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Surf Forecasts:

El Capitan surfForecast / CAL – Santa Barbara / USA

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 3 pm Friday 30 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
15.8° C
 (Which is 2.1°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 7PM is: 1.6m 13s primary swell from a West-northwest direction and 0.4m 15s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction (forecast issued at 03:00pm January 30). The wind direction is predicted to be glassy and the swell rating is 3.

Time (PST) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (30 Jan)--
Afternoon (30 Jan)5.5ft (1.7m)13s
Evening (30 Jan)5ft (1.5m)13s

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

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent 
12 DaysHourly
Print Table
Friday
30
Saturday
31
Sunday
01
Monday
02
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)
2
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
5
5
5
4
4
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1.7
WNW
1.7
WNW
1.6
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.3
WNW
1.3
WNW
0.9
WNW
1
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.8
WNW
2.5
WNW
2.5
WNW
3
WNW
3
WNW
3
WNW
2.5
WNW
Period(s) (?)141313131312121212121218171616161515181717161616
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)104396084173258554954054053150348654060370591710559021367375940824133428639053549
Wind
(km/h)
10
WSW
5
WSW
5
NNE
5
NE
5
NNE
5
NNE
10
NE
5
SE
5
SSW
5
WSW
5
NNW
10
N
10
NNE
5
NNW
10
N
0
NNW
5
WSW
5
W
10
NNW
10
N
10
NNE
5
NNE
5
NNE
0
WNW
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
cross-
on		glassglasscross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		glasscross-
on		crosscross-
off		offoffoffoffglasscross-
on		crossoffoffcross-
off		offglassglass
High Tide
/ height (m)
9:08PM
1.54
7:48AM
2.42
9:43PM
1.60
8:36AM
2.42
10:18PM
1.66
9:21AM
2.34
Low Tide
/ height (m)
2:28PM
-0.04
1:31AM
1.07
3:10PM
-0.07
2:23AM
0.99
3:48PM
-0.04
3:12AM
0.92
Friday
30
Saturday
31
Sunday
01
Monday
02
Sunrise------6:58-------6:58-------6:56-
Sunset-5:27-------5:28-------5:29------
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
cloud
part cloud
clear
clear
Rain (mm)
------------------------
Temp. °C262421191919182325241918181717222423171616151419
Feels °C (?)232220171717152122221716151514212222151414131218
  • Map Icons:
  • Break
  • Live Wave Height (m)
  • Live Wind Speed (km/h)
  • Surf Rating (10 Max)
  • Ocean Swells (m)
  • Wind Speed (km/h)
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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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