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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, though onshore wind is adding chop.
WAVE
1.8 m
SWELL
1.7m @ 7s
WIND
5 km/h Onshore
WATER
18.1°C

★★☆☆☆

Marginal: chest-to-head-high waves on short, wind-driven swell, though onshore wind is adding chop.

Swell: 1.7 m @ 7 s (SW)

Wave height: 1.8 m

Wind: 5 km/h SSE Onshore

Sea temp: 18.1 °C · Wetsuit: 3/2 mm full wetsuit

Best window today: 18:00–20:00 (lightest wind)

🧬 Break DNA
19% 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

Onshore windwave direction
  • Short, wind-driven SW swell at 7s is hitting at an angle
  • 5 km/h onshore wind is adding chop
  • Not fully aligned today — pick your moment on the timeline above.
St Francis Bay surf mission card
Save or screenshot, then send it to your crew on WhatsApp.

🏄 When to paddle out today

🏄 Reading today’s surf…
00:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.7m chest-head · 10km/h Cross01:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 10km/h Cross02:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 11km/h Cross03:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 15km/h Cross04:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.9m chest-head · 18km/h Cross05:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.9m chest-head · 16km/h Cross06:00 — Fun (★★★) · 2.0m chest-head · 16km/h Cross07:00 — Fun (★★★) · 2.0m chest-head · 16km/h Cross08:00 — Fun (★★★) · 2.0m chest-head · 19km/h Cross09:00 — Fun (★★★) · 2.0m chest-head · 22km/h Cross10:00 — Fun (★★★) · 2.0m chest-head · 21km/h Cross11:00 — Fun (★★★) · 2.0m chest-head · 17km/h Cross12:00 — Fun (★★★) · 2.0m chest-head · 14km/h Cross13:00 — Fun (★★★) · 2.0m chest-head · 13km/h Cross14:00 — Fun (★★★) · 2.0m chest-head · 13km/h Cross15:00 — Marginal (★★) · 1.9m chest-head · 11km/h Onshore16:00 — Marginal (★★) · 1.9m chest-head · 10km/h Onshore17:00 — Marginal (★★) · 1.9m chest-head · 7km/h Onshore18:00 — Marginal (★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 5km/h Onshore19:00 — Marginal (★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 2km/h Onshore20:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 4km/h Cross21:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 8km/h Cross22:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 8km/h Cross23:00 — Fun (★★★) · 1.8m chest-head · 10km/h Crossnow00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00
■ epic   ■ clean   ■ fun   ■ marginal   ■ flat   ■ dawn/dusk · tap an hour

🎒 Pack for this session

🏄 Board
Shortboard
🤿 Wetsuit
3/2 mm full wetsuit
🧴 Bring
Reef-safe sunscreen
🦶 Bring
Booties for the rocks
🌆Evening glass-off:After-work session — can get busy if it’s clean
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
WedThuFriSatSun0.0m1.5m3.0m01428now
■ wave height (m)   ── wind (km/h, right)

7-Day Surf Forecast

DayRatingWavePeriodSwellMidday wind
Tue 13 Oct ★★★☆☆ 2.0 m 7 s SW 14 km/h Cross
Wed 14 Oct ★★★★☆ 2.0 m 8 s SSW 26 km/h Cross
Thu 15 Oct ★★★☆☆ 3.0 m 10 s SW 12 km/h Onshore
Fri 16 Oct ★★★☆☆ 2.5 m 9 s SW 11 km/h Onshore
Sat 17 Oct ★★★☆☆ 2.2 m 8 s SW 18 km/h Cross
Sun 18 Oct ★★★★☆ 2.9 m 8 s SW 26 km/h Cross
Mon 19 Oct ★★★★☆ 2.4 m 9 s SW 25 km/h Cross

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

🌊 Today's tide (nearest station)

00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00H 04:40L 10:35H 16:51L 22:58now

☀️ Sun & skin — out on the water all day

Sunrise 05:39 · Sunset 18:33 · 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 Tue, 13 Oct 2026 18:13 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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