Buy Less, Surf More This Black Friday
Surf-forecast is providing a free, all-access pass to our premium features and 12-day forecasts all weekend.
- Forecast
- Maps
- Live
- Weather State
- Spot Information
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 Thursday 04 Dec 2025 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
17.7° C
(Which is 2.8°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: 1.1m 13s primary swell from a West-northwest direction and 0.2m 14s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction (forecast issued at 03:00am December 04). The wind direction is predicted to be glassy and the swell rating is 2.
| Time (PST) & Date | Wave Height | Wave Period |
|---|---|---|
| Morning (04 Dec) | 3.5ft (1.1m) | 13s |
| Afternoon (04 Dec) | 3ft (0.9m) | 13s |
| Evening (04 Dec) | 3ft (0.9m) | 13s |
Table - waves today at El Capitan. (Swell directed towards the surf break)
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Thursday 04 | Friday 05 | Saturday 06 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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) (?) | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 14 |
Wave (?)Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ (?) | 789 | 668 | 490 | 396 | 326 | 303 | 242 | 235 | 178 | 152 | 167 | 169 | 152 | 150 | 113 | 161 | 199 | 221 | 176 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 118 | 293 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wind State (?) onshore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore offshore glassy | off | off | cross- off | glass | cross- on | cross | cross- off | off | off | off | cross- off | glass | cross- on | cross- on | glass | glass | cross- off | glass | glass | glass | cross- on | glass | glass | glass |
High Tide / height (m) | 7:59AM 2.51 | 10:08PM 1.54 | 8:45AM 2.52 | 11:05PM 1.53 | 9:34AM 2.47 | |||||||||||||||||||
Low Tide / height (m) | 1:35AM 1.03 | 3:27PM -0.15 | 2:23AM 1.08 | 4:18PM -0.18 | 3:13AM 1.13 | 5:09PM -0.13 | ||||||||||||||||||
Thursday 04 | Friday 05 | Saturday 06 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunrise | - | - | 6:50 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6:50 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6:52 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Sunset | - | - | - | - | - | 4:49 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4:49 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4:49 | - | - |
 | |  | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Rain (mm) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Temp. °C | 14 | 14 | 13 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 14 |
| Feels °C (?) | 11 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 12 |
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
Latest Updates
Quiksilver Teams Up With PrimaLoft® For World’s First Thermal Layering System for a Wetsuit.
Previously used in our snow jackets for mountain conditions, PrimaLoft® technology is making its debut in the surf industry. The aim is to bring mountain-grade warmth to the waves.
Vancouver Island’s Day Of Days With Reed Platenius
Surf-Forecast recently helped the 21-year-old Canadian pro surfer and adventurer score some cold water perfection at home.
5 Reasons Why Costa Rica Is A Surfer (and Non Surfer) Paradise
With or without a surfboard, Costa Rica is a bucket list destination that has shown what a nation is capable of when nature is put first.
Read more
Discover more articles and updates in the Greenroom.
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.
Nearest