Surf Spots in Africa: A Swimwear Designer's Guide to the Best Waves

Swimsuit designer Yodit Eklund describes her favorite places to surf in Africa, including beaches in Senegal, South Africa, and Morocco.

Swimsuit designer Yodit Eklund grew up all over Africa—and now spends about 80 percent of her time traveling there for work—so she's always been a cheerleader for the continent's under-the-radar beaches. But she also worries about them. "There is more and more pollution, because people don't value the beaches in Africa," she says. "You would never see that in Santa Barbara or even Costa Rica, because so much tourism comes in." Her solution: Design teeny bikinis (and other beachwear), produce them locally, and use the clothing as a way to promote the incredible shores—which she's done since 2009 when she launched swimwear company Bantu. "I thought maybe if I could expose the beaches to people, we could preserve the environment. It's really about making people aware that there are amazing beaches." With that in mind, we had her take us on a tour of her favorite places to surf in Africa…

A surfer heads out in Dakar, Senegal

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Dakar, Senegal: "I think it's one of the most underrated surf spots. The real surfers go there—I don't think a lot of the average surfers go there. It's really safe, it has amazing food, there's great music, and there's a great scene. It's also super accessible; it's not far from the U.S. It's a shame that more people don't go."

NGor, Senegal, an island off the coast of Dakar.

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NGor, Senegal: "NGor is a little tiny island off the coast of Dakar. That's where the NGor break is—it's a famous ride—and it's where [cult surf film] The Endless Summer is shot. There's no electricity on the island, so there are a couple of hostels where you can camp out. You get there by boat, and there are tons of little boats that go over there; you'll see business people who are selling bananas and necklaces, so you can hop on a boat with them and get over to NGor, which is about ten minutes on from Dakar. You really don't have that many people who go out there. You look at some beaches with hundreds of people, but the max you'll have out there is 20 people in the water."

Muizenberg Beach, Cape Town, South Africa

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Muizenberg Beach, Cape Town, South Africa: "Cape Town is nice. Anyone can go there—it's great for beginning surfers. The water's cold, though, and there are sharks. There's a beach called Muizenberg, which is where the townships are, and there's a big sense of community. We've done work with the kids from the townships, where we take them out to teach them how to surf. The guy who takes them out to surf is named Cass Collier—he was one of the first big-wave surfers of color, but it was during apartheid, so he never got much recognition."

Essaouira, Morocco

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Essaouira, Morocco: "Morocco is more accessible to Europe. There's waves all year round. For me, it's not real Africa, in a way, but there is great surf in Morocco. A lot of people from Casablanca have beach houses there. Then you have a lot of Europeans who come out and surf there from Spain and Norway and Portugal. Essaouira is French-speaking, so if you don't speak French it can be complicated, but it's a great wave and a beginning surfer can go here to learn."

**Assini, Cote d'Ivoire: **"It's one of my favorite beaches in the world. Basically on one side, you have a lagoon, and the other you have ocean; you drive through rainforest and then you get to a lagoon and you take a boat to the other side, and you have the ocean. There are some great waves. It's a little bit more rough; a beginning surfer would not be able to surf there. There are a couple of different scenes. You have Rastafarians, but then there's also a very St. Tropez-esque crowd. There's an area called Assini Mafia, it's where all the rich people from the capital come to have their beach houses and chalets. One side is very natural and low-scale, you have a lot of fishing villages, but you have another part of it that is glitzy."