Cape St Francis

Best Surf Season (October - March)

Cape St Francis is a direction-sensitive, northeast-facing stretch of the South African coast, and that shapes everything about its surf calendar. The months from October through March are the clear sweet spot. The ocean is still feeding on long-period Southern Ocean groundswell, with average swell heights easing from 9ft (2.8m) in October to a manageable 8ft (2.5m) by midsummer, and periods holding in the powerful 10.9-11.4s range. More importantly, the true E-angled swell that actually works on this beach reaches its highest annual frequency during this window, while the fully clean wind window shows up 29-31 percent of the time from December through March. Warm water in the 18-20°C range, pleasant air temperatures, and the South Atlantic high's tendency to deliver light westerly offshore morning breezes all combine to make October through March the best bet for quality surf.