El Capitan Surf Break

Lat Long: 34.46° N 120.02° W

El Capitan 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Issued: 4 pm 20 Sep 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Today's El Capitan sea temperature is
21.7°C
4.4° 

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 (20 Sep):

  • Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (20 Sep, local time) - 2.5ft (0.8m), 18s period with SW swell.
  • Evening surf: Evening surf (20 Sep, local time) - 2.5ft (0.8m), 18s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for El Capitan at 8PM is: 0.8m 18s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.4m 12s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction, 0.8m 7s secondary swell from a West-northwest direction (forecast issued at 04:00pm September 20). The wind direction is predicted to be glassy and the swell rating is 2.

Time (PDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (20 Sep)--
Afternoon (20 Sep)2.5ft (0.8m)18s
Evening (20 Sep)2.5ft (0.8m)18s

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


Short Range Forecast

Mostly dry. Warm (max 27°C on Wed morning, min 14°C on Mon night). Wind will be generally light.

Sun
20
Monday
21
Tuesday
22
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)
1
0
2
2
2
2
2
1
0
0
2
2
2
2
2
1
0
1
2
2
Swell
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Wave
Height (m)
Direction
Period (s)
0.8
SW
18
0.8
SW
18
0.8
SW
18
0.8
SW
17
0.8
SW
17
0.8
SW
17
0.8
SW
17
0.9
SW
17
0.9
SW
17
0.9
SW
17
0.9
SW
16
0.9
SW
16
0.8
SW
16
0.8
SW
16
0.8
SW
16
0.8
SW
16
0.8
SW
16
0.9
SW
16
0.9
SW
16
0.8
SW
16
Wave Graph
Metric surfscale
Energy kJ
379
370
366
362
354
346
338
465
465
459
454
454
318
306
299
299
299
367
367
302
Wind (km/h)
10
S
10
SW
5
NW
5
NNW
5
N
5
NNW
5
NNW
5
WSW
15
WSW
15
WNW
15
NNW
15
NNW
10
NNW
5
N
5
NNW
5
WSW
15
SW
10
WNW
10
NNW
10
N
Wind State
on
cross-on
glassy
glassy
glassy
off
cross-off
cross-on
cross-on
cross
cross-off
off
off
off
off
cross-on
cross-on
cross
off
off
High Tide
5:57PM1.77m
8:31AM1.52m
6:49PM1.84m
8:44AM1.58m
7:32PM1.90m
Low Tide
12:13PM1.32m
1:31AM0.46m
1:03PM1.21m
2:02AM0.41m
1:42PM1.09m
cloud
part cloud
part cloud
clear
clear
part cloud
part cloud
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>
6:47
6:47
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunset">Sunset</span>
7:00
6:58
6:57
 mm
Temp °C
22
22
18
17
16
16
16
22
24
24
17
14
14
15
16
24
26
26
19
19
Feels °C
23
22
20
18
17
16
16
22
23
22
15
12
13
14
16
24
24
25
17
18
  • 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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