Hydrofoiling on the Garden Route

About Hydrofoiling on the Garden Route

If you’re into hydrofoiling and you’ve booked accommodation in Knysna, get ready for hours of fun. Hydrofoiling has given new dimension to the worlds of surfing, paddle-boarding (on a SUP board), wakeboarding and kite-surfing. Around the world, it is still in its initial phases, with legends like Kai Lenny and Laird Hamilton having carved the way, so to speak, for this exciting evolution of traditional water sports.

Now, visitors to the beautiful coastal town of Knysna, which is perched along the scenic Garden Route, can indulge in this progressive new take on sports and adventure on the water of the lagoon or in the sea. It is thrilling and tranquil all at once, and the Knysna Lagoon and Buffalo Beach are the perfect places to put your skills to the test.

Foil-Smart has developed a range of hydrofoils that can be attached to just about any board (surf, SUP, wake and kite), allowing their riders to feel the thrill of flying above the water at speed. Foil-Smart is the first South African company to produce a SUP-foil. This Knysna-based company offers foiling products to water sports enthusiasts who are learning this emerging sport or who have it down to a fine art already. Initially, you may prefer to try this out behind a boat on the calm waters of the lagoon to get a feel for the foil and to ‘find your feet’. Then, depending on the time you have available and how well you can foil, you can venture out to the beach to catch waves on the SUP-foil or feel the power of the kite as you glide above the chop on a kite-foil.

Knysna is about 45 minutes’ drive from George and its airport, and about 25 minutes from Plettenberg Bay. It is a small town, but has a fantastic seaside-village vibe and is close to a number of adventure sports and natural attractions. These include whale-watching tours, shark cage diving, the Knysna Elephant Sanctuary, Radical Raptors, and the Tsitsikamma.