El Capitan Surf Break

Lat Long: 34.46° N 120.02° W

El Capitan 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Issued: 10 pm 11 Aug 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Today's El Capitan sea temperature is
21.2° C
4.0° 

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 (12 Aug):

  • Morning surf: Morning surf (12 Aug, local time) - 1.5ft (0.5m), 17s period with SW swell.
  • Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (12 Aug, local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 16s period with SSW swell.
  • Evening surf: Evening surf (12 Aug, local time) - 2ft (0.6m), 16s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for El Capitan at 6AM is: 0.5m 18s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.3m 12s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction, 0.4m 8s secondary swell from a West-northwest direction (forecast issued at 10:00pm August 11). The wind direction is predicted to be glassy.

Time (PDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (12 Aug)1.5ft (0.5m)17s
Afternoon (12 Aug)2ft (0.6m)16s
Evening (12 Aug)2ft (0.6m)16s

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


Short Range Forecast

Mostly dry. Warm (max 25°C on Wed afternoon, min 15°C on Wed night). Wind will be generally light.

Tue
11
Wednesday
12
Thursday
13
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
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
2
1
2
1
0
1
2
2
Swell
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Wave
Height (m)
Direction
Period (s)
0.6
SW
18
0.6
SW
18
0.6
SSW
18
0.5
SW
18
0.5
SW
17
0.5
SW
16
0.6
SSW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SSW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SW
16
0.7
SW
16
0.7
SW
15
0.7
SW
15
Wave Graph
Metric surfscale
Energy kJ
249
249
207
152
148
133
175
208
206
206
206
169
201
201
196
245
242
242
Wind (km/h)
5
W
0
NNW
5
S
0
ESE
5
SSE
10
S
10
SSW
10
SW
5
W
0
SSW
5
SSE
5
SE
5
S
10
S
10
SSW
10
SW
5
WSW
5
NNW
Wind State
cross
glassy
glassy
glassy
cross-on
on
cross-on
cross-on
cross
glassy
glassy
glassy
glassy
on
on
cross-on
glassy
off
High Tide
9:11PM2.40m
10:48AM1.70m
9:59PM2.34m
11:22AM1.78m
10:46PM2.20m
Low Tide
4:20AM-0.04m
3:51PM0.87m
4:57AM0.05m
4:43PM0.80m
clear
clear
part cloud
cloud
clear
part cloud
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunrise">Sunrise</span>
6:18
6:18
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunset">Sunset</span>
7:51
7:50
 mm
Temp °C
20
19
19
18
19
23
25
23
17
16
16
15
17
21
22
21
18
16
Feels °C
21
21
20
20
20
23
25
23
18
17
17
16
18
21
22
21
19
16
  • 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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