s (8 meters kites) and pushing on to St Lucia, but good sense and the call of Hansa prevailed.