Cape Peninsula · Today

Big Bay

Updated Wed, Sep 23, 1:40 AM GMT+2

When to go

8:00 AM–10:00 AM

Looks good · Low confidence

3.0–3.1 ft · Offshore waves · not face height

Wind: 2.2 kt · onshore

Forecast details

Light wind should keep the water smoother.

Other wind windows

Plan around the wind

The best available upcoming daylight wind sample to compare with the wave evidence. This compares wind only; wave size, tide suitability, and hazards can change your choice.

8:00 AM–10:00 AM · Africa/Johannesburg
Light wind · up to 2.2 kt · reported gusts up to 8.2 kt
Offshore waves: 3.0–3.1 ft across the period. Surf height unavailable. Tide data unavailable.
Wind source time: Sep 23, 1:45 AM GMT+2. This is not the model run issue time.

How these periods are chosen

The planner prefers three consecutive hourly samples covering two daylight hours, but retains shorter one- or two-sample evidence when that is all the forecast provides. Light wind means at most 6 kt. Moderate offshore means at most 12 kt from land toward the sea when shore orientation is verified. Strong wind or known gusts of 20 kt or more remain visible as cautions instead of making the entire comparison disappear. These are comparison labels, not locally tested surf-quality or safety ratings. Missing gusts remain unknown. Terrain shelter, currents, closures, and your ability are not assessed.

Forecast confidence

Returned marine grid point is 12.0 km from the mapped spot. Provider grid resolution is not established for this response.
Reference model hour: 0 hours from now; historical residuals do not measure forecast lead-time error.
No accepted local model for these inputs: missing history, unsupported direction/period/height, or failed historical validation.
Tide unavailable: assessment incomplete, especially at shallow reef breaks.
A mapped coordinate does not establish nearshore grid resolution or terrain/shelter accuracy.

Wind WNW 4.4 kt

Tide Unavailable

Wave, wind and tide details

Offshore model swellSW 3.2 ft @ 8sValid 2026-09-23 02:00 · Africa/JohannesburgMarine grid -33.7083, 18.3750 · offshore model, not a local measurement

Offshore model sea3.3 ft @ 9.7sSignificant wave height including wind waves and swell; not breaking surfValid 2026-09-23 02:00 · Africa/Johannesburg

Model windWNW 4.4 ktonshoreValid 2026-09-23 02:00 · Africa/Johannesburg4.4 kt onshore component

TideUnavailableunavailableNo verified local tide station connected; no tide height estimated

Surf height unavailable. Coastal and offshore waves are not breaking-wave heights.

Surf and wind

Recommended window: No recommended window

Breaking surf is not reliably resolved. Hourly offshore swell and wind inputs are listed below.

Hourly forecast

Hourly surf forecast for Big Bay
Time	Wind	Tide	Offshore swell
12 AM	NW 5.1 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.3 ft @ 8s
1 AM	WNW 5.2 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.3 ft @ 8s
2 AM	WNW 4.4 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.2 ft @ 8s
3 AM	NNW 4.6 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.2 ft @ 8s
4 AM	NW 1.4 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.1 ft @ 8s
5 AM	SW 3.9 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.1 ft @ 8s
6 AM	SW 1.4 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.1 ft @ 8s
7 AM	NNW 4.3 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.1 ft @ 8s
8 AM	WNW 1.6 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.0 ft @ 8s
9 AM	NW 1.9 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.0 ft @ 8s
10 AM	WNW 2.2 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 3.0 ft @ 8s
11 AM	WSW 6.4 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.9 ft @ 8s
Noon	WSW 7.5 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.9 ft @ 8s
1 PM	WSW 5.6 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.8 ft @ 8s
2 PM	WSW 8.4 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.8 ft @ 8s
3 PM	SW 6.9 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.8 ft @ 8s
4 PM	SW 6.3 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.6 ft @ 8s
5 PM	SSW 6.1 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.6 ft @ 8s
6 PM	S 5.2 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.6 ft @ 8s
7 PM	SSE 3.8 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.7 ft @ 8s
8 PM	SSE 4.1 ktoffshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.8 ft @ 8s
9 PM	SE 3.9 ktoffshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.6 ft @ 8s
10 PM	SE 4.3 ktoffshore	Unavailableunavailable	SW 2.5 ft @ 8s
11 PM	SE 3.4 ktoffshore	Unavailableunavailable	WSW 2.4 ft @ 8s

