Jeffreys Bay
Jeffreys Bay exists because of one wave, Supertubes, a long right-hand point break on the Eastern Cape coast between Tsitsikamma and Gqeberha. One night for most, the break watched from the boardwalk, a first lesson at Dolphin Beach rather than the point, and the factory shops on the way out.
Jeffreys Bay in a nutshell
Jeffreys Bay: what to expect
This page is built on 54,000+ stops planned across South Africa on Stippl.
A single Jeffreys Bay night is the pattern, and the wave is the reason. Supertubes is watched from the boardwalk by most visitors, because the break is a spectator sport with a viewing deck built for it, Dolphin Beach is the Blue Flag town beach where the schools take beginners, the Shell Museum holds the largest collection in the country from one collector, the dunes take sandboards on fixed morning and afternoon departures, and the surf factory shops are a local institution. Most travellers give Jeffreys Bay 1 night on Stippl.
Jeffreys Bay is a whole-coast stop, and the cheapest one between Cape Town and Gqeberha. 60.9% of the trips carrying it on Stippl also carry Plettenberg Bay and 44.5% carry Addo, so the town sits between the beach and the elephants, 83.1% of stops run one to three nights, and the plans that carry the town run longer than any other South African destination's, because the people who stop here are doing the entire coast.
Sleep at Supertubes if the wave is the point and in the town centre if the price is, learn at Dolphin Beach and never at the point, bring the wetsuit in every month, and walk Kabeljouws for the shells. Skip the trip built on the world tour, since the event was cancelled and the slot went elsewhere, and skip the polished-resort expectation, because this is a working coastal town with a surf industry.
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Surfers
Supertubes is genuinely one of the best right-hand point breaks in the world, and the town is organised around it.
Learners, off the point
Dolphin Beach has the mellow break and the schools, and the point is for people who already know what they are doing.
Budget travellers
The cheapest coastal stop between Cape Town and Gqeberha, and the factory shops make it cheaper still.
Eastward Garden Route finishers
60.9% of Stippl trips through Jeffreys Bay carry Plettenberg Bay, and the town sits naturally before Addo.
Beachcombers
The shell beaches are the reason the museum exists, and Kabeljouws is a long empty walk with a lagoon behind it.
Whole-coast drivers
The plans carrying Jeffreys Bay on Stippl run about 11.74 stops, longer than any other South African destination's.
Maybe not for you: anybody wanting a polished resort town, because this is a working coastal town with a surf industry; anybody hoping to catch the world tour, because the event was cancelled; and anybody who cannot surf and will not learn, since the town has one product.
The best time to visit Jeffreys Bay
The surf winter
June to August
The good swell at Supertubes, the point at its best and the water at its coldest, with the travellers coming in the other season by nearly three to one.
Summer
November to March
Warm days, the town beach at its busiest, the learners in the water and 33.5% of starts on Stippl, with November the peak month.
Autumn
April and May
The sea still warm enough, the swell beginning and the town quiet, the best balance for a beginner with a wetsuit.
Spring
September and October
The whales passing offshore, the dunes dry for the boards and the town waking up before the summer.
- Most travellers give Jeffreys Bay 1 night on Stippl, and 83.1% of stops run one to three. The point from the boardwalk in the evening, a lesson or a shell walk in the morning, and Addo the next day.
- November is the peak month on Stippl and June is the trough. The travellers come in summer by nearly three to one, which is the opposite of the surf calendar.
- Only 7.9% of Jeffreys Bay plans on Stippl are made inside a fortnight. The town is a stop on a whole-coast drive booked from the Cape rather than a decision of its own.
- The good surf is winter. June to August at Supertubes, and the summer visitor gets the town beach and the schools rather than the wave on the posters.
- The world tour event is not a fixture. The most recent edition was cancelled for lack of funding and the slot went to New Zealand, so the calendar is checked before a trip is built on it.
- The wetsuit is packed in every month. The sea runs seventeen to twenty-one degrees through the year, fine for a January swim and cold for a surf session at any time.
