Muizenberg • Statistics for January

January: Summer Groundswell Versus the Cape Doctor

Mid-summer at Muizenberg is defined by the battle between solid south-west groundswell and the persistent south-easterly 'Cape Doctor'. The average swell height sits around 7.5ft (2.3m) with an 11.1s average period, so there is no shortage of long-period power. The waverose is dominated by SW (27.6%), SSW (17.8%), S (10.6%), SSE (5.3%) and WSW (6.7%) - a mix of direct southerly energy and wrapping south-west swell that works its way into False Bay. However, the wind tables show SE (15.8%), SSE (35.4%), S (18.0%) and SSW (6.7%) piling up to around 76% of observations, all onshore for this SSE-facing beach. Offshore N/NNE/NW/NNW totals only about 8%, which explains the 11% ideal rating. When the NW land breeze wins at dawn, the sandbanks can hold surprisingly fun 6-8ft (1.8-2.4m) waves; once the south-easterly fires up, expect bumpy, drifting conditions. Air temps average 21.3°C, water temp is 18.1°C, and precipitation is low at 0.62 mm/day.