Snow-ForecastSnow-ForecastMountain-ForecastMountain-ForecastTide-ForecastTide-ForecastWeather-ForecastWeather-Forecast
Search by country, region, or break
Search by country, region, or break

Quick Links

Surf Forecasts:

El Capitan surfForecast / CAL – Santa Barbara / USA

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 9 pm Thursday 12 Feb 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
15.9° C
 (Which is 2.2°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 1AM is: 1.0m 10s primary swell from a West-northwest direction and 0.4m 16s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction (forecast issued at 09:00pm February 12). An open ocean swell of 0.7m 5s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be offshore and the swell rating is 2.

Time (PST) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (13 Feb)4.5ft (1.4m)10s
Afternoon (13 Feb)3.5ft (1.1m)18s
Evening (13 Feb)4.5ft (1.4m)17s

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

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent 
12 DaysHourly
Print Table
Thu
12
Friday
13
Saturday
14
Sunday
15
7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM
Rating
(10 max)
2
2
2
2
2
3
2
2
3
4
4
3
3
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
0
0
0
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1
WNW
1.1
WNW
1
WNW
1.2
WNW
0.7
WNW
1.4
WNW
1
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.3
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.7
WNW
1.7
WNW
1.7
WNW
1.6
WNW
1.6
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.3
WNW
1.3
WNW
1.3
WNW
1
WNW
1
WNW
Period(s) (?)101010101510191718171616161615151414141414141316
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)23627622227920738675880710211265121414691433139711621102899886886732702569334525
Wind
(km/h)
15
NNW
10
N
10
N
10
N
10
NNE
5
NNW
10
W
10
W
10
NNW
10
N
5
NNE
10
E
15
E
20
SE
15
SSE
10
SSE
5
SSE
10
SSE
10
S
10
SSE
10
SE
20
SE
20
SE
20
SE
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
cross-
off		offoffoffcross-
off		glasscrosscrossoffoffcross-
off		crosscrosscross-
on		cross-
on		oncross-
on		cross-
on		ononcross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on
High Tide
/ height (m)
8:35PM
1.42
6:32AM
2.00
8:53PM
1.46
7:12AM
2.09
9:12PM
1.51
7:49AM
2.16
Low Tide
/ height (m)
12:19AM
1.25
2:06PM
0.30
1:02AM
1.18
2:35PM
0.23
1:39AM
1.09
3:03PM
0.19
Thu
12
Friday
13
Saturday
14
Sunday
15
Sunrise----6:47-------6:46-------6:45---
Sunset-------5:40-------5:42-------5:43
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
cloud
light rain
cloud
rain showers
part cloud
part cloud
Rain (mm)
-------------------1-1--
Temp. °C111212111117212114131413121616151314141312151615
Feels °C (?)81010881518181110111081213141313131110121111
  • 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

Latest Updates

Save Up to 20% on SIXT Rental Cars Worldwide – Exclusive Surf-Forecast Deal
travel
Surf Forecast

Save Up to 20% on SIXT Rental Cars Worldwide – Exclusive Surf-Forecast Deal

Surf road trips just got even better. Surf-Forecast users can now save up to 20% on SIXT rental cars worldwide during the promotional period until March 31, 2026. Whether you’re planning a legendary California road trip, chasing waves along Europe’s coasts, or exploring remote surf destinations, this exclusive SIXT offer helps you travel smarter and cheaper. And if you want some inspiration on where to go, check out our article Five Iconic Surf Road Trips. Click and get your SIXT discount

The World’s Most Inconsistent Waves
Ben Mondy

The World’s Most Inconsistent Waves

Huntington, Dribbleton, Virginia, Holland and the Superbank! We recently had a look at the world’s most consistent waves. This was based on the combination of swells and wind directed at 7,000 surf spots, as compiled from our data since 2006. Those stats, represented in easy-to-read graphics, are located under each wave’s spot guides, with historical swell and wind breakdowns available by month, season, and year. There is also an offshore filter, which shows how often the swells come with clean

Read more

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.

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

Nearest locationNearest
Nearest locationNearest
Nearest locationNearest