Richards Bay (Inside) 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Lat Long: 28.81° S 32.10° E

Issued: 7 am 21 Jul 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in hr min

Today's Richards Bay (Inside) sea temperature is

21.9° C

Richards Bay (Inside) surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.

Surf Forecasts:

How big are the waves at Richards Bay (Inside) today (21 Jul):

Morning surf: Morning surf (21 Jul, local time) - 4.5ft (1.4m), 12s period with SE swell.
Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (21 Jul, local time) - 4.5ft (1.4m), 12s period with SE swell.
Evening surf: Evening surf (21 Jul, local time) - 4.5ft (1.3m), 12s period with SE swell.

The current surf forecast for Richards Bay (Inside) at 2PM is: 1.4m 12s primary swell from a Southeast direction and 0.5m 12s secondary swell from a South direction, 0.2m 5s secondary swell from a East-northeast direction (forecast issued at 07:00am July 21). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-onshore.

Time (SAST) & Date	Wave Height	Wave Period
Morning (21 Jul)	4.5ft (1.4m)	12s
Afternoon (21 Jul)	4.5ft (1.4m)	12s
Evening (21 Jul)	4.5ft (1.3m)	12s

Table - waves today at Richards Bay (Inside). (Swell directed towards the surf break)

	Short Range Forecast Some drizzle, heaviest during Thu night. Warm (max 26°C on Wed afternoon, min 18°C on Wed night). Winds increasing (light winds from the NNW on Thu morning, fresh winds from the SSW by Thu night).
	Tuesday 21							Wednesday 22								Thursday 23
	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	11 AM	2 PM	5 PM	8 PM	11 PM
Rating (10 max)	3	2	1	0	0	2	3	3	1	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	1
Swell Height Map See all maps
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	ESE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	S 14	S 14	S 13	SSW 13
Wave Graph
kJ	561	561	455	514	448	448	455	471	428	428	373	373	336	282	282	247	205	202	202	153	146	176	653
Wind (km/h)	N	NNE	NE	E	ENE	NE	NNE	NNE	N	N	NNE	NE	NE	NNE	NNE	NNE	NNE	N	NNW	SSW	SSW	SSW	SW
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	cross-off	cross-off	cross	cross-on	cross-on	cross	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-on	cross-on	cross	cross
High Tide		7:58AM1.43m					8:33PM1.46m				8:47AM1.29m				9:32PM1.32m				10:08AM1.18m
Low Tide					2:09PM0.51m				2:47AM0.66m				2:59PM0.66m				3:58AM0.76m				4:23PM0.77m


	6:41	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:41	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:39	—	—	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	5:14	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:15	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:15	—	—
mm	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Temp °C	19	19	22	23	22	21	21	20	19	19	23	26	23	21	20	19	18	18	23	22	21	20	19
Feels °C	20	19	22	21	20	20	21	20	18	18	20	22	20	19	18	16	16	16	22	20	20	20	18
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	ESE 12	SE 12	SE 12	ENE 6	ENE 6	ENE 7	ENE 7	ENE 7
kJ	561	561	455	514	448	448	455	471	428	428	373	373	336	282	282	247	205	202	51	48	51	57	46
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	S 9	SSW 9	S 9	S 12	S 12	S 16	S 16	S 16	S 16	S 15	S 15	S 14	S 14	S 14	S 13	S 13	S 13	S 13	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12
kJ	106	45	42	73	72	139	190	188	174	221	218	268	253	179	126	126	87	89	202	142	142	140	137
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SSW 13	SSW 12	SSW 12	S 16	S 17	SSW 16	SSW 11	SSW 11	E 9	E 9	E 9	E 9	—	—	—	—	E 9	—	S 14	S 14	S 14	S 13	E 9
kJ	35	50	49	21	51	155	115	85	13	6	6	6	—	—	—	—	6	—	106	153	146	176	6
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	—	—	—	ENE 5	E 3	ENE 4	NE 4	NE 4	NE 4	NE 4	NE 4	NE 4	NE 5	NE 6	NE 6	NE 6	NE 6	NE 6	NE 6	—	SSW 3	SSW 4	SSW 13
kJ	—	—	—	3	5	11	11	9	10	15	14	22	110	133	107	100	84	62	136	—	1	7	653
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	St Lucia KZN North	Guinjata Bay Inhambane	Reunion Durban/KZN South	Mtunzini KZN North	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	Mtunzini KZN North	Mtunzini KZN North	Reunion Durban/KZN South	Reunion Durban/KZN South	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Battery Beach Durban/KZN South	Salt Rock KZN North	Blythedale KZN North	Mtunzini KZN North	Siyayi KZN North	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	Whispering Waves Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	St Lucia KZN North	Senoritas KZN North	Alkantstrand KZN North
Rating (10 max)	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	3	2	2	2	3	2	3	3	2	3
Distance (km)	0	0	58	626	156	36	0	0	36	36	156	156	577	153	116	98	36	50	0	559	58	0	1
Best forecast wave conditions in KwaZulu-Natal North Coast	Richards Bay (Outside)	Richards Bay (Outside)	Kosi Bay			Umhlanga	Richards Bay (Outside)	Richards Bay (Outside)	Kosi Bay	Kosi Bay	Kosi Bay				Umhlanga	Umhlanga	Umhlanga	Siyayi	Richards Bay (Outside)		St Lucia	Cape Vidal	Siyayi
Rating (10 max)	3	3	3			3	3	3	3	3	3				3	3	3	3	2		3	2	4
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Hout Bay Cape Town	Hout Bay Cape Town	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Cape St Martin West Coast	Super Tubes Eastern Cape (S)	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Dolphin Point Overberg	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Barbel Point Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Hout Bay Cape Town	Paranoia Overberg	Hell West Coast
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	5	9
Header Global	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Asu Indonesia	Cape St Martin South Africa	Chameau Mauritius	Sea Vista South Africa	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Gas Bay Australia	Papa Tangaroa Chile	Viri Inga O Tuki Chile	Cathedral Rock Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Boulders Samoa	Cyclops Australia	Brak River South Africa	Benkunqut Indonesia	The Hoek South Africa	Dolphin Point South Africa	Dolphin Point South Africa
Rating (10 max)	5	5	4	4	4	5	5	5	6	6	5	5	8	7	9	5	4	5	4	4	5	5	9

Map Icons:
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Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)
Wind Speed (km/h)

Latest Updates

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Richards Bay (Inside) 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

How big are the waves at Richards Bay (Inside) today (21 Jul):

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