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Things to do in Jeffreys Bay
Photo by Juan Steyn via UnsplashSupertubes from the boardwalk
Which is what most visitors actually do: the break is a spectator sport and the viewing deck above it exists for that.
A first lesson at Dolphin Beach
Several schools operate on the mellow break in front of the town beach, and this is the right place for a first lesson rather than the point.
The Shell Museum
The largest collection in the country and the legacy of one collector, a room of the coast's beaches sorted by species.
Sandboarding the dunes
The operators run fixed morning and afternoon departures when the sand is dry, on the dunes behind the town.
Kabeljouws beach
North of the river, a long empty stretch with a lagoon behind it and the shells the museum was built on.
The surf factory shops
A genuine local institution rather than a tourist add-on, with last season's stock from the brands that started here.
The areas of Jeffreys Bay
Supertubes
Surf
The point at the north end of the beachfront with the break, the boardwalk above it and the guesthouses looking straight at the wave. For surfers.
The break at the door and the boardwalk above it, but priced for the view.
Dolphin Beach and Main Beach
Lifeguarded and busy
The lifeguarded town beach with the Blue Flag swimming, the surf schools and the beachfront strip. For families and learners.
The safe swimming and the schools, though the strip is the town's busiest.
The town centre
Practical
The main road and the streets behind the beach with the factory shops, the supermarkets and the cheaper beds. For budgets.
The factory shops and the cheapest beds, and a walk to the water.
Paradise Beach and Aston Bay
Residential
The holiday suburbs south-west of the town with the self-catering houses, the long beach and the Kromme river mouth at the end of it. For a house by the river.
Self-catering houses and the river mouth, and a drive to the point.
Kabeljouws
Quiet
North across the river with an empty beach, a lagoon behind it, the birds on the water and the shells the museum was built on. For the shell walk.
The empty beach and the lagoon, and nothing else there.
Marina Martinique
Waterfront
The canal development at Aston Bay with the houses on the water, the boats at the jetties and the beach a short walk over the dunes. For a canal house.
Houses on the water, though a suburb rather than the town.
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Where to stay in Jeffreys Bay
The guesthouses at Supertubes look straight at the break, which is the whole proposition for surfers and is priced for it, and the backpackers and the town-centre rooms are the cheapest coastal beds between Cape Town and Gqeberha. Most travellers give Jeffreys Bay 1 night on Stippl, and there is no luxury hotel tier in this town.
Supertubes
Guesthouses and a backpackers looking at the point, €25 to €120 a night.
Dolphin Beach and Main Beach
Beachfront guesthouses and self-catering flats, €30 to €90 a night.
The town centre
Backpackers and budget guesthouses behind the beach, €15 to €60 a night.
Paradise Beach and Aston Bay
Self-catering holiday houses by the river, €50 to €150 a night.
Kabeljouws
A few self-catering cottages across the river, €40 to €100 a night.
Marina Martinique
Canal houses and apartments on the water, €60 to €180 a night.
What to eat in Jeffreys Bay
fish and shellfish cooked over open flame at a shack on the sand
the closest the town has to fine dining, named for the break in front of it
the cafes open before the shops for people coming out of the water
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Jeffreys Bay customs and what not to do
Surf etiquette is enforced
Socially and completely: do not drop in, do not paddle out at Supertubes on a first lesson, and expect the locals to know each other.
Tipping runs to fifteen
Ten to fifteen percent in restaurants, and the car guards expect a coin or two, as everywhere in the country.
A working town, not a resort
With a large township on its edge and an economy that is surf brands, fishing and holiday lets rather than hotels.
The shells are the museum's
They are why the museum exists, and taking them by the bagful from the beach is discouraged.
The point has an order
The breaks are named down the line, Kitchen Windows to The Point, and the locals will tell you which one you are looking at.
The coffee opens early
The cafes open before the shops for the people coming out of the water, and breakfast is the town's meal.
