Surfing in South Africa in March

Conditions in March

Water temp. : 20 °C
Wetsuit : 3/2 mm fullsuit

March is the first month of the long season. The Southern Ocean lows start tracking close enough to send south-west groundswell onto the Eastern Cape, and the published figures put the coast in the three to six foot range from now until October.

What matters at J-Bay is not only that the swell is bigger but that it is longer. The point is a chain of sections, and it takes period rather than height to link them into the ride it is famous for. March gets the first swells with that in them, which is why the month reads better than a summer month of the same size. The water is at 20°C and a 3/2 goes back on.

Learning in March

The last comfortable month. From April the size and the power both climb and the Eastern Cape stops being a place to learn.

Where a beginner goes in March

These spots are reachable all year. What the month changes is the size of the waves, not the access.

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Very good

The season opening, on a coast that is still empty. Not the biggest month, and often a clean one.

How March compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.