Noordhoek Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. The name’s Rusty, and I’m looking at the Cape Town stretch – specifically Noordhoek. This is a reef setup, and it’s a consistent one, but the next week and a half is a bit of a mixed bag with some real ugly weather in between.

The water temperature is sitting at 66°F, which is pretty much average for this time of year, so nothing unusual there.

First up, the pattern is pretty grim right through the start. We’ve got a gap of a few days where it’s just not worth paddling out. From Thursday, September 3rd, right through to Sunday, September 6th, the wind is howling from the southeast and east, mostly onshore or cross-onshore, and the wave energy is just a mess. You’d be a mug to go out there.

Monday, September 7th, is still marginal at best – a strong cross-shore wind and lumpy conditions. Not a good look.

Now, the first real standout. Tuesday morning, September 8th. This is the one. The wind goes completely glassy – dead calm, 0 mph. Swell is 5ft from the SSW, with a period of 13 seconds. That’s a proper groundswell, pushing a moderate 802 units of energy (combined energy of all swells directed here). The wind is glass, so the surf will be clean. This is a good window for an intermediate surfer. The swell is manageable, not too big, and the reef setup will handle that longer period nicely. Wait for the sets.

After that, it gets messy again. We get a few days of lighter winds on Wednesday, September 9th, and Thursday, September 10th, but the swell is small and the wind is off or onshore, making it poor. A bit of a lull.

The next true standout is a long way off, but it’s worth holding out for. Monday morning, September 14th. This looks promising. We’ve got a 6ft swell from the SSW, but the period jumps to 18 seconds – that’s a very long period groundswell. The energy is strong at 3396 units (combined energy of all swells directed here). The wind is a light breeze from the WSW, which is a clean cross-offshore wind. The conditions are rated as excellent for experienced surfers. The reef at Noordhoek is a good spot for this kind of long-period energy, but be warned, that swell size is over 5ft, so it’s for the confident crew. The crowd situation here is “sometimes,” so you might not have it to yourself, but with the clean wind and the long period, it’s the best on offer in the whole two weeks.

The following days, Tuesday, September 15th, and Wednesday, September 16th, have some surf but are marginal or blown out by strong winds, so don’t get your hopes up too much.

So, to sum it up: the first real clean window is Tuesday morning, September 8th, for a fun, glassy session. The big one to aim for is Monday, September 14th, but it’s a long-range call, so keep an eye on it. The rest of the time, this stretch is a bit of a write-off.

Rusty.

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