El Capitan Surf Break

Lat Long: 34.46° N 120.02° W

El Capitan 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Issued: 10 pm 23 Aug 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Today's El Capitan sea temperature is
20.4°C
3.1° 

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 (24 Aug):

  • Morning surf: Morning surf (24 Aug, local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 18s period with SW swell.
  • Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (24 Aug, local time) - 1.5ft (0.5m), 17s period with SW swell.
  • Evening surf: Evening surf (24 Aug, local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 17s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for El Capitan at 7AM is: 0.6m 18s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.6m 14s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction (forecast issued at 10:00pm August 23). An open ocean swell of 0.9m 5s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be glassy and the swell rating is 2.

Time (PDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (24 Aug)2ft (0.6m)18s
Afternoon (24 Aug)1.5ft (0.5m)17s
Evening (24 Aug)2ft (0.6m)17s

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


Short Range Forecast

Mostly dry. Warm (max 36°C on Tue afternoon, min 23°C on Sun night). Wind will be generally light.

Sun
23
Monday
24
Tuesday
25
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
2
2
2
2
1
0
0
2
1
2
2
2
0
1
0
0
1
Swell
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Wave
Height (m)
Direction
Period (s)
0.4
SW
18
0.5
SW
18
0.5
SW
18
0.6
SW
18
0.6
SW
18
0.5
SW
18
0.5
SW
17
0.5
SW
17
0.6
SW
17
0.6
SW
17
0.6
SW
17
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.5
SW
16
0.5
SW
16
0.6
SW
16
Wave Graph
Metric surfscale
Energy kJ
112
155
163
199
199
165
145
140
179
177
222
219
216
167
165
125
124
159
Wind (km/h)
10
NW
5
N
5
NNW
5
N
0
ENE
10
SW
10
SW
10
W
15
NNW
15
NNW
10
NNW
5
NNW
0
N
10
WSW
10
W
15
WNW
15
NNW
15
NNW
Wind State
cross-off
off
off
glassy
glassy
cross-on
cross-on
cross
cross-off
off
off
off
glassy
cross-on
cross
cross-off
cross-off
cross-off
High Tide
7:18PM1.96m
9:33AM1.49m
7:58PM2.04m
9:51AM1.53m
8:35PM2.09m
Low Tide
2:47AM0.33m
1:53PM1.16m
3:16AM0.28m
2:30PM1.07m
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunrise">Sunrise</span>
6:26
6:28
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunset">Sunset</span>
7:37
7:35
 mm
Temp °C
26
24
23
23
26
31
33
33
27
25
25
25
27
33
36
36
27
26
Feels °C
25
24
22
22
27
30
31
31
24
21
22
23
26
31
34
33
23
23
  • 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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