The Surfing Heritage Visitor Centre
Historically, Durban's surfing community have 'localized' a particular beach at which the vanguard of South African surfing has made it's home. In the 1960's South Beach was the focus of emerging surf champions who went on to make a name on the international surfing scene. Each era also frequented a nearby restaurant establishment where the culture of the day evolved - in the '60s it was the Cherry Tree Milk Bar and the XL restaurant. The gradual extension to the southern breakwater in the latter part of the that decade decreased the size and constancy of swell arriving at South Beach and a migration of the surfing leadership to the Bay of Plenty occurred, so that the 1970's saw that beach become surfing's home for two decades.
The establishment of choice at The Bay was Mr and Mrs Dante's restaurant which became world renowned as the cultural centre of SA Surfing and lasted until the mid 1980's when the replacement of the rock groynes by the new concrete piled piers deteriorated the wave quality at the Bay of Plenty but produced a world class break at Dairy Beach pier, affectionately known as 'New Pier'. Surfers were without a local meeting point at the beachfront until the completion of the Ocean Conference Centre in 1996 when 'The Coffe Shop', established by Bruce Jackson was adopted as our headquarters .
The 1990's saw SA Surfing explode again due to the proving ground provided by the break and the cultural dynamic that occurred at the The Coffe Shop. The meeting place of the sportsmen and the associated surfing industry leaders and sports administrators produced an explosion of surfers onto the world stage as well as creating a beacon of surfing for visitors to Durban and locals alike. The cultural hub that emerged there saw the Coffee Shop, neighbored by Giggs Cilliers' Surf Zone and Baron Standers Timewarp Surfing Museum become the land based scaffold on which the high performance surfing at the New Pier hung. It must also be noted that the emergence of many competent young black surfers in Durban has it's roots in the assistances given by the the surfing community that expressed itself in this environment .
Since the demolishing of the Ocean Conference Centre surfers in Durban have been homeless wanderers looking for a residence at which we can represent and grow our rich heritage and culture that has for more than half a century contributed to Durban's amazing vibe. Our ambition is to create the worlds leading, national Surfing Heritage Visitor Centre. Many extremely successful surfing museums exist in the surfing capitals of the world and we believe we have the heritage, history and resource to build a versatile facility that will become the home and bastion of South African Surfing that will exceed those that exist today.
The Surfing Heritage Visitor Centre will incorporate the following:
Surfing Heritage South Africa Headquarters - The administrative staff of Surfing Heritage South Africa will occupy space within the centre.
KwaZulu Natal Surfriders Association Headquarters - KwaZulu Natal Surfriders Association(KZNSA) administrative staff will share office space with Surfing heritage SA within the Centre. Their presence in the SHVC makes it the provincial surfing administrative centre and Dairy Beach the oficial venue for all provincial surfing agendas.
Surfing Heritage Visitor Exhibit - The primary presentation of SHSA will be the visitor exhibit to be established within the Surfing Heritage and Centre. We have steered away from the traditional static museum presentations of the world and move towards the creation of a flexible, multi-functioning facility that has the exhibition as its décor and ambiance. Exhibits are to be mobile within the building such that the floor plan of an exhibition centre could prevail when required and easy reconfiguration can afford alternate functionality within the building for other purposes and events without forfeiting the exhibition presentation.
Surf Cinema - The flexibility of the SHVC facility provides for easy transformation of the space into a cinema when required and our intention is to provide Durban with regular screenings of iconic surf films as well as premiering new surfing movies as they are released. The SHVC would become the logical venue for presentation of the annual Wavescapes Surf Film Festival when in Durban.
The Cutback Cafe - A juice, snack & sandwich bar provides a culinary experience for the local surfing community and visitors to the SHVC . The establishment will also provide food and beverage need to the centre when functions and events are held at the centre.
Heritage Retail - The SHVC's retail offer specifically serves to extend the concept of the Surfing Heritage Centre. The offer is a core line of surf product to serve the local surfing community and a range of branded memorabilia and heritage oriented product designed for those with a passion for the legacy of the sport and visitors to the centre. Replica apparel from key moments in Durban and South African surf history and a range of surfing accessories in the shape of books, DVDs, souvenirs, photography, art, music and memorabilia will be sold.
Conference Facility/Events Venue - The multi-functioning interior design of the SHVC in conjunction with the exhibit mobility allows for mini-conferencing and event co-ordination to be held at the SHVC without the total closure of the facility to the public. Outside of standard operating hours, larger events will be facilitated at the SHVC.
Heritage Surfing Academy - SHSA has surfing development and training as a core value. Beyond the natural passing on of ocean competency to the youth by their fraternization among the surfing's elite at the SHVC, we believe a formal teaching, training and coaching facility will meet the needs of the ever-growing number of young male and female surfers arriving at Dairy beach. From an introductory 'Learn to Surf' program to surfing transformation and development (in conjunction with KZNSA); through to coaching of present and future professionals. We see education about SA surfing's history and heritage as a vital component that must work alongside teaching and training of personal ocean skills if we are going to make South African surfing a reckoning force on the international stage. The SHVC is the home of the Heritage Surfing Academy. It will be here where visitors to Durban's premier surfing beach can gain access to the ocean through surfing lessons and surfboard rental.
Pay Restricted Ablutions/Surfboard Storage Facility - SHSA's management and administration of the pay restricted ablutions and surfboard storage facility adjacent(and underground) the SHVC affords us the offer of annual and monthly contracts for use of those services by members of the surfing community and Surfing Heritage SA.