Imagine yourself riding in a modified traditional fishing boat traveling 20 miles (40 kms) along the breathtaking Ghanaian coast, surfing next to 16th century forts, exploring untouched fishing villages and looking for and finding the perfect waves. Around almost every corner is another surfable spot- a point break with a long, heavy wave offering a 50 meter plus ride, a beach break with fast lefts and rights, or even an occasional reef break to get tubed in. All this with no one in site except you and your group! There are so many breaks that we have to admit we have not yet surfed them all- most of the breaks were never surfed as they are only accessible by boat. Now imagine being asked to check out one of these new spots for us. Who knows, maybe we could even name it after you!
The waves
The Southern Hemisphere swells that hit the Western coastline of Ghana travel great distances to reach our beaches producing some of the cleanest, most orderly waves on earth. The StormRider Guide Volume II notes that the waves in Ghana are consistently head high. This it true, but we also know of places they are consistently bigger. As Ghana is not yet a surfing destination it is marked by hundreds of yet-to-be discovered beach breaks, reef breaks and point-breaks. It is the point-breaks, mostly rights but with an occasional left, that makes Ghana a highly desirable surf adventure destination. In StormRider’s Guide Volume 1, Cape Three Points, a stop on the Black Star Surf Tour, is rated as one of the top 65 point breaks in the world. The combination of perfect waves, warm water and no crowds, as well as the incredible and limitless experiences of getting off the beaten path and traveling up the coast in a traditional fishing boat, creates the ideal African surf adventure!
Surf tour group size
A minimum of four people are required for our surf tour and a maximum of seven. The maximum number is to ensure adequate space on our boat for you, your gear, the guides, the boat crew and supplies (including your lunches!).
Surf tour dates
For the year 2008, here are the scheduled surf camp dates:
Surf Tour 1: April 9th - April 15th
Surf Tour 2: April 30th – May 6th
Surf Tour 3: May 28th- June 3rd
Surf Tour 4: June 11th - June 17th
Surf Tour 5: August 6th - August 12th
Surf Tour 6: August 28th - September 3rd
Surf Tour 7: September 10th - September 16th
Surf Tour 8: September 24th -September 30th
Additional dates can be made available for groups of four or more people that would like to participate in a Black Star Surf Tour. Please contact us at [email protected] to inquire about other possible tour dates.
Transport
Transport will be provided from Accra’s international airport to Busua Beach, a 3-4 hour ride on a paved road. This service will not be provided back to Accra as many of our guests choose to visit other parts of Ghana before they return to Accra. However, if you are headed back to Accra after attending our surf tour, we can provide shuttle service for a fee or we will provide you with travel information to ensure a pleasant and safe trip back to Accra and the airport.Activities
As part of our Black Star Surf Tour experience we offer a variety of activities that will introduce you to the local culture, history and natural beauty that surrounds us. All of these can activities are within a short walk or drive from Busua. One of these activities is included as our tour activities, a bonfire with a traditional drumming and dancing performance. Other activities can be arranged from our surf shop including a tour of nearby Fort Batenstein and Fort Metal Cross, a visit to see local fisherman bringing in their catches and bartering prices at Dixcove fishing village, a river canoe trip, a visit to Cape Three Points Forrest Reserve (the only coastal rain forest reserve in Ghana), or a kayak trip to Abokwa Island. Black Star Surf Camp participants also receive a 20% discount on drum lesson offered by local musicians on the Djembe or any of a wide variety of drums native to Ghana.
Below is a summary of the daily group activities as well as some other useful information to help you visualize what your week at Black Star Surf Tour will look like:
| Day | Itinerary | Group Activities | Sleep In | *Meals |
| Day 1 | Arrive in Busua | No scheduled activity | Busua | D |
| Day 2 | Surf Butre Rock, Abokwa Island or Black Mamba Point |
Boat ride to surf spots | Busua | B,D |
| Day 3 | Surf Abokwa Island, Black Mamba Point, or Dixcove Point |
Boat ride to surf spots | Busua | B,D |
| Day 4 | Travel to Akwidaa, surf Dixcove and Black Star Beach |
Boat ride to surf spots, bonfire of beach |
Akwidaa | B,L,D |
| Day 5 | Surf points at Cape Three Points, Prince’s Town |
Boat ride to surf spots | Prince's Town | B,L,D |
| Day 6 | Surf Prince’s Town, Mutraki Point | Boat ride to surf spots | Miemia | B,L,D |
| Day 7 | Return to Busua, surf local spots | Lobster dinner, bonfire, drum & dance troupe |
Busua | B,D |
Click on “balloons” for surf spot descriptions
Click on blue line for tour route description.
Accommodations
Black Star Surf Tours has partnered with local hotels, inns and hostels to offer a unique traveling and accommodation experience. Included in this tour package is a variety of options to meet your surfing, accommodation, and cuisine needs. For four of your seven nights during your surf adventure you will have a number of accommodation options. The remaining three nights will be spent near remote fishing villages where the entire tour group will eat and sleep at one of our selected unique accommodations. This includes one night at a secluded bungalow on a private bay, another in a beautiful well kept 16th century fort, and then at an eco-lodge that even offers scuba diving! A description of each of the accommodations and itinerary is provided below. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any further questions:
Here are some pictures of the different accommodation options for our surf camp. You can also visit the websites of and African Rainbow (www.africanrainbowresort.com) Busua Inn (busuainn.com), Ezile Bay Village (ezilebay.com), and Kedas Lodge (kedaslodge.com) for a much more detailed description of their rooms and cuisine. The Dadson Lodge will also soon have a website. Unfortunately, there is are no websites for the bungalows at Sankofa and Kobi’s in Busua or for Fort Freidrichsburg in Prince’s Town . However, as you can see from the pictures below, the rooms at the bungalows and the fort are very basic and perfect for the adventure backpacker or traveler on a budget!
