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El Capitan Surf Forecast
/ CAL – Santa Barbara (36 breaks) / California (404 breaks) /
Surf Forecasts:
El Capitan surfForecast / CAL – Santa Barbara / USA
48hr Weather and Surf, issued 3 am Wednesday 21 Jan 2026 PSTForecast update in hr min s Forecast update imminent
El Capitan surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.
Today's El Capitan sea temperature is
15.9° C
(Which is 2.1°C warmer than normal for this time of year)How big are the waves at El Capitan today?
The current surf forecast for El Capitan at 9AM is: 1.2m 14s primary swell from a West-northwest direction and 0.7m 10s secondary swell from a West direction (forecast issued at 03:00am January 21). The wind direction is predicted to be glassy and the swell rating is 3.
| Time (PST) & Date | Wave Height | Wave Period |
|---|---|---|
| Morning (21 Jan) | 4ft (1.2m) | 14s |
| Afternoon (21 Jan) | 4.5ft (1.3m) | 14s |
| Evening (21 Jan) | 4ft (1.2m) | 13s |
Table - waves today at El Capitan. (Swell directed towards the surf break)
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Wednesday 21 | Thursday 22 | Friday 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 AM | 4 AM | 7 AM | 10 AM | 1 PM | 4 PM | 7 PM | 10 PM | 1 AM | 4 AM | 7 AM | 10 AM | 1 PM | 4 PM | 7 PM | 10 PM | 1 AM | 4 AM | 7 AM | 10 AM | 1 PM | 4 PM | 7 PM | 10 PM | |
Rating (10 max) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Swell Height Map |    |    |    | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wave Height (m) & direction (?) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period(s) (?) | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 16 |
Wave (?)Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ (?) | 575 | 505 | 485 | 557 | 549 | 684 | 523 | 515 | 515 | 431 | 356 | 323 | 250 | 246 | 186 | 201 | 144 | 167 | 186 | 239 | 183 | 175 | 162 | 211 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wind State (?) onshore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore offshore glassy | glass | cross- off | glass | glass | glass | cross- on | cross | glass | glass | cross- off | cross- off | glass | on | glass | glass | off | glass | glass | glass | glass | cross- on | cross | cross- off | glass |
High Tide / height (m) | 11:40PM 1.57 | 10:26AM 2.03 | 12:09AM 1.63 | 11:06AM 1.87 | 12:40AM 1.70 | 11:53AM 1.66 | ||||||||||||||||||
Low Tide / height (m) | 4:26AM 1.06 | 5:31PM 0.31 | 5:17AM 1.04 | 5:59PM 0.44 | 6:18AM 1.01 | 6:28PM 0.59 | ||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday 21 | Thursday 22 | Friday 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunrise | - | - | - | 7:03 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7:03 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7:03 | - | - | - | - |
| Sunset | - | - | - | - | - | 5:17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5:19 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5:20 | - | - |
 | | |  | | | | | | | |  |  | |  | | | | |  | | | | | |
Rain (mm) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Temp. °C | 16 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 13 |
| Feels °C (?) | 16 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 12 |
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Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
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