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Big Bay Surf Forecast
/ Cape Town (70 surf breaks) /
Surf Forecasts:
Big Bay surfForecast / Cape Town / South Africa
48hr Weather and Surf, issued 1 pm Saturday 16 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
15.6° C
(Which is 1.5°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 5PM is: 1.8m 12s primary swell from a West-southwest direction and 1.4m 12s secondary swell from a South direction (forecast issued at 01:00pm May 16). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-offshore and the swell rating is 4.
| Time (SAST) & Date | Wave Height | Wave Period |
|---|---|---|
| Morning (16 May) | 7ft (2.2m) | 13s |
| Afternoon (16 May) | 6ft (1.8m) | 12s |
| Evening (16 May) | 5.5ft (1.7m) | 13s |
Table - waves today at Big Bay. (Swell directed towards the surf break)
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Warm (max 21°C on Sat afternoon, min 15°C on Sun morning). Winds increasing (light winds from the SSE on Sat afternoon, fresh winds from the SSE by Tue morning). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat 16 | Sunday 17 | Monday 18 | Tue 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 | 5 PM | 8 PM | 11 PM | 2 AM | 5 AM | 8 AM | |
Swell Height Map |    |    |    |    | ||||||||||||||||||||
WSW 12 | WSW 12 | WSW 12 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 12 | WSW 14 | WSW 14 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 14 | WSW 14 | WSW 14 | WSW 14 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | SSE 9 | |
1342 | 1154 | 1016 | 928 | 799 | 700 | 659 | 578 | 440 | 799 | 743 | 817 | 793 | 837 | 850 | 889 | 969 | 1028 | 929 | 796 | 722 | 649 | 647 | 822 | |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | |
High Tide | 2:57PM1.53m | 3:08AM1.66m | 3:42PM1.54m | 3:55AM1.62m | 4:28PM1.52m | 4:43AM1.54m | ||||||||||||||||||
Low Tide | 8:46AM-0.04m | 8:59PM0.10m | 9:30AM-0.05m | 9:45PM0.10m | 10:15AM-0.00m | 10:34PM0.14m | ||||||||||||||||||
 | | |  | | | | | | | | | |  | | | |  |  |  | | | | | |
 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7:33 | — |
 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | — | — | 5:51 |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Temp °C | 17 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
16 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WSW 12 | WSW 12 | WSW 12 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 12 | WSW 14 | WSW 14 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 14 | WSW 14 | WSW 14 | WSW 14 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 | WSW 13 |
 kJ | 1342 | 1154 | 1016 | 928 | 799 | 700 | 659 | 578 | 440 | 799 | 743 | 817 | 793 | 837 | 850 | 889 | 969 | 1028 | 929 | 796 | 722 | 649 | 624 | 536 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 13 | S 12 | S 12 | S 12 | S 12 | S 12 | S 11 | S 11 | S 11 | S 11 | — | — | S 10 | S 10 | S 10 | S 10 | S 10 | S 10 | S 12 | SSE 12 | S 12 | — | S 16 | S 16 |
| kJ | 826 | 649 | 547 | 547 | 461 | 454 | 408 | 233 | 185 | 146 | — | — | 100 | 71 | 49 | 49 | 50 | 32 | 26 | 15 | 12 | — | 5 | 5 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | W 13 | WSW 15 | — | — | — | — | — | SSE 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 193 | — | — | — | — | — | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | SSE 5 | — | — | S 5 | S 5 | S 5 | S 11 | S 5 | S 5 | S 6 | S 6 | S 6 | S 6 | S 6 | S 7 | S 8 | S 9 | S 8 | S 8 | SSE 9 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | 36 | — | — | 39 | 46 | 46 | 517 | 126 | 99 | 108 | 120 | 105 | 105 | 128 | 240 | 428 | 582 | 579 | 647 | 822 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 129 | 91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 129 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Cape Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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