Surf Forecasts:
Thompsons Bay surf forecast from 2 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Sunday 2 Aug, 8AM (local time) - 10ft (3.0m), 12s period, SE swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Sunday 9 Aug, 8AM (local time) - 16ft (5.0m), 10s period, SSW swell with 4,343 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Sunday 2 Aug, 8AM (local time) - 10ft (3.0m), 12s period with SE swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Thompsons Bay this week:
The surf forecast for Thompsons Bay over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Sunday (Aug 02) at 8AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 3.0m and 12s period with a secondary swell of 0.7m and 5s. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Thompsons Bay in the next 16 days are 5.0m 10s and forecast to arrive on Sunday (Aug 09) at 8AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-shore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.1m 5s period and expected on Wednesday (Aug 05) at 2AM.
| Wave Type | Time (SAST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 8AM (Sun 2nd Aug) | 10ft (3.0m) 12s |
| Best Surf | 8AM (Sun 2nd Aug) | 10ft (3.0m) 12s |
| Most Powerful | 8AM (Sun 9th Aug) | 16ft (5.0m) 10s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Thompsons Bay over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, Rusty here. Let's talk about what's on the table for Thompsons Bay over the next couple of weeks.
Honestly, it’s a tough stretch ahead. The first week or so is pretty grim. There’s surf, but the wind is just not playing ball. We’ve got a solid pulse of 10ft SE swell arriving on Sunday the 2nd, but it’s getting hammered by a 15 mph cross-shore wind, making it a messy, choppy mess. That combined energy is a decent 2679, but it’s all for nothing with that wind. That carries through most of the first week—small, weak swells and onshore or cross-shore slop. The water temp is sitting at 71.8°, which is just about normal for the time of year.
We’ve got a real dry spell from about Thursday the 6th through to Saturday the 8th, with nothing worth paddling out for. Just tiny, weak waves or big wind.
Now, there’s a glimmer. Sunday the 9th sees a big jump in size—15ft SSW swell shows up, but Sunday morning it’s still cross and lumpy. The real standout comes on Monday the 10th. That’s the day to circle. We get a 13ft SSW groundswell with a very long 15-second period, and the wind turns cross-offshore from the NNE at 12 mph. That’s clean. Combined energy is a massive 11378, so you know it’s pumping. This is expert territory though—13ft is no joke, and that long period means it’ll be lining up nicely but closing out at beach breaks. For a sheltered spot like Thompsons Bay, the SE exposure and the SSW direction mean the swell will wrap in, and with clean winds, this is the one to go for. Crowds are possible here. Just be aware, it’s a big, powerful wave.
After that, it gets a bit messy again. By Tuesday the 11th, the wind swings fresh and strong, making a mess of a decent 11ft swell. Then we’re back into a run of poor conditions through the second week, with mostly small, wind-affected junk or big, blown-out stuff. Nothing else really stands out.
So, if you’ve got the experience, make a plan for Monday the 10th. That’s the pick of the period.
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Warm (max 21°C on Tue afternoon, min 15°C on Sun morning). Winds decreasing (fresh winds from the S on Sun afternoon, light winds from the NNW by Tue morning). | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryMostly dry. Warm (max 22°C on Wed afternoon, min 17°C on Wed morning). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sunday 2 | Monday 3 | Tuesday 4 | Wednesday 5 | Thursday 6 | Friday 7 | Saturday 8 | |||||||||||||||
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) | SE 12 | SE 12 | SE 11 | SE 11 | SE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | E 9 | ESE 10 | E 10 | E 10 | SSW 15 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | ENE 6 | NE 7 | ENE 8 | S 7 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 2547 | 2389 | 1732 | 1107 | 754 | 532 | 520 | 427 | 192 | 193 | 180 | 150 | 120 | 120 | 130 | 139 | 98 | 140 | 217 | 428 | 607 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross | cross-on | cross-off | on | cross-on | off | cross | cross | cross-off | cross-on | cross | off | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross-on | cross | cross-off | cross | cross-on | cross-on |
High Tide | 6:01PM1.84m | 6:08AM1.71m | 6:32PM1.78m | 6:40AM1.62m | 7:07PM1.69m | 7:18AM1.49m | 7:49PM1.56m | 8:05AM1.35m | 8:49PM1.41m | 9:22AM1.20m | 10:32PM1.30m | 11:42AM1.17m | 00:36AM1.35m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 11:45AM0.07m | 00:07AM0.21m | 12:15PM0.13m | 00:40AM0.27m | 12:48PM0.22m | 1:19AM0.37m | 1:26PM0.34m | 2:06AM0.50m | 2:17PM0.49m | 3:16AM0.63m | 3:39PM0.64m | 5:15AM0.68m | 5:52PM0.66m | ||||||||
 | |  | | |  | | | | | | | |  | |  | | | | |  | |
 | 6:39 | — | — | 6:37 | — | — | 6:37 | — | — | 6:37 | — | — | 6:35 | — | — | 6:35 | — | — | 6:33 | — | — |
 | — | 5:22 | — | — | 5:23 | — | — | 5:23 | — | — | 5:24 | — | — | 5:24 | — | — | 5:25 | — | — | 5:27 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 |
Temp °C | 19 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 27 | 21 | 20 |
Feels °C | 14 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 23 | 16 | 16 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 12 | SE 12 | SE 11 | SE 11 | SE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | E 9 | ESE 10 | E 10 | E 10 | E 9 | E 9 | E 9 | SSW 15 | E 9 | SSW 14 | ENE 9 |
| kJ | 2547 | 2389 | 1732 | 1107 | 754 | 532 | 520 | 427 | 192 | 193 | 180 | 150 | 120 | 120 | 109 | 106 | 81 | 123 | 101 | 79 | 180 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 11 | SSW 11 | S 10 | S 10 | S 10 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | ENE 5 | ENE 6 | ENE 6 | ENE 7 | SSW 18 | SSW 17 | S 6 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 14 | — | E 10 |
| kJ | 12 | 22 | 18 | 30 | 17 | 41 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 25 | 20 | 38 | 103 | 116 | 31 | 139 | 98 | 56 | 120 | — | 70 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | SW 18 | S 12 | SSW 16 | SSW 16 | S 10 | S 11 | — | E 11 | SW 12 | SW 11 | SSW 15 | ENE 6 | NE 6 | SSW 15 | S 5 | SSW 17 | E 9 | — | — | SSW 18 |
| kJ | — | 12 | 12 | 25 | 50 | 8 | 2 | — | 83 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 16 | 10 | 130 | 8 | 57 | 83 | — | — | 124 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 6 | — | — | — | — | — | NNE 3 | ENE 4 | NE 5 | — | NE 6 | — | SSW 5 | S 7 | — | — | ENE 3 | ENE 6 | NE 7 | ENE 8 | S 7 |
| kJ | 120 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 16 | 64 | — | 49 | — | 69 | 110 | — | — | 5 | 140 | 217 | 428 | 607 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 39 | 258 | 0 | 39 | 42 | 0 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 22 | 42 | 0 | 118 | 277 | 6 | 6 | 42 | 0 | 42 | 117 | 626 |
Best forecast wave conditions in KwaZulu-Natal North 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)
Latest Updates
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 Thompsons Bay 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 Thompsons Bay Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Thompsons Bay provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Thompsons Bay can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Thompsons Bay 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 (Thompsons Bay) 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 Thompsons Bay 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.
Thompsons Bay is 3 km (2 miles) from the city of Ballitoville. If you plan a holiday in KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, look for hotels and other accommodation in Ballitoville. Ballitoville has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest