Richards Bay (Inside) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's cooking for our local stretch.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for the paddle. There's a real dry spell coming up. We're looking at a good gap of almost no surf worth mentioning from now until the very end of the forecast period. The first real chance of anything decent is a long way off.

The water temperature at Richards Bay (Inside) is sitting at about 71°, which is pretty normal for this time of year, so no surprises there.

Let's run through the days. The 25th of August has a bit of a 3ft south swell with a very long 15-second period, but the wind is a messy cross-shore and the wave quality is just poor. Not worth paddling out for. The 26th has a bigger 6ft south swell with a super long 18-second period, which would be clean if the wind was right, but it's onshore and the forecast is marginal at best. The 27th sees a 6ft south swell, but the wind cranks up to 22 mph from the NE, making a mess of things. This pattern of solid swell but terrible wind (or just poor conditions) continues right through the first week of September.

Now, the 4th of September (Friday) and 5th of September (Saturday) are interesting in a different way. We see a big jump in size: 10ft on the Friday, and 12ft on the Saturday. The combined energy for those days is massive (1732 and 3052 respectively), but the wind is howling onshore from the SSW and S. That setup is way too big for beginners, and honestly, with that strong onshore wind, it's going to be a messy, blown-out wall of water. This is looking more like a day for the kite surfers than for paddle surfing.

The only real standout, and I'm saying this with a lot of caution because it's a long way off, falls on the 6th of September, a Sunday morning. The forecast is calling for a 8ft swell from the ESE, but the wind is a clean cross-offshore from the NE. The combined energy is a massive 1817, so there's a ton of power in the water. The wind should be light enough to keep things clean. The only thing is, the swell period is a short 9 seconds, which is windswell, not groundswell, so it might be a bit crumbly. But for this area, a clean 8ft day is the best on offer. The only catch is that at 8ft, this is strictly for the experienced crew. Crowds are possible here, so get there early.

The 7th of September (Monday) has a smaller 4ft south swell with a 15-second period and clean cross-offshore winds, so it's a decent follow-up session for the intermediates who want cleaner, smaller waves after the big Sunday.

So, to wrap it up: the next two weeks are mostly a write-off. The only real glimmer of hope is the morning of Sunday, the 6th of September, for the big wave chargers. For everyone else, maybe keep the boards in the car and hope the forecasts change.

Rusty.

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