Surf Forecasts:
North Beach surf forecast from 15 Sep 2026:
- Best quality surf: Friday 18 Sep, 5AM (local time) - 10ft (3.0m), 8s period, SE swell with cross-shore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Monday 21 Sep, 5PM (local time) - 15ft (4.5m), 10s period, SSW swell with 3,937 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Tuesday 15 Sep, 5AM (local time) - 8ft (2.5m), 9s period with ENE swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for North Beach this week:
The surf forecast for North Beach over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Tuesday (Sep 15) at 5AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 2.5m and 9s period with a secondary swell of 0.3m and 13s. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at North Beach in the next 16 days are 4.5m 10s and forecast to arrive on Monday (Sep 21) at 5PM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.7m 5s period and expected on Wednesday (Sep 16) at 5PM.
| Wave Type | Time (SAST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 5AM (Tue 15th Sep) | 8ft (2.5m) 9s |
| Best Surf | 5AM (Fri 18th Sep) | 10ft (3.0m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 5PM (Mon 21st Sep) | 15ft (4.5m) 10s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for North Beach over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, let’s be straight with you. North Beach isn’t giving us much to work with for a while—mostly blown-out, messy conditions and just a couple of windows where it might be worth a paddle, but nothing to get fired up about.
Water temp is running about 69°F, which is a bit colder than usual for this time of year—not a huge deal, but you’ll notice it after a session.
The best chance looks like Thursday the 17th. Light rain, clean conditions, chest-to-head high surf from the south with an 8-second period. It’s a bit short-period, so it’ll be a little crumbly, but with that offshore cross-off breeze it should be fun for the intermediate crowd. Not big, but clean.
Early Friday the 18th has more size—around 12 feet from the southeast—but the guidance says it’s too big for this break, and the period is only 9 seconds. Being a beach/pier setup, that much juice with a short interval is a recipe for chaos. Afternoon brings strong winds, so I’d pass.
Then we’ve got a few days of poor conditions—northeast cross-onshore winds and lumpy, choppy surf. Not worth your time.
There’s a flicker on Sunday the 27th afternoon—swell jumps back to around 10 feet from the east-northeast with an 8-second period, but again, the guidance says it’s too big for this break. Clean though, so if you’re a confident expert and know the banks, maybe—but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
The rest of the window is grim—northeast winds, messy, onshore, and surf fading out. Nothing over about 7 feet and nothing clean.
So, bottom line: Thursday the 17th is your best bet. A few other windows have size but are either too big or too messy. Patience is key.
Stay salty,
Rusty
Short Range ForecastModerate rain (total 14mm), heaviest on Thu morning. Warm (max 24°C on Mon afternoon, min 17°C on Wed night). Winds decreasing (near gales from the NE on Mon afternoon, calm by Tue night). | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryHeavy rain (total 33mm), heaviest during Thu night. Warm (max 22°C on Sat morning, min 17°C on Thu afternoon). Winds increasing (calm on Thu night, strong winds from the SW by Fri afternoon). | |||||||||||||||||||
Mon 14 | Tuesday 15 | Wednesday 16 | Thursday 17 | Friday 18 | Saturday 19 | Sunday 20 | ||||||||||||||
PM | 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) | ENE 9 | NE 9 | E 9 | E 9 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | S 8 | SSE 8 | SSE 8 | SE 9 | SE 9 | SE 10 | SE 11 | ESE 11 | ESE 10 | E 10 | E 10 | E 9 |
Wave Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 1821 | 2498 | 705 | 619 | 669 | 586 | 520 | 333 | 565 | 452 | 650 | 1761 | 1957 | 3400 | 2619 | 1978 | 1530 | 1170 | 1048 | 627 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | cross | cross | glassy | cross-off | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | glassy | off | cross-off | off | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-off |
High Tide | 5:23PM2.00m | 5:34AM1.83m | 5:48PM1.88m | 5:58AM1.71m | 6:12PM1.73m | 6:23AM1.56m | 6:36PM1.57m | 6:49AM1.41m | 7:02PM1.40m | 7:28AM1.25m | 7:47PM1.22m | 12:04PM1.17m | 00:37AM1.21m | |||||||
Low Tide | 11:32PM0.29m | 11:37AM0.32m | 11:58PM0.41m | 12:00PM0.46m | 00:22AM0.55m | 12:24PM0.62m | 00:49AM0.70m | 12:49PM0.79m | 1:22AM0.86m | 1:24PM0.97m | 3:13AM1.00m | 6:40PM1.03m | ||||||||
 |  |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |  | | |  | | | | |  |  | |
 | — | — | 5:54 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | 5:48 | — | — |
 | 5:46 | — | — | 5:47 | — | — | 5:47 | — | — | 5:49 | — | — | 5:49 | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | 5:50 | — |
mm | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | 3 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | — | — | — | 2 | — | 24 |
Temp °C | 24 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 21 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 21 |
Feels °C | 16 | 15 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 16 | ENE 9 | E 9 | E 9 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | SSE 8 | SSE 8 | E 10 | SSW 13 | SSW 12 | SE 10 | SE 11 | ESE 11 | ESE 10 | SW 12 | E 10 | E 9 |
| kJ | 83 | 1628 | 705 | 619 | 669 | 586 | 520 | 333 | 368 | 296 | 426 | 64 | 48 | 2768 | 2619 | 1978 | 1530 | 6 | 1048 | 627 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 9 | SSW 14 | SSW 4 | S 4 | S 11 | S 10 | SSW 16 | SSW 13 | E 10 | E 10 | S 15 | SSW 13 | SW 16 | SSW 11 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 12 | SW 11 | SSW 17 |
| kJ | 2 | 36 | 6 | 4 | 21 | 8 | 27 | 17 | 333 | 452 | 121 | 257 | 10 | 24 | 51 | 44 | 18 | 29 | 5 | 30 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | SSW 12 | S 12 | S 16 | S 15 | — | — | SSW 15 | S 17 | — | — | — | — | SSW 11 | SW 11 | — | SW 16 | S 15 | S 11 |
| kJ | — | — | 28 | 23 | 5 | 4 | — | — | 21 | 23 | — | — | — | — | 48 | 59 | — | 10 | 4 | 9 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ENE 9 | NE 9 | SW 4 | — | — | — | S 5 | S 7 | S 8 | SSE 8 | SSE 8 | SE 9 | SE 9 | SE 10 | — | — | NE 6 | E 10 | NE 7 | — |
| kJ | 1821 | 2498 | 10 | — | — | — | 168 | 267 | 565 | 422 | 650 | 1761 | 1957 | 3400 | — | — | 302 | 1170 | 440 | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 423 | 103 | 121 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 907 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 155 | 2 | 238 | 779 | 404 | 5 | 103 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Durban/KwaZulu-Natal South Coast | ||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our North Beach 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 North Beach Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for North Beach provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at North Beach can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our North Beach 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 (North Beach) 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 North Beach 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.
Are you planning a holiday in Durban/KwaZulu-Natal South Coast? If you are looking for accommodation near North Beach, camping, hotels and holiday cottages in Durban/KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, consider staying in Durban which is 6 km (4 miles) away. Other places in and around Durban/KwaZulu-Natal South Coast where you can find information about places to rent, and car hire include Glenwood which is 6 km (4 miles) away, Kwamashu, Umhlanga and Mount Edgecombe.
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