- Forecast
- Maps
- Live
- Weather State
- Spot Information
Big Bay Surf Forecast
/ Cape Town (70 surf breaks) /
Surf Forecasts:
Big Bay surfForecast / Cape Town / South Africa
48hr Weather and Surf, issued 7 pm Tuesday 19 May 2026 SASTForecast update in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Big Bay surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.
Today's Big Bay sea temperature is
15.9° C
(Which is 1.1°C colder than average for this time of year)How big are the waves at Big Bay today?
The current surf forecast for Big Bay at 12AM is: 1.9m 9s primary swell from a South-southeast direction and 1.3m 10s secondary swell from a South-southeast direction, 1.0m 12s secondary swell from a West-southwest direction (forecast issued at 07:00pm May 19). The wind direction is predicted to be offshore and the swell rating is 4.
| Time (SAST) & Date | Wave Height | Wave Period |
|---|---|---|
| Morning (20 May) | 2.5ft (0.8m) | 12s |
| Afternoon (20 May) | 3ft (0.9m) | 11s |
| Evening (20 May) | 2ft (0.6m) | 11s |
Table - waves today at Big Bay. (Swell directed towards the surf break)
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Short Range ForecastSome drizzle, heaviest during Fri afternoon. Warm (max 20°C on Wed afternoon, min 14°C on Thu night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue 19 | Wednesday 20 | Thursday 21 | Fri 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||
5 PM | 8 PM | 11 PM | 2 AM | 5 AM | 8 AM | 11 AM | 2 PM | 5 PM | 8 PM | 11 PM | 2 AM | 5 AM | 8 AM | 11 AM | 2 PM | 5 PM | 8 PM | 11 PM | 2 AM | 5 AM | 8 AM | 11 AM | 2 PM | |
Swell Height Map |    |    |    |    | ||||||||||||||||||||
SSE 9 | SSE 9 | SSE 9 | SSE 9 | S 10 | S 9 | WSW 12 | S 11 | WSW 12 | WSW 11 | WSW 11 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 12 | SW 20 | SW 20 | SW 19 | SW 18 | SW 18 | SW 18 | SW 16 | SW 16 | |
502 | 629 | 658 | 599 | 273 | 198 | 180 | 191 | 121 | 82 | 79 | 70 | 114 | 111 | 138 | 120 | 116 | 134 | 183 | 258 | 255 | 304 | 322 | 432 | |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
cross-off | off | off | off | off | off | cross-off | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | glassy | glassy | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | on | on | on | cross-on | cross | cross | cross | cross-on | on | |
High Tide | 5:17PM1.46m | 5:35AM1.43m | 6:11PM1.39m | 6:32AM1.30m | 7:13PM1.32m | 7:39AM1.18m | ||||||||||||||||||
Low Tide | 11:26PM0.21m | 11:52AM0.18m | 00:25AM0.31m | 12:48PM0.29m | 1:34AM0.40m | 1:52PM0.39m | ||||||||||||||||||
 |  | |  | |  | | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |
 | — | — | — | — | 7:33 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7:35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7:35 | — | — | — |
 | 5:51 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5:49 |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | |
Temp °C | 22 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 |
21 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 16 | |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 10 | SSE 10 | SSE 10 | S 10 | S 10 | S 9 | S 8 | S 11 | S 7 | S 8 | S 7 | S 7 | S 7 | S 7 | SW 13 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | WSW 11 | SW 11 | SW 18 | SW 16 | SW 16 |
 kJ | 326 | 386 | 335 | 332 | 273 | 198 | 100 | 191 | 53 | 60 | 53 | 38 | 37 | 37 | 138 | 120 | 116 | 114 | 110 | 111 | 121 | 304 | 322 | 432 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 12 | WSW 12 | WSW 12 | WSW 12 | WSW 12 | WSW 12 | WSW 11 | WSW 11 | WSW 11 | SW 14 | SW 13 | S 7 | S 7 | S 7 | S 7 | SW 19 | SW 18 | SW 18 | SW 11 | SW 11 | WSW 10 |
| kJ | 414 | 346 | 330 | 260 | 230 | 184 | 180 | 180 | 121 | 82 | 79 | 68 | 114 | 111 | 37 | 23 | 23 | 14 | 183 | 258 | 255 | 119 | 115 | 97 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 15 | SW 10 | S 10 | — | SW 19 | SW 17 | SSE 11 | SW 16 | SSE 11 | SW 15 | SW 14 | SW 14 | WSW 11 | WSW 11 | WSW 11 | WSW 21 | SW 20 | SW 20 | S 7 | SSW 7 | SSW 6 | SSW 6 | SSW 6 | SW 6 |
| kJ | 4 | 4 | 2 | — | 14 | 11 | 37 | 38 | 40 | 55 | 74 | 70 | 46 | 45 | 12 | 43 | 98 | 134 | 14 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 26 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSE 9 | SSE 9 | SSE 9 | SSE 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | NW 3 | NW 3 | NW 3 | NNW 3 | NNW 3 | NNW 3 | NNW 3 | NNW 3 |
| kJ | 502 | 629 | 658 | 599 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 29 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Big Bay surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Nearest