Waves in Stilbaai

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Thursday, October 29, at 4:46 am (GMT+2)

Now · significant height 4.3 ft

Sea state: Moderate · Douglas 4
Period: 11.9 s · SSW
Swell: 3.3 ft · 13 s
Highest expected: 8.5 ft

Today the sea at Stilbaai is moderate: 4.3 ft waves with a period of 11.9 s from the south-southwest. The swell, 3.3 ft at 13 s, comes from the southwest.

Wave height, next 7 days

2.04.06.0 ft 5.6 ft Now

Significant height: the average of the highest third of the waves, what an observer would estimate by eye. Swell: waves arriving from far away, longer.

The waves you may find today

Most common2.2 ft
Significant4.3 ft
Highest expected8.5 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 8.5 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 8.5 ft.

The Douglas sea state scale

Degree	Name	Wave height
0	Calm (glassy)	0
1	Calm (rippled)	0.0 ft–0.3 ft
2	Smooth	0.3 ft–1.6 ft
3	Slight	1.6 ft–4.1 ft
4	Moderate · today	4.1 ft–8.2 ft
5	Rough	8.2 ft–13.1 ft
6	Very rough	13.1 ft–19.7 ft

Waves day by day

Day	Max wave	Sea state	Direction	Max period	Swell	Max wind
Today	5.6 ft	Moderate	SSW	12 s	5.1 ft SSW	11 mph ESE
Fri 30	5.2 ft	Moderate	S	11 s	5.1 ft SSW	12 mph SSE
Sat 31	4.5 ft	Moderate	SSW	10 s	4.3 ft SSW	8 mph S
Sun 1	5.1 ft	Moderate	SSW	10 s	5.1 ft SSW	10 mph SSW
Mon 2	4.7 ft	Moderate	SSW	10 s	4.7 ft SSW	12 mph SSE
Tue 3	4.5 ft	Moderate	SSW	11 s	4.3 ft SSW	12 mph SSW
Wed 4	4.6 ft	Moderate	SSW	11 s	4.5 ft SSW	11 mph ESE

Today, every 3 hours

Time	12:00 am	3:00 am	6:00 am	9:00 am	12:00 pm	3:00 pm	6:00 pm	9:00 pm
Waves	3.5 ft	3.9 ft	4.6 ft	5.2 ft	5.5 ft	5.6 ft	5.4 ft	5.2 ft
Period	10.4 s	11.5 s	12.1 s	12.1 s	11.9 s	11.7 s	11.5 s	11.4 s
Direction	S	SSW	SSW	SSW	SSW	SSW	SSW	SSW
Swell	2.1 ft · 13 s	2.8 ft · 12 s	3.5 ft · 12 s	4.3 ft · 11 s	5.0 ft · 10 s	5.1 ft · 11 s	4.7 ft · 11 s	4.5 ft · 10 s
Wind (mph)	4 ENE	5 ENE	8 ENE	7 E	6 ESE	10 ESE	10 SE	4 SSE

Previous days

The waves over the last 14 days. Tap a day to see it hour by hour.

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Wed 28	3.3 ft SSE	10 s	3.0 ft SSE
Tue 27	3.9 ft SSE	8 s	3.6 ft SSE
Mon 26	3.3 ft S	8 s	3.0 ft S
Sun 25	4.3 ft S	9 s	4.3 ft S
Sat 24	5.6 ft S	10 s	4.9 ft SSW
Fri 23	7.5 ft SSW	11 s	7.5 ft SSW
Thu 22	8.5 ft SW	9 s	7.9 ft SSW

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Wed 21	7.5 ft SW	10 s	6.2 ft SW
Tue 20	5.2 ft SSW	9 s	5.2 ft SSW
Mon 19	7.5 ft SSW	10 s	7.2 ft SSW
Sun 18	6.9 ft SSW	11 s	6.9 ft SSW
Sat 17	8.5 ft SSW	11 s	8.5 ft SSW
Fri 16	6.2 ft SSW	12 s	5.9 ft SSW
Thu 15	7.5 ft SSW	13 s	7.2 ft SSW

These are the models at the start of each day (ECMWF and GFS; waves from Météo-France), not readings from a weather station: there can be differences at specific spots.

Questions about the waves in StilbaaiQuestions

How are the waves today in Stilbaai?

Moderate (4.3 ft with a period of 11.9 s from the south-southwest). The highest wave to expect is around 8.5 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Thursday 29, with waves up to 5.6 ft (moderate).

What is the wave period?

The time, in seconds, between two crests. With long periods (over 10 s) waves come from far away, are cleaner and break harder; with short periods they are wind waves, choppier.

What is significant wave height?

The average of the highest third of the waves. One in seven is higher and, a few times a day, one comes in at almost double: today, about 8.5 ft.

More about Stilbaai today

Waves near Stilbaai

Only places with a different forecast: spots a few miles apart share the same model cell and wouldn't add anything.

Learn more

Waves: Open-Meteo with Météo-France (MFWAM, up to 10 days) and ECMWF WAM, CC BY 4.0; wave grid point 1.9 mi away. Near the shore, the seabed and the shape of the coast change the waves.

Forecast from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0) with models from ECMWF, NOAA, Météo-France, DWD, Copernicus Marine and CAMS. Updated at 4:46 am (local time).

Spotted a mistake? Tell us · Where the weather and sea data come from