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Surf Forecasts:

El Capitan surfForecast / CAL – Santa Barbara / USA

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 3 pm Monday 12 Jan 2026 PST
Forecast 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
15.6° C
 (Which is 1.7°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 11PM is: 1.7m 16s primary swell from a West-northwest direction and 0.3m 12s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction (forecast issued at 03:00pm January 12). An open ocean swell of 0.2m 6s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be offshore and the swell rating is 4.

Time (PST) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (12 Jan)--
Afternoon (12 Jan)6ft (1.9m)16s
Evening (12 Jan)5.5ft (1.7m)16s

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

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent 
12 DaysHourly
Print Table
Monday
12
Tuesday
13
Wednesday
14
Thursday
15
1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM
Rating
(10 max)
3
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
2
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
3
3
3
3
3
3
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
2
WNW
1.9
WNW
1.8
WNW
1.7
WNW
1.7
WNW
1.7
WNW
1.6
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.3
WNW
1.3
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.1
WNW
0.7
WNW
0.9
WNW
1
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.6
WNW
1.5
WNW
Period(s) (?)161616161615151414141313131313131218181716161514
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)2021177215861493132412251091943930724683577547461454447355333540625105110251121874
Wind
(km/h)
5
W
5
SW
5
N
5
NNE
10
N
5
NNE
5
NNE
0
NW
5
WSW
5
WNW
5
N
5
NNE
5
NNE
5
NNE
5
NNE
5
ESE
0
WSW
10
W
5
NNW
5
ENE
5
ENE
5
ENE
5
NE
0
N
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
crossglassglassoffoffcross-
off		cross-
off		glasscross-
on		cross-
off		offcross-
off		cross-
off		offcross-
off		glassglasscrossglassglasscross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		glass
High Tide
/ height (m)
7:22PM
1.26
5:30AM
1.93
8:15PM
1.33
6:12AM
1.99
8:50PM
1.39
6:51AM
2.07
Low Tide
/ height (m)
12:37PM
0.61
10:37PM
1.18
1:19PM
0.47
11:37PM
1.22
1:55PM
0.36
12:27AM
1.22
Monday
12
Tuesday
13
Wednesday
14
Thursday
15
Sunrise-------7:05-------7:05-------7:05
Sunset-5:08-------5:09-------5:10------
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
Rain (mm)
------------------------
Temp. °C222017161615152022211817161616212421181818171722
Feels °C (?)201915141312121819191614131313192219171616151420
  • 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

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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.

View detailed surf forecast for El Capitan at:
surf-forecast.com

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