- Forecast
- Maps
- Live
- Weather State
- Spot Information
El Capitan Surf Forecast
/ CAL – Santa Barbara (36 breaks) / California (404 breaks) /
Surf Forecasts:
El Capitan surfForecast / CAL – Santa Barbara / USA
48hr Weather and Surf, issued 4 pm Wednesday 27 May 2026 PDTForecast 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
14.8° C
(Which is normal for this time of year)How big are the waves at El Capitan today (27 May):
- Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (27 May, local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 13s period with WNW swell.
- Evening surf: Evening surf (27 May, local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 12s period with WNW swell.
The current surf forecast for El Capitan at 9PM is: 1.5m 12s primary swell from a West-northwest direction and 0.7m 14s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction, 1.2m 12s secondary swell from a West-northwest direction (forecast issued at 04:00pm May 27). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-offshore and the swell rating is 3.
| Time (PDT) & Date | Wave Height | Wave Period |
|---|---|---|
| Morning (27 May) | - | - |
| Afternoon (27 May) | 5ft (1.5m) | 13s |
| Evening (27 May) | 5ft (1.5m) | 12s |
Table - waves today at El Capitan. (Swell directed towards the surf break)
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Short Range ForecastLight rain (total 2mm), mostly falling on Wed afternoon. Warm (max 24°C on Fri afternoon, min 11°C on Wed night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed 27 | Thursday 28 | Friday 29 | Sat 30 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 | 2 AM | 5 AM | 8 AM | 11 AM | |
Swell Height Map |    |    |    |    | ||||||||||||||||||||
WNW 13 | WNW 13 | WNW 12 | WNW 12 | WNW 12 | WNW 12 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 20 | WNW 18 | WNW 18 | NW 18 | WNW 16 | WNW 16 | WNW 16 | WNW 16 | WNW 16 | WNW 15 | WNW 15 | WNW 14 | WNW 14 | WNW 14 | WNW 13 | |
757 | 722 | 634 | 539 | 530 | 454 | 331 | 270 | 265 | 253 | 413 | 553 | 455 | 475 | 545 | 532 | 525 | 499 | 382 | 372 | 437 | 437 | 321 | 229 | |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
cross-on | cross | cross-off | off | glassy | cross-off | cross-on | cross-on | on | glassy | cross | glassy | glassy | glassy | glassy | cross-on | cross | cross-off | cross-off | off | off | off | glassy | cross-on | |
High Tide | 7:57PM2.07m | 9:27AM1.46m | 8:25PM2.11m | 10:14AM1.46m | 8:53PM2.13m | 10:59AM1.46m | ||||||||||||||||||
Low Tide | 1:32PM0.94m | 3:07AM0.39m | 2:05PM1.03m | 3:42AM0.29m | 2:37PM1.10m | 4:17AM0.24m | ||||||||||||||||||
 | |  |  | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | — | — | — | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5:48 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5:48 | — | — |
 | — | — | 8:04 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8:04 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8:05 | — | — | — | — | 8:05 |
1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Temp °C | 16 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 15 | 21 | 24 | 21 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 24 |
13 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 22 | |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 13 | SSW 14 | WNW 12 | WNW 12 | WNW 12 | WNW 12 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 10 | WNW 10 | WNW 10 | WNW 16 | WNW 16 | WNW 16 | WNW 16 | WNW 16 | WNW 15 | WNW 15 | WNW 14 | WNW 14 | WNW 14 | WNW 13 |
 kJ | 757 | 229 | 634 | 539 | 530 | 454 | 331 | 270 | 265 | 202 | 195 | 167 | 163 | 475 | 545 | 532 | 525 | 499 | 382 | 372 | 437 | 437 | 321 | 229 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 14 | S 10 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | WNW 18 | WNW 18 | NW 18 | WNW 10 | WNW 10 | WNW 10 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 |
| kJ | 229 | 2 | 175 | 173 | 173 | 170 | 166 | 143 | 143 | 143 | 413 | 553 | 455 | 163 | 131 | 128 | 147 | 107 | 107 | 105 | 105 | 107 | 110 | 111 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 10 | S 10 | S 10 | S 10 | NW 23 | WNW 22 | NW 21 | WNW 21 | WNW 20 | WNW 20 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | S 21 | S 21 | S 26 | SW 19 | SSW 19 | SSW 19 | SSW 19 | SSW 19 |
| kJ | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 47 | 117 | 175 | 256 | 253 | 141 | 141 | 141 | 102 | 143 | 145 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 15 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 34 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 12 | WNW 13 | WNW 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | W 10 | WNW 5 | WNW 5 | WNW 6 | WNW 6 | WNW 6 | WNW 7 | WNW 7 |
| kJ | 447 | 722 | 425 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 188 | 91 | 120 | 114 | 119 | 126 | 140 | 144 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 1584 | 329 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 166 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 326 | 17 | 51 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Santa Barbara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
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.
Nearest