El Capitan Surf Break

Lat Long: 34.46° N 120.02° W

El Capitan 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Issued: 4 pm 21 Sep 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Today's El Capitan sea temperature is
21.6°C
4.2° 

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 (21 Sep):

  • Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (21 Sep, local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 17s period with SW swell.
  • Evening surf: Evening surf (21 Sep, local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 16s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for El Capitan at 7PM is: 0.9m 17s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.4m 12s secondary swell from a South direction (forecast issued at 04:00pm September 21). An open ocean swell of 1.0m 4s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be cross-offshore.

Time (PDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (21 Sep)--
Afternoon (21 Sep)3ft (0.9m)17s
Evening (21 Sep)3ft (0.9m)16s

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


Short Range Forecast

Mostly dry. Warm (max 29°C on Wed morning, min 14°C on Mon night). Wind will be generally light.

Mon
21
Tuesday
22
Wednesday
23
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)
0
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
0
1
2
2
2
3
2
1
1
1
3
3
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)
0.9
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
0.8
SW
16
0.8
SW
16
0.8
SW
16
0.8
SW
15
0.7
SW
15
1.1
WNW
12
1.4
NW
12
1
WNW
11
Wave Graph
Metric surfscale
Energy kJ
465
459
454
454
318
306
299
299
299
367
367
302
302
299
287
269
220
341
549
256
Wind (km/h)
15
WSW
15
W
15
NW
10
NNW
10
NNW
10
NNW
5
NNW
10
SW
15
WSW
10
W
10
NNW
10
NNW
5
NNE
5
NNE
0
NNE
10
SW
10
SSW
10
WSW
5
NNW
5
N
Wind State
cross-on
cross
cross-off
off
off
off
off
cross-on
cross-on
cross
cross-off
off
glassy
glassy
glassy
cross-on
cross-on
cross-on
glassy
glassy
High Tide
6:49PM1.84m
8:44AM1.58m
7:32PM1.90m
8:59AM1.66m
8:12PM1.93m
Low Tide
1:03PM1.21m
2:02AM0.41m
1:42PM1.09m
2:29AM0.39m
2:18PM0.96m
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
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
6:48
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunset">Sunset</span>
6:58
6:57
6:54
 mm
Temp °C
23
24
17
15
15
14
16
24
26
26
19
19
20
20
22
29
29
28
25
25
Feels °C
22
22
15
14
14
13
15
23
25
25
18
18
19
19
21
27
28
27
25
24
  • 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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