The thought of being just one of three people in the water at a wave like Skeleton Bay is dream worthy. When enough people know Namibia is about to get lit up with swell, there can be a full-fledged migration of surfers, videographers, and photographers to the Skeleton Coast. But a recent trip by Koa Smith showed that when it comes to Skeleton Bay, sometimes you just need a little faith.
“Most people went to J-Bay,” Smith said about this particular window. “We zigged instead of zagged.”
The idea is interesting, considering what it takes to get there. For a guy like Koa Smith, who’s grown a strong affection for the wave since his famous two-minute Octotube and is now leaving boards in Africa for such trips, it’s not like there’s a direct flight from his home on Oahu to the beach’s dunes. Getting to Walvis Bay’s airport requires a connecting flight from places like Johannesburg, Cape Town International, or Windhoek Airports, two of which have far more convenient access to J-Bay. You’re in for more than a day’s travel all for a spot that won’t be surfable at all if it’s too small. If you roll the dice and get good conditions, the window for waves can be short and fickle.
So with all that in mind, would you flip a coin on getting to Namibia for the possibility of “four to six-foot” waves knowing that reliable J-Bay is definitely going to produce good surf? Yeah, the place definitely requires a little faith.
