Jeffreys Bay

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Jeffreys Bay | native_name = Jeffreysbaai | image_skyline = Jeffrey%27s_Bay_Jet_Ski_Area_%26_Main_Beach..jpg | image_caption = Jeffreys Bay Beach | pushpin_map = South Africa Eastern Cape#South Africa#Africa | coordinates = {{coord|34|2|S|24|55|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = South Africa | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Eastern Cape | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Sarah Baartman | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name3 = Kouga | subdivision_type4 = Main Place | established_title = Established | leader_title = Councillor | area_footnotes = <ref name="census2011">{{cite web |url=http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/268009 |title = Main Place Jeffreys Bay |work=Census 2011}}</ref> | area_total_km2 = 20.79 | population_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | population_total = 27107 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_density_km2 = auto  | demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011) | demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics1_title1 = Black African | demographics1_info1 = 37.5% | demographics1_title2 = Coloured | demographics1_info2 = 22.7% | demographics1_title3 = Indian/Asian | demographics1_info3 = 0.2% | demographics1_title4 = White | demographics1_info4 = 38.9% | demographics1_title5 = Other | demographics1_info5 = 0.7%  | demographics_type2 = First languages (2011) | demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics2_title1 = Afrikaans | demographics2_info1 = 54.4% | demographics2_title2 = Xhosa | demographics2_info2 = 28.8% | demographics2_title3 = English | demographics2_info3 = 11.8% | demographics2_title4 = | demographics2_info4 = | demographics2_title5 = Other | demographics2_info5 = 5.0%   | timezone1 = SAST | utc_offset1 = +2 | postal_code_type = Postal code (street) | postal_code = 6330 | postal2_code_type = PO box | postal2_code = 6330 | area_code_type = Area code | area_code = +27 (0)42 }}

'''Jeffreys Bay''' ({{langx|af|Jeffreysbaai}}, nicknamed J-bay) is a town of 27,107 inhabitants as of the 2011 census in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Kouga municipality and is famous amongst surfers as a surf capital due to the right-hand point break at Supertubes Beach. The town is situated just off the N2 Highway, about 75 kilometres southwest of Port Elizabeth.

== History == Jeffreys Bay is named after the senior partner of the firm Jeffrey & Glendinnings who opened a store in 1849 on the location where the town is today.<ref name="sellick-122.127">{{cite book|last=Sellick|first=W.S.J.|title=Uitenhage, past and present: souvenir of the Centenary, 1804–1904|year=1904|url=https://archive.org/details/uitenhagepastpre00sell|pages=[https://archive.org/details/uitenhagepastpre00sell/page/122 122], 127}}</ref> Jeffrey is believed to be the first person to have settled there.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Africa Pilot (1889)|year=1889|publisher=United Kingdom Hydrographic Office|url=https://archive.org/stream/africapilot00britgoog#page/n123/mode/1up}}</ref>

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Jeffreys Bay was known as a hippie hangout, where the now-burgeoning surf community originated.<ref name="Surfline"/> Jeffreys Bay has had extensive growth over the past few years and is one of the fastest expanding urban areas in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kougamunicipality.gov.za/documents/idp/idp_0708.pdf|title=Integrated Development Plan (2007–2012)|publisher=Kouga Local Municipality|page=22|access-date=2009-06-22|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122233524/http://www.kougamunicipality.gov.za/documents/idp/idp_0708.pdf|archive-date=22 November 2009}}</ref> Jeffreys Bay as a surfing destination was made famous by Bruce Brown's movie "The Endless Summer".{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

==Demographics== {{Unreferenced section|date=August 2025}} Xhosa, Afrikaans and English are the three most spoken languages.

Jeffreys Bay is a constituent part of the Kouga Local Municipality of the Sarah Baartman District in the Eastern Cape Province.

== Sport ==

=== Surfing === {{further| J-Bay Open}} Jeffreys Bay is one of the five most famous surfing destinations in the world and hosts the annual World Surf League (WSL) surfing event at Super Tubes during July. Spectators and professional surfers from all over the world flock to this event. In 2015, Mick Fanning had an encounter with a shark two minutes into the J-Bay Open finals in Jeffreys Bay. Fanning was in the water with Julian Wilson during the final of the J-Bay Open 2015 when what is suspected to be a great white shark became entangled in his surfboard leash. Fanning punched the shark and tried to wedge his board between the shark and his body, and he emerged from the attack physically unharmed.<ref name=ABC>{{cite news|title=Mick Fanning speaks of 'miracle' survival after arriving back in Sydney following shark attack|newspaper=ABC News |date=21 July 2015 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-21/mick-fanning-speaks-after-shark-attack/6636850|publisher=ABC|access-date=21 July 2015}}</ref>