Do
- Watch Supertubes from the boardwalk at dawn
- Learn at Dolphin Beach with a school
- Walk Kabeljouws for the shells and the lagoon
- Buy last season's boards and wetsuits at the factory shops
- Pack the wetsuit whatever the month
Don't
- Paddle out at Supertubes on a first lesson
- Drop in on anyone at the point
- Fill a bag with shells from the beach
- Build the trip on the world tour
- Walk alone after dark
What a Jeffreys Bay trip costs
Backpacker
€50
A backpacker bed near Supertubes, self-catering and the free beaches.
Mid-range
€70–100
A guesthouse or self-catering flat for two, a surf lesson and dinner on the beachfront.
High-end
€150+
A sea-facing house above the point, since there is no luxury hotel tier in this town.
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Fun facts about Jeffreys Bay
Supertubes at Jeffreys Bay is rated among the world's best right-hand point breaks. By the professionals, and the wave can be ridden for hundreds of metres in the right conditions.
Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning share the record for Jeffreys Bay wins, with four each. The world tour visited the point for decades before the funding faltered.
The Shell Museum in Jeffreys Bay holds the largest shell collection in South Africa. Started by Charlotte Kritzinger after she moved to the town around 1945, and still growing.
Dolphin Beach at Jeffreys Bay has held Blue Flag status. One of a small number of South African beaches to do so, and the one where the schools teach.
The surf breaks at Jeffreys Bay are named individually down one point. Kitchen Windows, Magnatubes, Boneyards, Supertubes, Impossibles and The Point, in that order along the rocks.
The plans carrying Jeffreys Bay on Stippl run about 11.74 stops each. Longer than any other South African destination's, because the people who stop here are doing the whole coast.
Local tips for Jeffreys Bay
A car on the highway
Jeffreys Bay sits on the N2 between Tsitsikamma and Gqeberha, and almost every visitor is driving the Garden Route through it.
The airport is an hour east
Seventy-five kilometres, and the practical fly-in or fly-out for the eastern end of the route.
Plett west, Addo east
Two hours to Plettenberg Bay and about two to Addo, which is why the town sits on trips that carry both.
The Baz Bus stops here
The hop-on coach is how carless backpackers reach the town, on the pass that runs the coast.
Not alone after dark
The town's own published advice, with the standing national picture of petty and vehicle crime behind it.
One night, whole coast
Most travellers give Jeffreys Bay 1 night on Stippl and 44.5% of its trips carry Addo, so the town is the night between the beach and the elephants.
Jeffreys Bay questions, answered
Yes, by the assessment of the professionals: a long, fast right-hand point break that the world tour visited for decades, ridden for hundreds of metres in the right conditions. Whether the tour returns is a funding question, and 83.1% of stops here on Stippl run one to three nights whatever the calendar says.
At Dolphin Beach, yes, with a school on the mellow break in front of the town beach; at Supertubes, no, because the point is for people who already know what they are doing and the etiquette is enforced socially. The lesson is the morning after the boardwalk, and the schools take walk-ins outside the December holiday, with the board and the wetsuit in the price.
June to August, the winter swell, and the travellers come in summer instead by nearly three to one, with November the peak month on Stippl and 33.5% of starts in the southern summer. The summer visitor gets the town beach and the schools; the winter one gets the wave on the posters.
Rarely, and most travellers give Jeffreys Bay 1 night on Stippl, almost half of the stops are exactly one and nearly all are two or fewer. Put it in as the night between Plett and Addo, then ask people who did the coast in subreddits like r/southafrica whether the boardwalk evening was enough.
For surfing, in every month, because the sea runs seventeen to twenty-one degrees through the year; for swimming, not in January and February, when the town beach is warm enough for a bare dip. The factory shops sell last season's suits at outlet prices, which is the town's own answer.
The people who stop here are doing the whole coast: the plans carrying the town run longer than any other South African destination's, and 60.9% of Jeffreys Bay trips on Stippl also carry Plettenberg Bay. It is the cheapest coastal bed between the Cape and Gqeberha, and the wave is free to watch.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Plan Jeffreys Bay in Stippl
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