El Capitan Surf Break

Lat Long: 34.46° N 120.02° W

El Capitan 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Issued: 4 am 31 Aug 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Today's El Capitan sea temperature is
21.5°C
4.2° 

El Capitan surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.


How big are the waves at El Capitan today (31 Aug):

  • Morning surf: Morning surf (31 Aug, local time) - 2.5ft (0.8m), 14s period with SSW swell.
  • Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (31 Aug, local time) - 2.5ft (0.8m), 14s period with SSW swell.
  • Evening surf: Evening surf (31 Aug, local time) - 2.5ft (0.7m), 13s period with SSW swell.

The current surf forecast for El Capitan at 10AM is: 0.8m 14s primary swell from a South-southwest direction and 0.6m 13s secondary swell from a South direction (forecast issued at 04:00am August 31). An open ocean swell of 1.0m 5s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be cross-onshore.

Time (PDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (31 Aug)2.5ft (0.8m)14s
Afternoon (31 Aug)2.5ft (0.8m)14s
Evening (31 Aug)2.5ft (0.7m)13s

Table - waves today at El Capitan. (Swell directed towards the surf break)


Short Range Forecast

Mostly dry. Warm (max 28°C on Wed afternoon, min 13°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light.

Monday
31
Tuesday
1
Wednesday
2
2 AM
5 AM
8 AM
11 AM
2 PM
5 PM
8 PM
11 PM
2 AM
5 AM
8 AM
11 AM
2 PM
5 PM
8 PM
11 PM
2 AM
5 AM
8 AM
11 AM
2 PM
5 PM
8 PM
11 PM
Rating
(10 max)
2
2
1
2
0
0
1
1
1
2
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
Swell
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Wave
Height (m)
Direction
Period (s)
0.9
SSW
14
0.9
SSW
14
0.8
SSW
14
0.8
SSW
14
0.8
SSW
14
0.7
SSW
14
0.7
SSW
13
0.7
SSW
13
0.7
SSW
13
0.7
SSW
13
0.7
SSW
13
0.6
SSW
13
0.6
SSW
13
0.5
SSW
13
0.3
SW
18
0.4
SW
18
0.4
SW
18
0.5
SW
18
0.5
SW
17
0.7
S
13
0.7
S
13
0.7
SSW
13
0.7
SSW
13
0.6
SSW
17
Wave Graph
Metric surfscale
Energy kJ
325
325
261
229
226
161
158
156
154
154
154
114
114
96
66
80
109
150
137
161
163
173
170
188
Wind (km/h)
10
NNW
5
NNW
5
NNW
5
WSW
10
SW
10
WSW
10
NNW
10
NNW
10
NNW
10
N
10
NNW
5
WSW
10
SW
15
W
15
NNW
15
NNW
15
NNW
10
NNW
10
NNW
10
W
15
W
25
NW
20
NNW
20
NNW
Wind State
off
off
glassy
glassy
cross-on
cross-on
cross-off
off
off
off
off
cross-on
cross-on
cross
cross-off
off
off
off
cross-off
cross
cross
cross-off
cross-off
cross-off
High Tide
11:47PM1.69m
12:09PM1.93m
00:39AM1.51m
12:44PM1.96m
1:48AM1.33m
1:27PM1.97m
Low Tide
5:45AM0.68m
6:44PM0.65m
6:10AM0.83m
7:48PM0.63m
6:36AM0.98m
9:08PM0.60m
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunrise">Sunrise</span>
6:31
6:33
6:33
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunset">Sunset</span>
7:28
7:25
7:24
 mm
Temp °C
17
16
19
25
27
26
17
14
14
14
16
24
26
25
17
13
13
13
17
25
28
25
18
15
Feels °C
16
15
19
25
25
25
15
12
12
12
14
23
24
22
14
10
10
10
15
22
24
20
15
12
  • Map Icons:
  • Break
  • Live Wave Height (m)
  • Live Wind Speed (km/h)
  • Surf Rating (10 Max)
  • Ocean Swells (m)
  • Wind Speed (km/h)
Map placeholder
How to use the Wavefinder 

FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website

The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our El Capitan surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.


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