;The Jeffreys Bay Surf Break A very long, fast, tubing right hand point break breaks along the west side of the bay. The break is regarded as one of the best right hand point breaks in the entire world, in both consistency and quality, in season.<ref name="Surfline">{{cite web |url=http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/photo_bamp_html.cfm?id=16356 |title=Down the line at the world's best pointbreak |access-date=2008-07-06 |author=Marcus Sanders |publisher=Surfline }}</ref><ref name="Surfer Magazine-i3">{{cite web|url=http://surfermag.com/features/onlineexclusives/jbayspotonspot/index3.html |title=A Revisionist Glance at Historic Surfing Locales: J Bay |access-date=2008-07-06 |author=Ben Marcus (''SurferMag.com Correspondent'') |date=30 June 2008 |publisher=Surfer Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122014417/http://surfermag.com/features/onlineexclusives/jbayspotonspot/index3.html |archive-date=22 November 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transworldsurf.com/surf/features/article/0,19929,1118220,00.html |title=Surfing's Meccas |access-date=2008-07-05 |date=14 October 2005 |publisher=Transworld Surf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051222144015/http://www.transworldsurf.com/surf/features/article/0,19929,1118220,00.html|archive-date=2005-12-22|url-status=dead }}</ref> It has been divided up into several sections, including, from the top of the point, ''Kitchen Windows'', ''Magna tubes'', ''Boneyards'', ''Supertubes'', ''Impossibles'', ''Tubes'', ''the Point'', and ''Albatross''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jaybay.co.za/surfingjbay.htm |title=The Wave |access-date=2008-07-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080804065325/http://www.jaybay.co.za/surfingjbay.htm |archive-date= 4 August 2008 }}</ref> "Supertubes", which itself breaks for about 300m or more, is regarded as the best part of the wave. On rare occasions (large wave sizes, wide-breaking waves, and even swells), ''Boneyards'' can link up all the way to ''the Point'' for a ride over one kilometre long. Optimal size is considered to be from about 4 to 10 feet (Hawaiian scale), or about 8 to 20 feet wave faces.

The initial discovery and promotion of the wave is curious. Another nearby right hand point wave at St. Francis Bay was first idolised and promoted in the surf movie ''The Endless Summer'' in the 1960s (although both Jeffreys Bay and St. Francis Bay were probably surfed much earlier). Surfers who travelled to the area soon stumbled upon the nearby Jeffreys Bay surf break, which was found to be not only a faster, more powerful, and hollower wave, but also much more consistent.<ref name="Conversations For Transformation">{{cite web |url=http://www.laurenceplatt.com/wernererhard/theorigi.html |title=The Original Jeffrey's Bay |access-date=2003-08-10 |author=Laurence Platt |date=10 August 2003 |publisher=Conversations For Transformation }}</ref>

== Tourism == Jeffreys Bay is a popular tourist destination because of its surfing opportunities and the Blue Flag beach.<ref name="blueflag">{{cite web |url=http://www.blueflag.org/blueflag/2007/SouthAfrica/EasternCape/DolphinBeach |title=Blue flag beaches – Dolphin Beach, Jeffreys Bay |access-date=2008-07-05 |publisher=Blueflag.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107071233/http://www.blueflag.org/blueflag/2007/SouthAfrica/EasternCape/DolphinBeach|archive-date=2007-11-07|url-status=dead }}</ref>

Jeffreys Bay is famous for abundant seashells, great seafood and calamari. The nearby Kabeljous, Seekoei and Krom River lagoons host numerous water birds, and are also ideal for watersports like canoeing, boardsailing, and fishing. Every year, migrating whales make their way to Hermanus and Witsand to give birth, and whales can be seen breaching almost every day during the season.

Just northeast of the town, on the Kabeljous River, lies the Kabeljous Nature Reserve. It is a walk-about reserve, well known to anglers for a diverse number of fish. The Kabeljous estuary is one of the best preserved estuaries in the Eastern Cape. The lagoon is home to waterfowl, herons, and a variety of waders. Nearby, the Seekoei River Nature Reserve lies between Aston Bay and Paradise Beach. The reserve lies on the estuary formed by the Seekoei and Swart rivers. The reserve is rich in birdlife with over 120 species of birds. The lagoon is also home to numerous red-knobbed coots and small antelope. There is also a circular hiking trail that takes about three hours to complete. The trail starts with a trip on a raft across the lagoon and runs through fynbos and subtropical vegetation.

<gallery> File:Jeffreys Bay beach view.jpg|Jeffreys Bay beach view File:Villa African Queen - Jeffreys Bay Beach View.jpg|Jeffreys Bay beach view from the top of the Villa African Queen File:JBay-Surfing at supertubes-001.jpg|Surfing at Supertubes </gallery>

== See also == * Surfing

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Jeffreys Bay}} {{Wikivoyage|Jeffreys Bay}} * [http://www.jeffreysbaytourism.org/ Official tourism site] * [https://jeffreysbay.com/fare/ Jeffrey's Bay eateries]

Category:Populated places established in 1849 Category:Populated places in the Kouga Local Municipality Category:Populated coastal places in South Africa Category:Tourism in South Africa Category:Surfing locations Category:Surfing locations in South Africa Category:1849 establishments in the Cape Colony