Surf Forecasts:
Riet River surf forecast from 10 Sep 2026:
- Best quality surf: Thursday 10 Sep, 11PM (local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 15s period, SSW swell with offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Sunday 13 Sep, 2AM (local time) - 6ft (1.8m), 17s period, SSW swell with 1,907 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Thursday 10 Sep, 11PM (local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 15s period with SSW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Riet River this week:
The surf forecast for Riet River over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Thursday (Sep 10) at 11PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.5m and 15s period. The wind is predicted to be offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Riet River in the next 16 days are 1.8m 17s and forecast to arrive on Sunday (Sep 13) at 2AM. Winds are predicted to be onshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 3.0m 8s period and expected on Saturday (Sep 12) at 11PM.
| Wave Type | Time (SAST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 11PM (Thu 10th Sep) | 5ft (1.5m) 15s |
| Best Surf | 11PM (Thu 10th Sep) | 5ft (1.5m) 15s |
| Most Powerful | 2AM (Sun 13th Sep) | 6ft (1.8m) 17s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Riet River over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Hey, Rusty here. Riet River’s an inconsistent point break, and this forecast has a slow start before it fires. The water’s sitting at 59°, which is a massive 7° colder than usual for this time of year—way colder than normal, so bring your thickest wetsuit.
First few days are rough. Thursday the 10th has a weak 2ft SW swell with a 16 mph cross-off wind, but the energy is weak (180), and it’s a poor call. Friday morning bumps to 4ft SW swell with 9 mph SE wind, but it’s cross-on and choppy. Saturday and Sunday are blown out by strong onshore winds, with Sunday’s 6ft SSW swell packing moderate energy (1651) but wrecked by 22 mph easterlies. Monday’s no good either.
Tuesday the 15th morning is your first real chance. A clean 13 mph offshore from the west hits 3ft SSW swell with moderate energy (262). It’s small but clean.
Then the big stuff arrives. Wednesday the 16th morning serves up 8ft SSW swell with a 19 mph cross-off—that’s expert territory, strong energy (2129), and clean. Thursday the 17th has a nice 5ft SW swell with light 6 mph cross-shore winds (1008 energy), but it gets messy later.
The standout run is Saturday the 19th morning through Tuesday the 22nd. Saturday morning: 10ft ESE swell, very long period groundswell, with a light 6 mph cross-off wind. That’s massive energy at 3226, excellent for experienced surfers. Monday the 21st is the real gem: 10ft SSW swell, a huge 16-second period (that point will love it), and a gentle 9 mph offshore from the WNW. Energy is 4179, and conditions are excellent. Tuesday the 22nd morning goes glassy—zero wind, 10ft SSW swell, 14-second period—just perfect (3248 energy). That’s the best of the whole forecast.
After that, gale-force onshore winds hit Wednesday the 23rd, and it drops to small, messy leftovers. Aim for that 19th to 22nd stretch. Crowds are possible here, but with that size, it’ll be manageable for the crew who show.
