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St Francis Bay Surf Report

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SURF RATING
POOR
★★☆☆☆
Marginal: chest-to-head-high waves on short, wind-driven swell, with a little cross-shore texture.
WAVE
1.6 m
SWELL
1.1m @ 7s
WIND
26 km/h Cross-shore
WATER
16.4°C

★★☆☆☆

Marginal: chest-to-head-high waves on short, wind-driven swell, with a little cross-shore texture.

Swell: 1.1 m @ 7 s (SSE)

Wave height: 1.6 m

Wind: 26 km/h W Cross-shore

Sea temp: 16.4 °C · Wetsuit: 4/3 mm wetsuit + booties

Best window today: 09:00–11:00 (lightest wind)

🧬 Break DNA
43% match
Today: rideable but not classic
🌊 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

Cross-shore windwave direction
  • Short, wind-driven SSE swell at 7s is wrapping into the bank
  • 25 km/h cross-shore wind gives some texture
  • Not fully aligned today — pick your moment on the timeline above.
St Francis Bay surf mission card
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🏄 When to paddle out today

🏄 Reading today’s surf…
00:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.9m chest-head · 14km/h Offshore01:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.9m chest-head · 20km/h Offshore02:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.9m chest-head · 22km/h Offshore03:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.9m chest-head · 15km/h Offshore04:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 9km/h Offshore05:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 10km/h Offshore06:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 12km/h Offshore07:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.7m chest-head · 14km/h Offshore08:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.7m chest-head · 13km/h Offshore09:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.7m chest-head · 10km/h Offshore10:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.6m chest-head · 11km/h Cross11:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.6m chest-head · 24km/h Cross12:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.6m chest-head · 26km/h Cross13:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.6m chest-head · 25km/h Cross14:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.6m chest-head · 25km/h Cross15:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.6m chest-head · 27km/h Cross16:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.5m chest-head · 21km/h Cross17:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.5m chest-head · 18km/h Cross18:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.5m waist-chest · 15km/h Cross19:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.4m waist-chest · 13km/h Cross20:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.4m waist-chest · 12km/h Cross21:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.4m waist-chest · 11km/h Cross22:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.4m waist-chest · 9km/h Offshore23:00 — Clean (★★★★) · 1.3m waist-chest · 7km/h Offshorenow00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00
■ 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
☀️Midday:Warmer but often windier; moderate crowd
Crowd estimate is a comfort/timing proxy from conditions & day of week — not a live crowd count.
Swell & wind
NESW
■ swell in   ■ wind (green=offshore/good)   offshore zone
Spot match
Swell anglePeriodSizeWindSea state
5-day wave & wind forecast
ThuFriSatSunMon0.0m1.3m2.6m01632now
■ wave height (m)   ── wind (km/h, right)

7-Day Surf Forecast

DayRatingWavePeriodSwellMidday wind
Wed 23 Sep ★★★☆☆ 1.8 m 7 s SE 26 km/h Cross
Thu 24 Sep ★★★☆☆ 2.1 m 7 s SSE 22 km/h Cross
Fri 25 Sep ★★★☆☆ 2.1 m 9 s S 31 km/h Cross
Sat 26 Sep ★★★☆☆ 1.7 m 9 s SSW 11 km/h Onshore
Sun 27 Sep ★★★☆☆ 2.5 m 8 s SSW 22 km/h Cross
Mon 28 Sep ★★★☆☆ 2.4 m 7 s SSW 15 km/h Cross
Tue 29 Sep ★★☆☆☆ 2.6 m 7 s SSE 9 km/h Onshore

Daily peak wave height, mean swell period & direction, midday wind. Rating is our surf-quality score.

🌊 Today's tide (nearest station)

00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00L 07:56H 14:12L 20:21now

☀️ Sun & skin — out on the water all day

Sunrise 06:07 · Sunset 18:18 · 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, 23 Sep 2026 12:13 SAST.

Aerial map — St Francis Bay

Crayonised aerial map of 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.

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