Fence (Port Elizabeth) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s get straight to it. We’ve got a bit of a mixed bag on the cards for Fence (Port Elizabeth) over the next couple of weeks. The standout windows are few and far between, so you’ve gotta be sharp and ready to move when the ocean lines up.

Right off the bat, the next couple of days are pretty grim. Thursday afternoon kicks off with a cross-off breeze but the swell is messy and the tide’s doing us no favors. It’s marginal at best. Friday and Saturday are worse, with onshore winds and rising surf that just turns the place into a washing machine. We’re looking at poor conditions with the swell bumping up over 5ft on Saturday afternoon and hitting a solid 10ft by Sunday. That’s too much for the beginners and honestly, with that strong onshore wind, it’s just a mess. If you were thinking of paddling out, don’t bother—this stretch looks more interesting for the kite crew than for us.

The first real glimmer of hope comes on Monday afternoon, the 14th. We get a nice cross-off from the NNW, the wind is light, and that 8ft E swell cleans right up. The energy is moderate, but with that offshore wind it should actually be pretty good. Sunday morning also looks half-decent, but Monday arvo is the pick of this first week. Mark it in the calendar.

Tuesday the 15th has a bit more on offer, with a clean 5ft wave on the morning session and a light WSW breeze. That’s a proper little window for the loggers or mid-lengths. The afternoon turns marginal again though, and Wednesday gets messy with the wind swinging around. The swell’s still there, but that cross-shore chop is going to make it tricky. We get another clean-ish window on Wednesday afternoon with a cross-off, but it’s not as solid as Tuesday morning.

Thursday the 17th sees the swell pick up again, but the cross-onshore wind messes it up, and Friday’s a write-off with a 30 mph easterly and a short-period 6ft wave. That’s junky. Saturday the 19th has some clean waves again with a WSW cross-off, but the swell is short-period, so it’s not going to be amazing. A bank might hold it, but it’ll be a bit bumpy. After that, we hit a long dry spell. From Sunday the 20th right through to Wednesday the 23rd, it’s just onshore slop. The wind is all wrong, blowing straight onshore, and the wave quality is poor. Don’t even check the cam. This is the kind of stretch where you’d rather paint the fence than surf it. The swell drops off, but the wind doesn’t back off. It’s frustrating, but it is what it is.

Now, into the unknown. Thursday the 24th starts to look interesting again. We’ve got a decent 8ft ESE swell and the wind, for the first half of the day, is a messy cross-on. But then, Thursday afternoon the wind swings to a solid WSW offshore, and that 8ft wave is going to clean up into something pretty special. And then the big one: Friday the 25th. We’ve got a solid 10ft swell from the ESE with a fresh offshore wind from the WSW. It’s going to be a strong, powerful day. That’s big and clean, but at 10ft plus, this is strictly for the lads who know what they’re doing when the eyes get wide. The period is only 9 seconds, so it’s not a proper groundswell, but it’ll have plenty of push. This is a serious day.

So, to sum it up: the best two true standouts in this whole run are Monday afternoon the 14th, and that big Friday the 25th. Monday’s your classic mid-size offshore day, perfect for a bit of everything. Friday’s the big-wave day, the one you’d be a little nervous about but secretly thrilled to see. Everything else is either marginal or a flat-out skip. And remember, Fence is a very consistent break, so even when it looks grim, it usually turns around. Forecasts change.

Rusty.

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