Richards Bay (Inside) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's shaping up for Richards Bay (Inside) over the next couple of weeks.

First up, the water temp is sitting right on 71°, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

Alright, we start off with a bit of a quiet spell. Thursday morning the 6th has some small 1ft SSW groundswell rolling in with a long 18-second period, and the wind is a light cross-offshore from the NNE. The combined energy is only 198, so it's weak, but it's clean. It's surfable, but very ordinary – not much to get excited about.

The next few days are a real struggle. Friday the 7th, Saturday the 8th, and Sunday the 9th are all plagued by poor conditions. The swell stays tiny, around 1ft to 2ft, and the wind is mostly onshore or cross-shore, making for a choppy mess. There's a brief moment Sunday morning the 9th when it goes glassy with a 2ft S swell, but it's still weak energy (194) and very ordinary. Not worth the paddle.

Then things take a turn for the worse. From Monday the 10th through to Saturday the 15th, we get a big pulse of windswell. The swell jumps up to 10ft to 12ft on Monday and Tuesday, but it's coming from the S and SSE with a short, nasty period of 8 to 10 seconds. The combined energy is massive – hitting 2609 on Monday afternoon and 1277 on Monday morning. But the wind is howling onshore at 25 mph, so it's a total washing machine. This is big, powerful, and messy – definitely not for beginners, and honestly, not great for anyone on a paddleboard. This setup looks way more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. On Wednesday the 12th, the swell is still 8ft with cross-shore winds, but it's still lumpy and poor. The whole week is a write-off.

After that big blow, the swell slowly drops through the second week. Thursday the 13th and Friday the 14th are still poor with onshore winds and 6ft to 6ft of short-period slop. Saturday the 15th is a little better with a 4ft SSE swell, but the wind is still cross-shore, so it's chopped up.

Now, the standout window. Sunday the 16th of August is your best bet. The morning session is looking good. We’ve got a 5ft ESE groundswell with a 10-second period, clean conditions with a light cross-offshore NNE breeze, and the combined energy is a solid 541. That's the one to circle on the calendar. It’s not huge, but it’ll be clean and fun for an intermediate. The flat spell returns quickly after that, though.

Monday the 17th morning is also worth a mention – glassy conditions with a 4ft ESE swell, but the energy is lower at 277. It’s a nice little clean-up session, but the Sunday morning is the real pick.

The rest of the run from Tuesday the 18th through to Friday the 21st is back to small, weak, and mostly poor. The swell fades to 1.0ft to 3ft, and while the mornings are often clean with cross-offshore winds, the energy is just too low to bother with.

So, to sum it up: the first week is a write-off, and the second week only has one true window. If you’re keen, point the car at Richards Bay (Inside) for the morning of Sunday the 16th. That’s the one.

Rusty.

Read more