ISO 24444 / ISO 24443 EU COLIPA and SANS 1557 Verified Broadspectrum Sunscreens
St Francis Bay Surf Report
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SURF RATING
FAIR
★★★☆☆
Fair — worth a paddle: chest-to-head-high waves on moderate-period swell, with a little cross-shore texture.
WAVE
1.7 m
SWELL
1.1m @ 9s
WIND
7 km/h Cross-shore
WATER
16.8°C
★★★☆☆
Fair — worth a paddle: chest-to-head-high waves on moderate-period swell, with a little cross-shore texture.
Swell: 1.1 m @ 9 s (SW)
Wave height: 1.7 m
Wind: 7 km/h NE Cross-shore
Sea temp: 16.8 °C · Wetsuit: 4/3 mm wetsuit + booties
Best window today: 17:00–19:00 (lightest wind)
🧬 Break DNA
23% match
Today: off its ideal window today
🌊 Wave type
Beach & point
🧭 Best swell
SSE groundswell, 11–16s
💨 Best wind
NNW offshore
🏄 Board
Shortboard
📈 Skill
Intermediate–advanced
Ideal wind & swell are derived from the way this coast faces; break type is local knowledge. Match blends today’s swell angle, wind & period.
🌊 Why it’s reading like this right now
- Mid-period SW swell at 9s is hitting at an angle
- 7 km/h cross-shore wind gives some texture
- Not fully aligned today — pick your moment on the timeline above.
🏄 When to paddle out today
🏄 Reading today’s surf…
■ epic ■ clean ■ fun ■ marginal ■ flat ■ dawn/dusk · tap an hour
🎒 Pack for this session
🏄 Board
Shortboard
🤿 Wetsuit
4/3 mm wetsuit + booties
🧴 Bring
Reef-safe sunscreen
🧢 Bring
Boots & hood
🌅Dawn window:Best quality, coolest — usually the quietest crowd
Crowd estimate is a comfort/timing proxy from conditions & day of week — not a live crowd count.
Swell & wind
■ swell in ■ wind (green=offshore/good) offshore zone
Spot match
5-day wave & wind forecast
■ wave height (m) ── wind (km/h, right)
7-Day Surf Forecast
| Day | Rating | Wave | Period | Swell | Midday wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 9 Sep | ★★☆☆☆ | 1.5 m | 7 s | SE | 10 km/h Onshore |
| Thu 10 Sep | ★★★★☆ | 1.8 m | 10 s | SSW | 22 km/h Cross |
| Fri 11 Sep | ★★★☆☆ | 2.2 m | 9 s | SSW | 8 km/h Onshore |
| Sat 12 Sep | ★★★★☆ | 2.2 m | 9 s | SSW | 22 km/h Cross |
| Sun 13 Sep | ★★★☆☆ | 3.2 m | 11 s | SSW | 35 km/h Onshore |
| Mon 14 Sep | ★★☆☆☆ | 2.8 m | 7 s | E | 6 km/h Onshore |
| Tue 15 Sep | ★★★★☆ | 1.7 m | 8 s | E | 15 km/h Cross |
Daily peak wave height, mean swell period & direction, midday wind. Rating is our surf-quality score.
🌊 Today's tide (nearest station)
☀️ Sun & skin — out on the water all day
Sunrise 06:26 · Sunset 18:09 · Peak UV 6
Surfers & anglers get the highest UV dose of anyone. Recommended: SPF 50, reapply every 2 hours and after every session.
Shop SPF 50 sunscreen →Surf/wave: Open-Meteo Marine. Sun/UV/pressure: Open-Meteo. Tides: Stormglass model. Solunar is an approximate guide. Generated Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:13 SAST.
Aerial map — St Francis Bay
Beach break
Towards the point
PeakTake-off / peak
Hand-styled from NGI 0.25 m national aerial. Markers show the peak, channel & hazards — indicative local knowledge, not live conditions or navigation advice; tides, banks, rips & hazards change, so use your own eyes on the day.
About St Francis Bay — Surf Local Knowledge
St Francis Bay lies between the Indian Ocean and the Kromme River, a canal-and-thatch holiday village just around the corner from Cape St Francis and Jeffreys Bay. Its name is woven into surfing history through Bruce's Beauties.
Bruce's Beauties is the right-hand point break made famous by the film The Endless Summer, once reeling off long, near-perfect walls fed by sand from the river mouth and open dunes. Decades of dune stabilisation, river changes and sand loss have exposed rock and flattened the banks, so the wave now only fires with the right sand and swell, and sand-nourishment and coastal-engineering projects have aimed to restore it. At its best it needs a solid south-west swell and offshore north-westerly wind; otherwise nearby Seal Point and J-Bay are the dependable options.