Imagine warm sultry winter afternoons, sun-kissed torsos, bikini-clad beaches and an abundance of waves. Add SA surfing legend Shaun Tomson into the mix and you've got the ultimate atmosphere for surfing competition.

“We called ourselves the Bay Boys. On any given morning we’d arrive at the beach and ask each other, east or west bay is best? We were at the heart of surfing in South Africa”, says surfing legend Shaun Tomson, as he reminisces about his childhood growing up in Durban.

Being a devoted surfer, I was thrilled to hear about Shaun’s visit to Durban and immediately jumped at the chance to meet the man who put South Africa on the map, not only as a competitive surfing nation but as a world-class surfing holiday destination.

Ask any surfer and they will agree that Durban’s beachfront is the place to be, especially in winter.

Where else can South Africans go to escape frost bitten fingers and a milky complexion without breaking the bank?

“Besides Durban’s beachfront, the south and north coasts of KwaZulu-Natal also provide excellent surfing that easily compares to the beautiful coastline of New South Wales in Australia”, says Shaun, “One needn’t travel far to experience world-class beaches”. Check out the gallery here.

He was nine years old when he first surfed on a wave at the Bay of Plenty on the Durban beach front.
It is an experience that has kept him riding waves 44-years on. In the sixties, the Bay of Plenty meant just that, waves that worked 360 days a year providing some of the longest tube rides ever ridden.

“It’s all we had time for,” he says, which is probably one of the reasons why he went onto winning the highly coveted IPS World Championship in 1977 and then spent fourteen years on the international Tour, nine of which were in the top six.

With twelve contest wins, including a record setting six-year winning streak in the prestigious Gunston 500, now known as the Mr. Price Pro, he is still considered to be one of the world’s finest surfers.

Between 1968 and 1980, the Bay of Plenty was thought to be the ultimate surfing spot in South Africa; until the old pier was demolished signalling the end of an era of surfing initiated and revelled in by the “Bay Boys”.

Today, New Pier is most popular with surfers for its consistent waves much like that of the Bay of Plenty.
Nowadays, when Shaun and his wife, Carla, visit South Africa they spend their time with friends exploring the awesome stretch of coastline between Ballito and Salt Rock.

A favourite chill-out spot for them is at Zimbali Lodge.

“It’s a great place to escape the fast pace of the city whilst still enjoying the great surf that the north coast offers”, says Shaun.

Another spot prized by Tomson is just south of Hibberdene on the south coast called Umzumbe. This is a right sand-bottomed point break with two distinct sections that link up on southwest swells and can produce really long rides.

What Shaun misses most now that he's living in Montecito, California is a typical Durban curry. No visit is ever complete without an evening at Silverani, a curry restaurant in Berea. “It’s the most superb way to end a day of sun, sea and great surf, “he says.

Shaun is in now in Durban not only as an honoured guest at this year’s Mr. Price Pro but to promote his full length feature film, “Bustin’ Down the Door”.

The film is a compelling feature documentary that tells the story of the brash, competitive batch of cocky Aussies and South Africans who invaded the North Shore of Hawaii in the early 1970s.

Led by Shaun, his cousin Mike Tomson, and Australians Rabbit “Bugs" Bartholomew, Ian Cairns, Peter Townend and Mark Richards, they changed the face of surfing into what it is today.

When asked to describe his perfect holiday? Shaun replied saying, “Somewhere beautiful where my wife and I can interact and relax as a couple that is not commercial and has very good surf.”

Head to Durban for the perfect wave with one of these package deals