Rough Diamonds: a father-son surf story shaped by the wild West Coast

Rough Diamonds, a new short film from surfer Eli Beukes, has been released. The film heads to the West Coast to tell a story that is about far more than chasing waves. At its heart is the relationship between Eli and his father, Pete Beukes, and a stretch of coastline that has been part of their family story for more than three decades, ***Cape {town} Etc ***reports.

The short film, made by Now Now Media and presented by Monster Energy in association with O’Neill, puts the raw character of the West Coast front and centre.

The surfing is spectacular, but the film also spends time showing what happens between the waves: long drives, checking different breaks, waiting for the right conditions and dealing with a coastline where perfection can be frustratingly rare. As one of the film’s surfers puts it, ‘Nothing comes easy.’

Eli talks about growing up around the area and returning regularly even after the family moved to Cape Town. The demanding conditions helped push his surfing, with the unpredictability becoming part of his education in the water.* ‘You never know what you’re going to get,’* the film explains.

Pete’s connection to the West Coast began long before Eli became a professional surfer. After completing his time in the Navy, Pete travelled to Lambert’s Bay in the early 1990s to work as a diamond diver. He quickly became attached to the area and its ocean.

When the sea was calm, there was diving. When the swell arrived, there was surfing. In those early years, Pete and his friends travelled up and down the coast searching for waves, often on rough gravel roads. The film recalls a West Coast that was considerably harder to access than it is today.

Decades later, he is still exploring the same coastline, only now his son is beside him.

One of the strongest parts of Rough Diamonds is the way the film connects surfing to everyday life in Lambert’s Bay. The town is portrayed not simply as a backdrop for big waves, but as a working coastal community shaped by fishing, farming and generations of people with a close relationship with the sea.

There are glimpses of the local fishing culture, including the traditional preparation and preservation of fish, adding another layer to the story. For Eli, returning to the area is also about escaping the pace of the city. He describes Lambert’s Bay as a place that remains quiet and genuine, with the kind of character that is difficult to manufacture for visitors.

Eli’s surfing is undoubtedly a major attraction of the film. Those around him describe his approach to heavy waves as fearless, while his quieter personality away from the water contrasts with what happens once he enters the lineup. However,* Rough Diamonds* repeatedly brings the focus back to Pete.

As Eli’s father, Pete films from the beach, drives the coastline, scouts waves, and introduces his son to places he discovered decades earlier. This makes the footage feel like a passing of the torch.

Pete once arrived on the West Coast as a young man looking for work and adventure. Now he watches his son attack the same ocean at a level that was difficult to imagine when he first started surfing there.

‘It’s very special, mate,’ Pete says of being able to show Eli the waves he discovered years ago. There is also something refreshingly ordinary about their relationship. Between sessions, they joke, talk and share a beer. Away from the dramatic surf footage, they come across as a father and son who genuinely enjoy spending time together.

 At a time when surf films can easily become showcases of perfect waves and spectacular manoeuvres, Rough Diamonds takes a more personal route. Its biggest story is not simply whether Eli finds the perfect wave. It is what happens when a father returns to a place that shaped him and gets to experience it again through his son’s eyes.

The film’s title feels fitting, with the West Coast being rough around the edges, but hidden within that landscape are the waves, memories and relationships that make it valuable to the people who know it. For Eli, the coastline remains somewhere he wants to return to, even after travelling around the world.

The emotional theme of *Rough Diamonds *focuses on the idea that sometimes home is not the easiest place to surf. It is simply the place that means the most.

Rough Diamonds was written and directed by Will Bendix, with Alan van Gysen as director of photography and producer. Ryan Franklin serves as executive producer. The film features Eli Beukes, Pete Beukes, Max Elkington, Daniel Wilson and Jordy Smith.

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**Picture: **alanvangysen / Instagram

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