Surfers flock to Skeleton Bay for World best waves

Walvisbay-Surfers from around the world are flocking to the Namibian coastline at Skeleton Coast’s Donkey Bay, to surf on one of the best waves on the planet. The legendary Skeleton Bay surf spot is considered the longest sand-bottomed left hand wave in the world and only rose to prominence in surfers circles in 2008 when the winner of Surfing Magazine’s ‘Google Earth Challenge’ got to pay the place a visit. The bay lies in the middle of the Namibian desert, with only the seal colonies to keep visitors entertained. The wave, dubbed Skeleton Bay, was so perfect and cylindrical it allowed surfers to ride deep inside the curl from start to finish. Scientists believe a subtle shift in the mean wind direction since the late 1970s is responsible for the evolving landscape, as the predominant southerly wind continued to blow and move sand along the coast, creating the perfect wave and some of the fastest and thickest sand-dredging tubes on the planet. A 2012 study using satellite imagery shows that the shape of Skeleton Bay has changed dramatically over the past forty years due to large amounts of sand moving northward along the sand spit that creates the wave, and give surfers around the world to come to Namibian shores, to ride the perfect wave. The phenomenon only lasts for a few days a year and this is the time that surfers from around the world come to Namibia to be part of a group to ride the best wave in the world. Seven days ago, a professional surfer from Hawaii, Koa Smith, surfed a barrel at Skeleton Bay for two full minutes, and for about 1.5 km, and according to him, it was the best ever wave he surfed.

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Trimo Herbst

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Trimo Herbst