Richards Bay (Outside) 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Lat Long: 28.80° S 32.10° E

Issued: 1 am 21 Jul 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in hr min

Today's Richards Bay (Outside) sea temperature is

22.1° C

Richards Bay (Outside) 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 (Outside) 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 (1.3m), 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 (Outside) at 6AM is: 1.4m 12s primary swell from a Southeast direction and 0.7m 9s secondary swell from a South direction (forecast issued at 01:00am July 21). The wind direction is predicted to be glassy and the swell rating is 3.

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

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

	Short Range Forecast Mostly dry. Warm (max 26°C on Wed afternoon, min 18°C on Wed night). Winds increasing (light winds from the NNE on Tue morning, fresh winds from the NE by Wed afternoon).
	Tuesday 21								Wednesday 22								Thursday 23
	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	2 AM	5 AM	8 AM	11 AM	2 PM	5 PM	8 PM	11 PM
Rating (10 max)	3	3	3	2	0	0	2	3	3	2	2	2	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	2	0	1	1	2
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	SE 12	S 14	S 14	S 13	SSW 13
Wave Graph
kJ	819	561	561	455	514	448	494	455	471	428	428	373	336	336	282	251	205	205	202	202	153	198	176	538
Wind (km/h)	NW	N	NNE	NE	E	ENE	NE	N	N	NNE	N	NNE	NE	NE	NNE	NNE	NNE	N	N	N	S	SSW	SW	SSW
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	off	glassy	cross-off	cross	cross-on	cross-on	cross	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross	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	2:00AM0.54m					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	18	19	19	22	22	22	21	20	20	19	19	22	26	22	21	20	19	18	18	23	22	20	20	19
Feels °C	18	20	20	22	20	21	21	19	20	18	17	19	22	19	19	18	17	16	16	23	21	21	20	19
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	SE 12	NE 6	ENE 6	ENE 7	ENE 7	ENE 7
kJ	819	561	561	455	514	448	494	455	471	428	428	373	336	336	282	251	205	205	202	56	52	62	75	44
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SSW 13	S 9	SSW 9	S 9	S 12	S 12	S 16	S 16	S 16	S 16	S 15	S 15	SSW 14	S 14	S 14	S 13	S 13	S 13	S 13	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12	SE 12
kJ	34	106	45	60	73	72	139	190	188	174	221	218	280	253	179	171	125	125	89	202	142	142	140	137
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SSW 11	SSW 13	SSW 12	SSW 12	S 16	S 17	SSW 16	SSW 11	SSW 11	E 9	S 6	E 9	E 9	—	—	—	—	E 9	E 9	S 14	S 14	S 14	S 13	—
kJ	22	35	50	49	21	51	155	115	85	13	3	6	6	—	—	—	—	6	6	106	153	198	176	—
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	—	—	—	—	ENE 5	E 3	ENE 3	NE 4	NE 3	NE 4	NE 4	NE 4	NE 4	NE 5	NE 6	NE 6	NE 6	NE 6	NE 6	NE 6	NE 6	—	SSW 3	SSW 13
kJ	—	—	—	—	3	4	7	6	6	10	15	14	19	110	138	123	92	75	58	120	126	—	7	538
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	Alkantstrand KZN North	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	Reunion Durban/KZN South	Guinjata Bay Inhambane	Reunion Durban/KZN South	Mtunzini KZN North	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	Siyayi KZN North	Mtunzini KZN North	Reunion Durban/KZN South	Reunion Durban/KZN South	Kei Mouth Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Mbotyi Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Salt Rock KZN North	Blythedale KZN North	Mtunzini KZN North	Mtunzini KZN North	Richards Bay (Inside) KZN North	Alkantstrand KZN North	Alkantstrand KZN North	Alkantstrand KZN North	Alkantstrand KZN North
Rating (10 max)	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2
Distance (km)	0	0	0	157	626	157	37	0	0	50	37	157	157	558	373	116	99	37	37	0	0	0	0	0
Best forecast wave conditions in KwaZulu-Natal North Coast	Richards Bay (Outside)	Richards Bay (Outside)	Richards Bay (Outside)	Sodwana			Umhlanga	Richards Bay (Outside)	Richards Bay (Outside)	Kosi Bay	Kosi Bay	Kosi Bay				Umhlanga	Umhlanga	Umhlanga	Siyayi	Richards Bay (Outside)	Senoritas	Alkantstrand	St Lucia	Mtunzini
Rating (10 max)	3	3	3	3			3	3	3	3	3	3				3	3	3	3	2	2	3	3	3
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Hout Bay Cape Town	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Paranoia Overberg	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Vredenberg Point West Coast	Super Tubes Eastern Cape (S)	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Hout Bay Cape Town	Vleesbaai Overberg	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Vleesbaai Overberg	Barbel Point Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Barbel Point Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Hout Bay Cape Town	Hout Bay Cape Town
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	3	3	4	5	6
Header Global	Purakaunui Bay New Zealand	Purakaunui Bay New Zealand	Asu Indonesia	Asu Indonesia	Aganoa Beach Samoa	Chameau Mauritius	Sea Vista South Africa	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Gas Bay Australia	Injidup Carpark Australia	Gas Bay Australia	Viri Inga O Tuki Chile	Cathedral Rock Australia	Viri Inga O Tuki Chile	Point Roadnight Australia	Boulders Samoa	Cobblestones Australia	Brak River South Africa	Benkunqut Indonesia	Barbel Point South Africa	Dolphin Point South Africa	Dolphin Point South Africa
Rating (10 max)	5	5	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	6	6	5	5	8	9	6	6	4	4	4	4	4	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

Ben Mondy

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Richards Bay (Outside) 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

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

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