Fence (Port Elizabeth) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it.

The next couple of weeks at The Fence are gonna be a bit of a mixed bag, so let’s break it down. First up, the water temp is sitting at 64° Fahrenheit, which is running about 3° colder than usual for this time of year. That’s a bit of a chill in the water, so grab the thicker rubber.

We’ve got a rough patch right out of the gate. Saturday the 12th has a bit of swell, 3ft of SSW groundswell at 15 seconds, but the ESE wind is just gonna chop it all up. It’s not worth your time. Sunday the 13th brings a bigger 12ft of ESE swell, but that strong E wind is straight onshore and it’s going to be a messy, blown-out mess. Not a chance.

We’ve got a gap of a few days with nothing worth paddling out for until we get a slight window on Monday the 14th. The morning is still a bit rough with light rain and onshore wind, but the afternoon starts to clean up. A 8ft E swell at 10 seconds and a moderate offshore WSW breeze. It’s still only a 3/10 for me, not a standout, but at least the wind is working with us. The wave energy is moderate at 1273.

Tuesday the 15th is your first real chance to get a clean one. The morning has 5ft of E swell and a light SW cross-offshore wind. It’s clean, and the energy is a bit weaker at 729, but it’s surfable. The afternoon drops off a bit and gets crossed up, so get out early.

From Wednesday the 16th through to the 21st, it’s a bleak stretch. We’ve got some swell, but the winds are either onshore, cross-onshore, or too strong, and everything is just lumpy and poor. There’s a lot of short-period, weak energy in there, and the conditions just don’t line up. It's a solid week of no-go. On the 21st, we see the swell bump up to 8ft but with a 7-second period and onshore wind, it’s just a close-out mess. Honestly, if you’ve got a kite, this stretch might be more interesting than paddling.

Then we finally get a bit of hope on Saturday the 26th. After a morning of clean but smaller conditions, that afternoon is the standout. We’ve got 10ft of E swell with a light SSW cross-offshore breeze, and the report calls for excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers. The combined energy is strong at 2359. The problem is the swell is over 8 feet, which puts it in the expert-only category. This is the biggest, cleanest swell of the period and it’s breaking at that famous Fence (Port Elizabeth) spot. It’s a long way out, but this is the one to circle on the calendar. For the experienced crew, this is your session.

After that, Sunday the 27th drops off quickly, with smaller surf and clean but less powerful conditions.

So there you have it. A lot of rubbish to sift through, but that Saturday afternoon the 26th is the one that’s got my attention. It’s a long way off, so don’t book it in stone just yet, but it’s looking like the best offer on the table. The rest is mostly a waiting game.

Rusty.

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