First 3 nights:
The first three nights will be spent in Busua. There are four options available for accommodations in Busua, all of which are within a two minutes walk to the surf shop. During the first three days we will travel by boat to one of four nearby surf spots, the rest of the days can be spent surfing the various sized beach breaks in Busua.
Night 4:
The fourth day the tour group travel by boat to the fishing village of Akwidaa. Here you will sleep and dine at the newly completed Ezile Bay Village, located on a small bay and featuring private huts and an spacious restaurant, which all operating on solar power. You will have the option of surfing several known spots and exploring new ones during our trip to Akwidaa. A five minute walk from Ezile Bay Village is Black Star Beach, a beach break with both lefts and rights. A great place for late afternoon or early morning surf!
Night 5:
Day 5 will be spent traveling from Akwidaa to Prince’s Town. If the waves aren’t too big, we will spend the night at Fort Gross Friedrichsburg, a 17th century slave fort that is unique for Ghana as it is the only fort in the country built by Germans. The fort lies above the village on a predominant point with views of the surfable beach and point breaks on both sides. Fort Friedrichsburg is very basic and does not have electricity, but we think the adventures of sleeping in a castle will more than make up for this! On our way to Prince’s Town we will surf at Cape Three Points and other known and unknown spots along the way. Once in Prince’s town you will be able to choose from the river mouth break or point breaks that surround the Fort. In the event that the waves are too big to land in Prince’s Town (not a common occurrence) we will surf Prince’s Town in the afternoon and travel to Miemia, which has a more protected bay. In this scenario we would spend the night at Kedas Lodge in Miemia.
Night 6:
On Day 6 we will travel from Prince’s Town to Miemia. We will have the opportunity to surf in Prince’s town in the morning and then travel by boat to the far side of the village, where there is a nice reef break. We will then continue on to Mutrakni Point, where there are well regarded left and right point breaks. Mutrakni point is perhaps the best left break in all of Ghana. We will spend the night at Kedas Lodge, which offers new apartment-like accommodations with comfortable lofts and uses alternative technology with its solar power and rain catchment water system. The bay is well protected and offers a great place to swim or take advantage of the scuba gear that is available for rent at the lodge.
Night 7:
In the morning of Day 7 we will travel back and surf Mutrakni Point or Prince’s town and make arrangement to be picked up in either Prince’s Town or Miemia. We will then travel back to Busua. On our last night in Busua you will be treated to a lobster dinner at the Okorye Tree Restaurant (located on the beach next to our surf shop) and the chance to enjoy a bonfire complete with a traditional dance and drumming troupe. You will stay at the hotel, lodge, inn, or bungalow that you stayed on your fist three nights on this last night of the tour.
South African Surfer, Africansurfer.com, September 2007
Prices
Black Star Surf Camp package options are represented below by the colors of the Ghanaian flag (Red, Black, Green, and Gold). Each of these packages are guaranteed to keep you well rested and well fed so that you can get the most out of your surf camp experience. The four packages that are presented below include breakfast and dinner. For the Red Package, the meals are basic with only a few options of Ghanaian and international dishes. For the Black, Green, and Gold options, the breakfasts are hearty and plentiful while your dinner options are both extensive and varied in order to meet your individual tastes. The Green and Gold options also include an appetizer with your meal.
Our surf camp packages reflect prices for rooms with double occupancy. Upgrades and single rooms are also available. A non-refundable deposit of 20% is required in order to reserve your spot.
(Surf Tour available April-September)
|
Package Details |
Busua 4 Nights |
Akwidaa 1 Night |
Prince’s Town 1 Night |
Miemia 1 Night |
Price (€ Euro) |
Deposit (€ Euro) |
| Red | Sankofa, Kobi’s Huts |
Ezile Bay | Fort Fburg | Kedas Lodge | 300 | 60 |
| Black | Dadson Lodge | Ezile Bay | Fort Fburg | Kedas Lodge | 330 | 66 |
| Green | Busua Inn | Ezile Bay | Fort FBurg | Kedas Lodge | 370 | 72 |
| Gold | African Rainbow | Ezile Bay | Fort Fburg | Kedas Lodge | 390 | 80 |
Includes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner in Akwidaa, Prince's Town and Miemia. Breakfast and dinner only in Busua.
Other important information
Flights:
Black Star Surf Camps does not make flight bookings for travel to Ghana. However, we do have some experience in finding the cheapest and most suitable flights and will give you recommendations to help you with your search.
Travel Insurance
It is highly recommended that you purchased comprehensive medical travel insurance, one that will fly you home in an emergency. There are medical facilities throughout Ghana and very near our surf camp- there is a District Hospital in the next village over- that can provide adequate care for most illnesses and minor injuries. However, in case of a more serious injury or sickness requiring specialized attention, the care and access to technology in Ghana, in our opinion, is not adequate.
Vaccinations
Malaria is widespread in Ghana so it is necessary to take a prophylactic malaria medicine. The most common pill forms are for Mefloquine (Lariam), Malarone and Doxycycline. A yellow fever vaccination is required for all travelers. It is also recommended that that your vaccination be up to date for tetanus, polio, diphtheria, hepatitis A and typhoid.