I've traveled everywhere with my Naish Golfbag and I've never been charged excess.
Just came back from Mauritius/Reunion Island with 27kg in my bag (2 kites, 1 board, 1 bar, harness, shorty, helmet, booties and towel - It was 24kg on the way over but bottles of Mauritian Rum add up and my gear was still damp
I flew back from London on Qantas with 32kg in the same bag and they even put the bag through priority!
As long as you fly a full service carrier you tend to be OK.
My tips -
1. Pack all your clothes in a carry on daypack. You can get 3 days out of a tshirt if you are out on the water most of the time!
2. Only take one set of going out clothes
3. Leather hiking shoes double as going out shoes if you buy brown ones. (Took mine canyoning one day as well)
4. Check in as late as possible - that way they won't want to hold you up by making you pay excess and also your gear has to get to the plane!
5. Pool your equipment with your friends (works well if you have a weight difference to a friend and they ride one size down from you)