12 AMUnavailable

WindNW 5.1 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.3 ft @ 8s

1 AMUnavailable

WindWNW 5.2 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.3 ft @ 8s

2 AMUnavailable

WindWNW 4.4 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.2 ft @ 8s

3 AMUnavailable

WindNNW 4.6 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.2 ft @ 8s

4 AMUnavailable

WindNW 1.4 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.1 ft @ 8s

5 AMUnavailable

WindSW 3.9 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.1 ft @ 8s

6 AMUnavailable

WindSW 1.4 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.1 ft @ 8s

7 AMUnavailable

WindNNW 4.3 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.1 ft @ 8s

8 AMUnavailable

WindWNW 1.6 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.0 ft @ 8s

9 AMUnavailable

WindNW 1.9 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.0 ft @ 8s

10 AMUnavailable

WindWNW 2.2 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 3.0 ft @ 8s

11 AMUnavailable

WindWSW 6.4 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.9 ft @ 8s

NoonUnavailable

WindWSW 7.5 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.9 ft @ 8s

1 PMUnavailable

WindWSW 5.6 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.8 ft @ 8s

2 PMUnavailable

WindWSW 8.4 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.8 ft @ 8s

3 PMUnavailable

WindSW 6.9 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.8 ft @ 8s

4 PMUnavailable

WindSW 6.3 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.6 ft @ 8s

5 PMUnavailable

WindSSW 6.1 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.6 ft @ 8s

6 PMUnavailable

WindS 5.2 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.6 ft @ 8s

7 PMUnavailable

WindSSE 3.8 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.7 ft @ 8s

8 PMUnavailable

WindSSE 4.1 ktoffshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.8 ft @ 8s

9 PMUnavailable

WindSE 3.9 ktoffshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.6 ft @ 8s

10 PMUnavailable

WindSE 4.3 ktoffshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSW 2.5 ft @ 8s

11 PMUnavailable

WindSE 3.4 ktoffshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellWSW 2.4 ft @ 8s

Tide

Local tide station unavailable

Tide predictions are unavailable for this period.

About this spot

Model-grid forecast requested at the mapped coordinate; reef, headland, and nearshore transformations are unresolved. Beach break.

Mapped spot coordinate: -33.79, 18.46.

Mainland · Coast not verified · Ocean-facing bearing 292.5° · Location provenance

Model request point: Big Bay (-33.79, 18.46). Model output times describe valid conditions; the provider does not expose the model run issue time in this response.

Forecast sources

Data coverage 2/6 sources

Source availability is not forecast accuracy. Where an empirical model passes historical testing, its error and interval coverage are shown above. Source count cannot increase that confidence.

Coverage tier B · SOUTH_AFRICA · spot-level model point

South African Weather Service Marine Portal
No SAWS PNG passed exact page/image identity, 73-frame contract, PNG type/size, 30-hour update, plotted-domain, resolved-spot, and market-membership validation. Long Beach Kommetjie retains a market-fallback coordinate and is not assigned until its break geometry is resolved.UnavailableNo source time
CSIR WaveNet South Africa
CSIR WaveNet live west-coast pages expose plots as regenerated PNG images rather than reusable numeric observations. Cape Point, Table Bay, Saldanha Bay, and Muizenberg pages were reachable, but no value is OCR-scraped or relabeled as station data.UnavailableNo source time
South African Navy Hydrographic Office Tides
SANHO publishes live monthly Cape Town, Simon's Town, and Saldanha PDF tide tables with station-specific chart-datum information, but the official page states that the tables may not be reproduced without written permission; predictions are withheld.UnavailableNo source time
WorldTides API
No separate tide response passed station identity, coordinates, distance, chart datum, timezone, units, prediction timestamps, and reuse validation; SANHO PDFs are not substituted under a third-party label.UnavailableNo source time
Open-Meteo Marine API
1 of 1 configured model points availableCurrentSep 23, 1:45 AM GMT+2
Open-Meteo Weather API
1 of 1 configured model points availableCurrentSep 23, 1:45 AM GMT+2
Surf-Forecast public pages
Spot discovery and break-specific HTML fallbackNot applicableNo source time
Surfline public spot pages
Break-specific comparison, cams, and metadataNot applicableNo source time

How best guesses are made

Best guesses combine usable wave and wind evidence, with qualitative confidence and specific limitations. A missing tide or local surf-height model does not prevent useful guidance. Tide levels use the named station datum; their effect at this break remains uncertain. Wind direction is relative to the mapped beach orientation, without calibrated terrain or shelter effects. The comparison is a heuristic, not a measured quality rating.