Surf Forecasts:
J-Bay surf forecast from 23 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Friday 24 Jul, 8AM (local time) - 15ft (4.5m), 16s period, SSW swell with offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Friday 24 Jul, 8AM (local time) - 15ft (4.5m), 16s period, SSW swell with 9,199 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Friday 24 Jul, 8AM (local time) - 15ft (4.5m), 16s period with SSW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for J-Bay this week:
The surf forecast for J-Bay over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Friday (Jul 24) at 8AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 4.5m and 16s period with a secondary swell of 0.5m and 11s. The wind is predicted to be offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at J-Bay in the next 16 days are 4.5m 16s and forecast to arrive on Friday (Jul 24) at 8AM. Winds are predicted to be offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.6m 6s period and expected on Monday (Jul 27) at 11AM.
| Wave Type | Time (SAST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 8AM (Fri 24th Jul) | 15ft (4.5m) 16s |
| Best Surf | 8AM (Fri 24th Jul) | 15ft (4.5m) 16s |
| Most Powerful | 8AM (Fri 24th Jul) | 15ft (4.5m) 16s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for J-Bay over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, this is Rusty comin' at ya from the wave zone. Let's have a look at what's cookin' for the next couple of weeks.
The first real standout of the period is happening right now, Friday morning. We've got a serious pulse of south-southwest swell rolling in at a solid 15 ft, riding on a 16-second period. That's a long-period groundswell, packed with energy – the combined energy is a massive 8908, so it's powerful. This is definitely expert territory, way too big for beginners. The wind is a light offshore from the west, so the lineup at J-Bay should be clean and well-shaped, though with that size and period, it'll be working best on the points and reefs. The water temp is about average for this time of year.
Friday afternoon the wind goes onshore from the east-southeast, and conditions get messy with the same swell dropping to 12 ft. Saturday morning brings a nice glassy window with a light north-northwest breeze and a 8 ft SW swell at 14 seconds. That's still a solid size, but more manageable for experienced surfers. The energy is still strong at 2286. Saturday afternoon the onshore wind returns.
Sunday afternoon looks like a great little window. The wind goes glassy again from the north-east, with a clean 7 ft SW swell at 12 seconds. The energy is moderate at 1558. That's a nice, user-friendly size for a Sunday session. Monday and Tuesday get blown out by strong winds and cross-onshore conditions, with a building swell that gets messy and choppy.
After that, the wind pattern improves. From Wednesday, August 5th morning, we see a solid 8 ft SW swell at 13 seconds with a light cross-offshore wind from the north-northwest, keeping things clean. The energy is still strong at 2284. That's a good one for experienced surfers. Then, Friday, August 7th afternoon looks like a real gem. The wind goes offshore from the northwest at 9 mph, with a 7 ft SW swell at 12 seconds. The conditions will be clean and lined up. That's a beautiful session for anyone who can handle a solid head-high wave.
The best of the best is this Friday morning's massive 15 ft groundswell with perfect offshore wind – pure power for the experts. The second standout is Saturday morning's glassy 8 ft swell, for a cleaner, more manageable session. A bit further out, Friday, August 7th afternoon looks like a solid call with offshore winds and a punchy 7 ft swell.
Rusty out.
Short Range ForecastModerate rain (total 16mm), heaviest on Thu night. Warm (max 25°C on Sun afternoon, min 14°C on Thu night). Winds decreasing (strong winds from the SW on Thu night, calm by Sat morning). | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryModerate rain (total 18mm), heaviest on Tue night. Warm (max 22°C on Sun night, min 13°C on Tue night). Winds decreasing (fresh winds from the WSW on Mon morning, light winds from the SE by Tue night). | ||||||||||||||||||
Friday 24 | Saturday 25 | Sunday 26 | Monday 27 | Tuesday 28 | Wednesday 29 | ||||||||||||||
Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 11 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 13 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 13 | SW 12 | SW 14 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | E 8 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 2853 | 8860 | 5416 | 3326 | 2094 | 2345 | 1978 | 1381 | 1070 | 1352 | 1048 | 2886 | 6189 | 4631 | 5330 | 4107 | 2248 | 1567 | 1114 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-off | off | on | off | glassy | on | cross | cross | glassy | off | cross-off | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on |
High Tide | 11:31PM1.11m | 12:39PM1.02m | 00:56AM1.15m | 1:44PM1.12m | 1:52AM1.24m | 2:27PM1.23m | 2:32AM1.34m | 3:02PM1.34m | 3:06AM1.43m | 3:33PM1.44m | 3:37AM1.50m | 4:02PM1.53m | 4:06AM1.55m | ||||||
Low Tide | 6:18AM0.63m | 6:31PM0.67m | 7:31AM0.55m | 7:41PM0.59m | 8:17AM0.45m | 8:26PM0.49m | 8:51AM0.34m | 9:02PM0.39m | 9:22AM0.24m | 9:34PM0.31m | 9:50AM0.16m | 10:04PM0.25m | |||||||
 |  |  |  | | | | | | |  | |  |  | | | | | | |
 | — | 7:18 | — | — | 7:18 | — | — | 7:16 | — | — | 7:16 | — | — | 7:16 | — | — | 7:15 | — | — |
 | 5:32 | — | 5:34 | — | — | 5:35 | — | — | 5:36 | — | — | 5:36 | — | — | 5:37 | — | — | 5:37 | — |
mm | 14 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | — | — |
Temp °C | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 18 | 25 | 22 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 15 |
Feels °C | 7 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 23 | 19 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 11 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 13 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 13 | SW 12 | SW 14 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 |
| kJ | 2853 | 8860 | 5416 | 3326 | 2094 | 2345 | 1978 | 1381 | 1070 | 1352 | 1048 | 2886 | 6189 | 4631 | 5330 | 4107 | 2248 | 1567 | 888 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 19 | ESE 11 | ESE 11 | SE 8 | SE 10 | SE 10 | ESE 10 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | E 7 | SSW 16 | SSW 18 | ENE 9 | — | — | E 8 | — | — | — |
| kJ | 1591 | 48 | 47 | 101 | 192 | 167 | 140 | 481 | 417 | 43 | 568 | 337 | 15 | — | — | 49 | — | — | — |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ESE 12 | — | — | ESE 10 | — | — | — | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 9 | E 8 | ENE 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 77 | — | — | 40 | — | — | — | 88 | 71 | 7 | 45 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ENE 4 | — | — | WSW 6 | — | — | ESE 6 | — | — | E 6 | E 7 | E 8 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | — | 184 | — | — | 97 | — | — | 151 | 507 | 1114 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 3 | 0 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 643 | 197 | 197 | 3 | 180 | 31 | 561 | 52 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Eastern Cape (South) | |||||||||||||||||||
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 J-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.
Information about the J-Bay Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for J-Bay provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at J-Bay can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our J-Bay surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (J-Bay) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for J-Bay may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
J-Bay is 19 km (12 miles) from the city of Kruisfontein. If you plan a holiday in Eastern Cape (South), look for hotels and other accommodation in Kruisfontein. Kruisfontein has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest