Surfing in South Africa in October

Conditions in October

Water temp. : 18 °C
Wetsuit : 3/2 mm, 4/3 mm for long sessions

October is the end of the long swell window. The published figures keep the Eastern Cape in the three to six foot range through this month, and then the summer pattern takes over: smaller waves, disconnected sections, and a point that stops being what it is famous for until March.

The compensation is that everything else improves. The water is up to 18°C, the air is properly spring, the days are long, and there is nobody there. It is the mirror of April, and like April it gives a good part of the season without any of the company.

Learning in October

Improving but not there. November is the month the Eastern Cape becomes a place to learn again.

Where a beginner goes in October

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 last of it. Fewer swells than the winter and a better chance of having Supertubes to yourself when one lands.

How October 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.