Surf Forecasts:
North Beach surf forecast from 25 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Friday 28 Aug, 5AM (local time) - 10ft (3.0m), 8s period, NE swell with cross-shore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Wednesday 26 Aug, 11PM (local time) - 8ft (2.4m), 17s period, S swell with 3,231 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Tuesday 25 Aug, 11PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 17s period with SSW 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 (Aug 25) at 11PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.0m and 17s period with a secondary swell of 0.4m and 9s. Another secondary swell of 0.7m and 4s is also forecast. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at North Beach in the next 16 days are 2.4m 17s and forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Aug 26) at 11PM. Winds are predicted to be glassy at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.4m 5s period and expected on Sunday (Aug 30) at 11AM.
| Wave Type | Time (SAST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 11PM (Tue 25th Aug) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 17s |
| Best Surf | 5AM (Fri 28th Aug) | 10ft (3.0m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 11PM (Wed 26th Aug) | 8ft (2.4m) 17s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for North Beach over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, Rusty here. Let's get stuck into what we've got for North Beach.
Alright, to be straight with you, the next week or so is looking like a write-off for decent waves at North Beach. We've got a long stretch of poor conditions ahead, starting now and lasting through to the end of August and into early September. The wind is mostly coming from the north-east, which is cross-on here, and it's blowing fresh to strong, just chopping everything up. There's some swell on the table, but it's not doing us any favours with those winds. We're looking at a run of nothing worth paddling out for until we get deep into the first week of September.
Now, the first real standout on the board pops up on Friday the 4th of September. The morning session is looking like the pick of the entire forecast. We’ve got a 10 ft swell rolling in from the S, which is a good direction for North Beach, and it's dead glassy. That's rare and it's going to be clean as a whistle. The combined swell energy is very strong at 1460. However, there's a major caveat here: 10 ft is big for this spot. This is expert territory only. The afternoon gets even bigger, hitting 13 ft from the SSE with a very strong energy of 3134, but the wind swings NE and goes cross-on, making it choppy and messy. For a spot like this, that morning window is the only time it might be doable, and even then, it's only for those with a lot of experience.
Saturday the 5th and Sunday the 6th of September are still big, with swell hanging around 10 ft to 12 ft from the SSE, but the NE winds are back, making it cross-on and ugly. It’s a no-go for paddle surfing; with that much wind and that much swell hitting a beach break, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. The energy remains strong (2012-2611), but the quality just isn't there for us.
After that, things settle down into the second week, but the wind stays unfriendly out of the NE, leaving us with mostly poor surf and not much to get excited about. The cleanest window we get is Sunday the 30th of August afternoon, with a clean 6 ft swell from the ENE, but the energy is only moderate at 648, and the size is still marginal for the conditions. It's a maybe, but a real long shot.
So, the short of it: Nothing for the next week plus. The only real chance is that Friday the 4th of September morning for the experts only when it goes glassy with that solid 10 ft S swell. Set your alarms for that one, but be smart about it.
- Rusty
Short Range ForecastSome drizzle, heaviest during Wed night. Warm (max 21°C on Thu morning, min 17°C on Thu night). Winds increasing (calm on Wed night, strong winds from the NE by Thu afternoon). | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryMostly dry. Warm (max 25°C on Sat afternoon, min 17°C on Fri morning). Winds decreasing (strong winds from the NE on Sat afternoon, light winds from the SW by Sun night). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday 25 | Wednesday 26 | Thursday 27 | Friday 28 | Saturday 29 | Sunday 30 | Monday 31 | |||||||||||||||
AM | 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) | SSW 16 | S 18 | SSW 16 | S 18 | S 18 | S 16 | S 14 | S 13 | S 13 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 9 | NE 9 | ENE 9 | S 7 | S 8 | E 9 | E 10 | E 10 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 337 | 300 | 463 | 777 | 2463 | 2524 | 1036 | 581 | 560 | 421 | 836 | 659 | 675 | 1296 | 1420 | 456 | 408 | 450 | 207 | 230 | 183 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross-on | cross | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on | on | cross-on |
High Tide | 2:50PM1.67m | 2:57AM1.68m | 3:17PM1.82m | 3:25AM1.80m | 3:43PM1.94m | 3:52AM1.89m | 4:09PM2.04m | 4:18AM1.95m | 4:36PM2.08m | 4:45AM1.97m | 5:04PM2.09m | 5:13AM1.95m | 5:32PM2.04m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 8:37AM0.55m | 8:57PM0.54m | 9:04AM0.41m | 9:24PM0.40m | 9:31AM0.28m | 9:51PM0.30m | 9:57AM0.19m | 10:18PM0.22m | 10:23AM0.13m | 10:45PM0.19m | 10:51AM0.12m | 11:13PM0.20m | 11:19AM0.15m | 11:42PM0.26m | |||||||
 | |  |  | |  | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | 6:18 | — | — | 6:18 | — | — | 6:16 | — | — | 6:16 | — | — | 6:15 | — | — | 6:13 | — | — | 6:11 | — | — |
 | — | 5:36 | — | — | 5:37 | — | — | 5:37 | — | — | 5:37 | — | — | 5:38 | — | — | 5:38 | — | — | 5:39 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 |
Temp °C | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 20 | 22 | 25 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 20 |
Feels °C | 17 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 19 | 19 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 16 | S 18 | SSW 16 | S 18 | S 18 | S 16 | S 14 | S 13 | S 13 | S 13 | S 12 | S 12 | SSE 13 | S 12 | ENE 9 | ENE 9 | ENE 9 | S 8 | E 9 | E 10 | E 10 |
| kJ | 337 | 300 | 463 | 777 | 2463 | 2524 | 1036 | 581 | 560 | 377 | 236 | 187 | 277 | 193 | 870 | 456 | 314 | 291 | 207 | 230 | 183 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 8 | SSW 14 | SSE 9 | S 7 | E 13 | SE 12 | — | S 17 | — | S 16 | S 16 | SSE 15 | SW 11 | — | S 12 | — | — | E 9 | S 7 | SSE 6 | S 7 |
| kJ | 68 | 158 | 8 | 43 | 13 | 6 | — | 206 | — | 46 | 131 | 186 | 19 | — | 71 | — | — | 207 | 109 | 30 | 21 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ENE 5 | S 8 | ENE 9 | E 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | S 13 | SSW 8 | SE 12 |
| kJ | 4 | 29 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 20 | 5 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 3 | S 4 | S 5 | — | — | ENE 4 | ENE 6 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 9 | NE 9 | SSW 5 | S 7 | S 8 | — | ENE 2 | ENE 4 |
| kJ | 2 | 21 | 15 | — | — | 29 | 141 | 505 | 536 | 421 | 836 | 659 | 675 | 1296 | 1420 | 100 | 408 | 450 | — | 1 | 16 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 153 | 154 | 0 | 48 | 1 | 5 | 695 | 695 | 409 | 404 | 510 | 353 | 433 | 555 | 222 | 107 | 405 | 0 | 1 | 139 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Durban/KwaZulu-Natal South Coast | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 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.
Nearest