The overall concept of SUSS was welcomed by surfers and bodyboarders from up and down the South African coastline, with interest even extending to surfers in other countries.
Of course, there were always the naysayers. Some were concerned that the platform would expose their treasured secret spots, and despite the introduction of private Crews and the ability to control what information was shared, not everyone embraced the idea. Nevertheless, SUSS gained some decent momentum from its beginnings in 2008 and continued to grow until early 2011.
The concept was originally developed while Chad and Caide were working together at a technology company. Unfortunately, that company closed its doors in early 2010, leaving both of them retrenched. Rather than viewing this as the end of the road, they decided to take the plunge and start their own technology company, The Gemini Solution (TGS).
For a while, the two ventures ran alongside each other. But as TGS began gaining traction, the demands of building and running a new business naturally required more and more of their attention.
By 2011, finding the time and resources to keep SUSS running had become increasingly difficult. To make matters worse, Magicseaweed (MSW), which SUSS relied on for forecast information, changed its chart layouts. This created significant technical challenges in obtaining and processing the forecast data that powered the platform.
With limited time, growing business commitments and a substantial development effort required to keep things running, SUSS was eventually put on the back burner.
And just like that, after three years of building, learning and gathering momentum, SUSS slowly faded away — much like a Derdesteen wave on a spring high tide.
But the idea never really disappeared. It was simply waiting for the right swell to return.
SUSS Rebirth
Fast forward to 2026.
With the enormous leaps in Artificial Intelligence over the past year and what's now possible with big data, the opportunities to bring SUSS back to life have become pretty exciting.
Add to that the fact that we're getting back into the water more often, surfing with our lighties and rediscovering the stoke through a whole new generation, and it started to feel like the right time to reSUSSitate the idea and see how today's surfers embrace it.
The technology has certainly changed, and the possibilities are far greater than what we could have imagined back in 2008.
AI, smarter forecasting, historical surf data and the ability to learn from actual surfing experiences open up a whole new world of possibilities for SUSS.
But despite all the advancements, the heart of SUSS remains exactly where it started.
It's about understanding your local breaks, learning from your experiences, sharing knowledge with your mates and making smarter decisions about when and where to paddle out.
The new generation of SUSS might be a whole lot smarter, but the original philosophy hasn't changed. BETTER WAVES - MORE OFTEN!
