Eli Beukes

If you have experienced the sight of Eli Beukes (20) dismantling a wave, then you can advocate that it is almost impossible to take your eyes off him. He is a young gun surfing like an experienced pro; the amount of velocity and flair he produces on the face and in the air is colossal, yet he can still transition into delicate lines and playful manoeuvres. Maybe, this is the result of growing up on both the west coast and deep south. He extracts the power and finesse that comes with battling both sides of the coastline, the result being a stylish and progressive all-rounder.

The son of a diamond diver, Eli grew up on the rigid and barren west coast before moving to the serene Kommetjie waters at ten. ‘Once we moved to Kommetjie, I started surfing every day. I started to progress more and more.’ Here, his surfing began to take shape, his style being solidified by the Atlantic lefts and rights. As he progressed in the water, sponsors took notice, and it wasn’t long afterwards that O’Neil came knocking on his door at the age of fourteen. ‘I was in Durban when they approached me’, he recalls, ‘and I’ve been with them for the last seven years’.

Whether he’s launching into the sky and landing onto the concrete like flats, tucking under the lip of an 8ft barrel or drawing fast and ferocious lines down the wave, there is always a cool, calm composure that follows him. Visually, he glides down waves without a touch of water out of place. Like we should all be able to do it. Sadly, this is not the fact, and it is these versatile abilities that set apart the good from the great. In one wave, he can thread the needle through a throaty barrel, transition into the air like a propeller and end it off with a fierce hack of the lip. This is the mixed blend of Eli, just as good in the air as he is on the face of the wave, albeit front-hand or backhand.

He also knows how to perform, with a repertoire and accolades to prove it. From being chosen to represent South Africa at eighteen at the ISA World Surfing Games in California, to winning the 2020 Zigzag Monster Combo, as well as being a formidable opponent on the QS circuit with a 3rd in the 2021 Ballito Pro, it would seem that Eli is on a fast trajectory towards stardom on the international scene. There are already hints of this with Eli’s masterful short film Deep West being noticed by global players. Stab Magazine re-posted the film with the caption ‘Where Has This Kid Been Hiding?!’

Although he is rising through the ranks on the competitive circuit and has ambitions of reaching the dream tour, Eli is a free surfing enthusiast, as Deep West confirms, where he explains: ‘It’s one of those feelings that you keep chasing, when you get a good wave, you just want to get another one and another one. It’s kind of like a euphoric feeling’.

The film resulted in seven broken boards, a couple of close calls with mother nature, hair-tingling surfing, and many hours on the road. ‘I was surfing a deep-water spot by myself, and I had this wave where I went over the falls and my board came back and hit me in the ribs. It hit me so hard that I wasn’t breathing properly, and it took me quite a while to get in. I thought I broke my ribs or punctured a lung.’ Like his childhood, the footage shows him on both sides of the coast. From endless barrels and air rotations to big sections and steep take-offs, the film proves just how clinical Eli can be, just as precise and articulate on a three-foot Long beach left as he is on a kegging west coast ten-footer. His natural ability in the water is palpable. Deep West sees him pull off manoeuvres reminiscent of Jordy Smith and Dane Reynolds, while all along reinforcing his own Eli Beukes signature. 

So, what’s next for Eli? ‘The tour is definitely somewhere where I would want to be. I’m just going to focus more on getting better and enjoying it.’ If he isn’t racing down the line of a freight train or getting exploded out of an overhead wave, then expect him to be preparing for the unforgiving Qualifying series. With sights on the big prize, a strong start to the QS series and his surfing starting to gain global recognition, it seems that Eli is in line to be the next face of South African surfing.

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Photos by Alan van Gysen (Picture 2) and Pete Beukes (Pitcures 1,3 & 4)

To go watch ‘Deep West’ click here.

To keep updated with Eli’s films, clips and updates click here.

For more of our Visceral features, click here.