Surf Forecasts:
Rock Wave surf forecast from 2 Sep 2026:
- Best quality surf: Tuesday 8 Sep, 8AM (local time) - 6ft (1.9m), 9s period, E swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Monday 7 Sep, 2AM (local time) - 7.5ft (2.3m), 17s period, S swell with 3,164 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Thursday 3 Sep, 8AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 12s period with SSW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Rock Wave this week:
The surf forecast for Rock Wave over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Thursday (Sep 03) at 8AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.0m and 12s period with a secondary swell of 0.9m and 5s. Another secondary swell of 1.1m and 5s is also forecast. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Rock Wave in the next 16 days are 2.3m 17s and forecast to arrive on Monday (Sep 07) at 2AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-shore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 2.5m 8s period and expected on Monday (Sep 07) at 2PM.
| Wave Type | Time (SAST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 8AM (Thu 3rd Sep) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 12s |
| Best Surf | 8AM (Tue 8th Sep) | 6ft (1.9m) 9s |
| Most Powerful | 2AM (Mon 7th Sep) | 7.5ft (2.3m) 17s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Rock Wave over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
G’day, Rusty here. Lookin’ at the next couple of weeks at Rock Wave… and to be honest, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, with a lot of average days to wade through. The water’s sittin’ at about 66°, which is a touch cooler than we’d normally expect for this time of year.
The first decent chance doesn’t roll in until the morning of Tuesday the 8th of September. That morning, the wind is dead glassy, and we’ve got a clean 6 ft east swell pushin’ in with moderate wave energy. Tuesday morning is the standout of the whole period—perfect conditions for those intermediate moves. Tuesday afternoon, the wind swings light cross-on, droppin’ the swell to 5 ft, still okay but not quite as clean.
Leadin’ up to that, the first few days are pretty ordinary. Wednesday the 2nd has messy 5 ft SSW swell with a cross-on breeze—worth skippin’. Thursday the 3rd is small and choppy, and Friday the 4th sees a big 10 ft SSE pulse, but with strong onshore winds and a short period, it’s just a blown-out mess. The whole first week is mostly blown-out or just weak, with a few 4 ft days that aren’t worth paddlin’ out for.
After that Tuesday morning window, things get messy again. Wednesday the 9th through to the 13th is a long run of poor surf with onshore or strong cross-shore winds and tiny, short-period swell—nothin’ to get excited about. Then, on Monday the 14th, there’s another pulse of south swell at 5 ft with a longer 14-second period. The wind is a light cross-shore, so Monday morning could be a decent session if you’re keen, but it’s not as clean as the 8th. The rest of that week fades into lumpy cross-shore junk.
So, hands down, Tuesday the 8th of September is the one to circle. Glassy, chest-high east swell, and the whole setup is just clean. The Monday the 14th morning is your backup.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastHeavy rain (total 37mm), heaviest during Thu night. Warm (max 23°C on Thu morning, min 15°C on Fri night). Mainly fresh winds. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryLight rain (total 2mm), mostly falling on Sat night. Warm (max 25°C on Tue morning, min 16°C on Sat afternoon). Winds decreasing (fresh winds from the NE on Mon morning, calm by Tue morning). | |||||||||||||||||||
Wed 2 | Thursday 3 | Friday 4 | Saturday 5 | Sunday 6 | Monday 7 | Tuesday 8 | ||||||||||||||
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) | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | S 11 | S 11 | SSE 8 | SSE 10 | SSE 9 | SE 8 | ESE 8 | S 11 | S 11 | S 10 | SSW 21 | S 17 | SSW 15 | S 12 | E 9 | E 9 | E 9 | E 9 |
Wave Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 826 | 378 | 260 | 338 | 1468 | 1807 | 1211 | 647 | 296 | 338 | 319 | 218 | 961 | 3164 | 474 | 300 | 794 | 476 | 325 | 230 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | cross | cross | cross-on | on | on | on | cross-on | cross | cross | cross | cross | cross | cross | cross | cross | cross | glassy | cross-on | cross-off |
High Tide | 6:36PM1.50m | 6:51AM1.28m | 7:18PM1.34m | 7:41AM1.12m | 8:23PM1.17m | 9:25AM0.99m | 10:48PM1.07m | 12:17PM1.05m | 00:50AM1.17m | 1:31PM1.24m | 1:49AM1.33m | 2:17PM1.44m | 2:31AM1.46m | |||||||
Low Tide | 00:51AM0.31m | 12:55PM0.34m | 1:39AM0.46m | 1:48PM0.51m | 3:01AM0.60m | 3:41PM0.65m | 5:43AM0.61m | 6:28PM0.59m | 7:15AM0.46m | 7:42PM0.42m | 8:03AM0.29m | 8:27PM0.26m | ||||||||
 |  |  |  |  |  | |  | | |  | | | | | |  |  | | | |
 | — | — | 6:22 | — | — | 6:22 | — | — | 6:20 | — | — | 6:18 | — | — | 6:18 | — | — | 6:16 | — | — |
 | 5:50 | — | — | 5:51 | — | — | 5:51 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | 5:53 | — |
mm | — | — | — | 1 | 30 | 5 | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 19 | 18 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 19 | 25 | 23 | 20 |
Feels °C | 18 | 17 | 24 | 21 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 26 | 24 | 22 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | S 11 | S 11 | E 9 | ENE 10 | SSE 9 | SE 8 | S 8 | S 11 | S 11 | S 10 | SSW 21 | S 17 | S 12 | S 12 | SSE 12 | E 9 | E 9 | E 9 |
| kJ | 826 | 378 | 260 | 338 | 54 | 100 | 1211 | 647 | 171 | 338 | 319 | 198 | 961 | 3164 | 437 | 300 | 224 | 476 | 325 | 230 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 8 | — | E 5 | E 8 | — | S 19 | ENE 9 | S 15 | S 13 | E 10 | SE 7 | SSW 24 | S 10 | — | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | S 12 | S 12 | S 11 |
| kJ | 37 | — | 35 | 68 | — | 7 | 50 | 104 | 153 | 33 | 64 | 218 | 125 | — | 474 | 280 | 139 | 220 | 169 | 110 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | E 8 | — | — | — | S 17 | E 10 | E 10 | S 15 | — | SSE 13 | S 13 | — | — | — | — | SW 13 | SW 18 | SSW 16 |
| kJ | — | — | 36 | — | — | — | 23 | 31 | 18 | 17 | — | 18 | 89 | — | — | — | — | 44 | 12 | 26 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | E 4 | — | — | SSE 8 | SSE 10 | — | NE 8 | ESE 8 | ESE 8 | E 10 | E 6 | E 6 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | E 9 | — | — | — |
| kJ | — | 38 | — | — | 1468 | 1807 | — | 18 | 296 | 263 | 220 | 143 | 200 | 435 | 674 | 889 | 794 | — | — | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 301 | 125 | 2 | 31 | 678 | 1828 | 2983 | 510 | 434 | 900 | 130 | 510 | 434 | 434 | 292 | 454 | 75 | 0 | 120 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Eastern Cape - Wild Coast | ||||||||||||||||||||
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 Rock Wave 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 Rock Wave Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Rock Wave provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Rock Wave can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Rock Wave 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 (Rock Wave) 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 Rock Wave 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 - Wild Coast? If you are looking for accommodation near Rock Wave, camping, hotels and holiday cottages in Eastern Cape - Wild Coast, consider staying in East London which is 25 km (16 miles) away. Other places in and around Eastern Cape - Wild Coast where you can find information about places to rent, and car hire include Butterworth which is 60 km (37 miles) away, Stutterheim and Bisho.
Nearest