Cape Town.
Now
· updated 10 hours agoThe week starts with a fading 1-2m southwest swell at 12 seconds under blown-out northwest wind easing to moderate by Thursday dawn. Friday builds to 1-2m west-southwest at 10-12 seconds as wind shifts south and strengthens to strong, peaking Saturday with 2m west-southwest at 10-11 seconds under blown-out southeast wind. Sunday sees glassy conditions and a steady 2m southwest swell at 10-14 seconds, before a fresh pulse arrives Monday with 2m west-southwest at 10 seconds under moderate southeast wind. The week peaks Wednesday with a dangerous 3-4m southwest swell at 14-15 seconds under light south wind easing to moderate, then slowly drops through the weekend under moderate southeast wind. Looks like Sunday dawn under glassy conditions will be the best window before the southwest swell fades.
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About Cape Town
Cape Town sits on the Cape Peninsula at the south-west tip of South Africa, two coastlines under one mountain range. The Atlantic west side is cold and exposed: Llandudno, Long Beach Kommetjie, Big Bay, and Dungeons, the big-wave paddle reef under the Sentinel in Hout Bay where Red Bull Big Wave Africa ran from 1999 to 2008. The False Bay east side is warmer and mellower; Muizenberg is South Africa’s beginner mecca.
Peak runs May through September, the South African winter, when Roaring Forties storms south of the Cape send long-period south-west swell into the peninsula. Working size on the Atlantic side is 2 to 4 m at period 13 s+. Dungeons switches on past 3 m with 15 s+ swell. The Cape Doctor, the hard south-east wind that blows September through March, is offshore on the Atlantic and onshore in False Bay. In winter the wind backs east to east-north-east. Dawn glass on the Atlantic is the play.
Atlantic water sits at 12 to 15 °C in winter, 14 to 18 °C in summer. False Bay runs 3 to 4 °C warmer, occasionally 22 °C in February. A 4/3 mm with hood and boots covers Atlantic winter; a 3/2 mm is enough for False Bay summer. White-shark spotters watch Muizenberg and Fish Hoek; sightings are part of the routine. On a Cape Doctor day, run False Bay. On a winter front, the Atlantic side is the call. Beginners go to Muizenberg; the next step up is Long Beach or Glen Beach.