The skateboarding scene in South Africa is quite small, but growing steadily, with surfing being much more mainstream. New skate parks are developed mainly in malls by private enterprises. For South Africans, especially parents, a strong selling point for the mall environment is that it remains a safe haven, with a multitude of teenage subcultures hanging out together at the malls.
* Wave House - Durban
This park is located at Gateway's Theatre of Shopping on Umhlanga Ridge, and is one of the best skateboarding venues South Africa has to offer. The park was designed by 10-time world skating champion, Tony Hawk, and consists of a concrete snake-run and kidney bowl, beginners area, rhythm ramp (spine ramp), vert ramp and pro street course, totaling 4000 square metres in total! Helmets are compulsory and are for rent.
Contact the Wave House on tel: +27 (0)31 5709200.
* Skate park - Durban
Located on the corner of Old Fort and Marine Parade, on the Durban Beachfront, this skate park is a skateboarding arena located in the Military Museum. This is the place to come if you are a skateboarding enthusiast and are tired of contending with the traffic and pedestrians on the public roads. There is also a skate shop.
Contact them on tel: +27 (0)31 3327433
* IS skate park - Durban
The park is situated at the Pavilion shopping mall in Durban, and has a street section and a miniramp. The riding surface is wood.
* Mandini
Mandini is home to the Mandini Bowl which was originally a water catchment that was built in the 70s. Now it has become a popular skateboarding destination. The riding surface material is therefore concrete. It consists of a tight snake run into a bowl which has been extended into an over vertical wall.
* Boogaloos - Brightwaters Commons, Johannesburg
Situated in Randburg, this is a great skatepark with a nice pool/bowl that has good lines and +- a 9 ft deepend. The street section has lots of nice transitions and an interesting half sphere at the end. The riding surface is wood. While you are skateboarding, you can listen to MTV and view the pros in the skate movies which are projected on a big screen.
Contact them on tel: +27 (0)11 7874568
* Greenramp - Parkhurst, Johannesburg
Located at the sports grounds in Parkhurst. The riding surface is metal, and access is free!
* Montecasino skate park - Fourways, Johannesburg
Montecasino is ideally located for everyone in Gauteng, situated only a few hundred metres from the off-ramps of major highways from Pretoria, the East Rand, the West Rand and O.R. Tambo International Airport. To get there, from the Western Bypass (N1) take the William Nicol turnoff, turn onto William Nicol Drive and drive in a Northerly direction towards Fourways for approximately 3 km. The riding surface is wood.
Contact them on tel: +27 (0)11 511 0518
* Germiston Bowl - Germiston, Johannesburg
To get there, take the N3 north. At the Geldenhuis Interchange, take the Germiston turn off. Turn right into Russel Avenue.
* Vaal skate park - Vanderbijlpark
Located at Louis Trichardt Boulevard, Vanderbijlpark, just behind the VIP Car wash. The park is huge! It consists of a couple of rails, two six foot quarter pipes, two speed ramps, three small launches, a four foot pipe, a pyramid with side rail and a huge eight foot half-pipe that spines into a six foot halfpipe with a roll-over and the park is still growing.
All the ramps are made out of steel that is placed on a solid concrete slab with enough space to still do some freestyle skating while everyone is skating away on the street section.
Contact them on tel: +27 (0)16 931 1332
* Hartbeespoort skate park - Hartbeespoort
Located about a 1 hour drive from Johannesburg, so you will need to make it a day trip to be worth while. You can enjoy a refreshing swim in the swimming pools after a session though! The riding surface material is metal and concrete. Access to the skate park is free!
* Canal Walk, Century City - Cape Town
The Boogaloos skate park, located in the Century City Shopping Centre, offers a huge space to freely express your skating style with epic ramps, rails and plenty of grinds. The park is situated on the outer roof of the mall and is great when the weather is warm. The park welcomes skaters of all skill levels. Contact them on tel: +27 (0)21 555 2895