Rusty
Short Range ForecastLight rain (total 5mm), mostly falling on Thu night. Warm (max 22°C on Thu morning, min 17°C on Fri night). Winds increasing (light winds from the WSW on Thu morning, strong winds from the E by Sat night). | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryModerate rain (total 11mm), heaviest on Sun morning. Warm (max 24°C on Tue afternoon, min 16°C on Mon night). Winds decreasing (strong winds from the E on Sun afternoon, light winds from the WNW by Mon night). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Thursday 10 | Friday 11 | Saturday 12 | Sunday 13 | Monday 14 | Tuesday 15 | Wednesday 16 | |||||||||||||||
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) | SW 13 | SSW 16 | SSW 14 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 12 | SSW 11 | SSW 15 | SSW 17 | SSW 16 | ESE 9 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 11 | SW 10 | SSW 18 | SW 11 | SSW 10 | SSW 9 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 172 | 518 | 947 | 543 | 464 | 325 | 265 | 314 | 1907 | 1613 | 1076 | 529 | 326 | 249 | 218 | 160 | 265 | 420 | 1491 | 981 | 722 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on | on | on | cross-on | on | on | on | on | cross-on | cross-on | cross | off | off | cross | off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on |
High Tide | 3:25PM1.71m | 3:38AM1.60m | 3:57PM1.77m | 4:09AM1.62m | 4:27PM1.77m | 4:39AM1.59m | 4:55PM1.71m | 5:07AM1.53m | 5:22PM1.62m | 5:33AM1.44m | 5:47PM1.49m | 5:59AM1.33m | 6:12PM1.35m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 9:12AM0.03m | 9:37PM0.03m | 9:42AM-0.03m | 10:08PM-0.00m | 10:12AM-0.04m | 10:37PM0.01m | 10:40AM-0.00m | 11:05PM0.06m | 11:07AM0.07m | 11:31PM0.14m | 11:33AM0.18m | 11:56PM0.25m | 11:59AM0.30m | 00:22AM0.38m | |||||||
 |  |  |  | |  | | | |  |  | | | |  | | |  |  |  |  | |
 | 6:18 | — | — | 6:16 | — | — | 6:16 | — | — | 6:15 | — | — | 6:13 | — | — | 6:11 | — | — | 6:11 | — | — |
 | — | 6:00 | — | — | 6:00 | — | — | 6:00 | — | — | 6:01 | — | — | 6:01 | — | — | 6:02 | — | — | 6:04 | — |
mm | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 7 | 6 |
Temp °C | 22 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 15 |
Feels °C | 19 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 17 | 18 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 21 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 10 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ENE 9 | ENE 9 | SSW 14 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SSE 7 | SSW 11 | SSW 11 | SSW 17 | SSW 16 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | E 10 | E 11 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | SSW 16 | SSW 9 |
| kJ | 287 | 218 | 947 | 543 | 464 | 124 | 265 | 204 | 1907 | 1613 | 1076 | 529 | 326 | 1568 | 1174 | 669 | 520 | 384 | 273 | 688 | 675 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 13 | SSW 16 | ENE 9 | ENE 9 | ENE 9 | SW 12 | SSE 7 | SSW 15 | SE 12 | S 9 | — | — | — | SSW 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 11 | SW 10 | SW 10 | SSW 16 | E 10 | SSW 14 |
| kJ | 172 | 518 | 173 | 119 | 110 | 325 | 93 | 314 | 6 | 38 | — | — | — | 249 | 218 | 160 | 265 | 420 | 635 | 231 | 722 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSE 9 | SW 12 | SE 11 | S 5 | S 12 | SE 14 | SSW 15 | SSE 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | SW 5 | SW 17 | SSW 16 | SSW 18 | S 12 | S 11 | E 10 |
| kJ | 8 | 178 | 5 | 33 | 3 | 8 | 45 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 11 | 24 | 381 | 3 | 2 | 200 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WSW 4 | SW 5 | SSW 5 | — | SSE 7 | E 6 | E 6 | E 7 | E 8 | E 8 | ESE 9 | E 9 | E 10 | — | — | SW 8 | — | — | SW 11 | SSW 10 | — |
| kJ | 11 | 44 | 28 | — | 83 | 151 | 297 | 403 | 1060 | 765 | 1057 | 1509 | 1858 | — | — | 91 | — | — | 1491 | 981 | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 110 | 123 | 123 | 167 | 243 | 369 | 369 | 784 | 567 | 386 | 386 | 331 | 125 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 0 | 190 | 126 | 5 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Eastern Cape (South) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Riet River 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 Riet River Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Riet River provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Riet River can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Riet River 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 (Riet River) 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 Riet River 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 Eastern Cape (South)? If you are looking for accommodation near Riet River, camping, hotels and holiday cottages in Eastern Cape (South), consider staying in Port Alfred which is 5 km (3 miles) away. Other places in and around Eastern Cape (South) where you can find information about places to rent, and car hire include Grahamstown which is 48 km (30 miles) away, Bisho and Fort Beaufort.
Nearest