El Capitan Surf Break

Lat Long: 34.46° N 120.02° W

El Capitan 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Issued: 10 am 08 Sep 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Today's El Capitan sea temperature is
20.7°C
3.2° 

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 (08 Sep):

  • Morning surf: Morning surf (08 Sep, local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 11s period with S swell.
  • Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (08 Sep, local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 13s period with S swell.
  • Evening surf: Evening surf (08 Sep, local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 10s period with S swell.

The current surf forecast for El Capitan at 7PM is: 0.9m 10s primary swell from a South-southwest direction and 0.5m 13s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction (forecast issued at 10:00am September 08). An open ocean swell of 0.8m 4s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be cross-offshore and the swell rating is 2.

Time (PDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (08 Sep)3.5ft (1.0m)11s
Afternoon (08 Sep)3.5ft (1.1m)13s
Evening (08 Sep)3ft (0.9m)10s

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


Short Range Forecast

Mostly dry. Warm (max 36°C on Wed afternoon, min 22°C on Thu night). Wind will be generally light.

Tuesday
8
Wednesday
9
Thursday
10
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
2 PM
5 PM
8 PM
11 PM
Rating
(10 max)
2
0
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
0
0
0
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
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)
1.1
S
11
1
S
11
1.1
S
13
1.1
S
10
0.9
S
10
0.9
SSW
10
0.8
SSW
10
0.5
SSW
13
0.5
SW
19
0.5
SW
19
0.6
SW
16
0.6
SW
17
0.6
SW
17
0.7
SW
17
0.7
SW
17
0.8
SW
17
0.9
SW
17
0.9
SW
17
0.9
SW
17
0.9
SW
16
0.9
SW
16
0.9
SW
16
Wave Graph
Metric surfscale
Energy kJ
297
242
414
265
171
170
131
98
181
181
219
232
241
302
298
346
419
419
400
367
358
358
Wind (km/h)
5
NNW
10
SW
10
SW
10
NW
10
NW
10
NNW
5
N
5
NNW
5
NNW
10
WSW
10
WSW
15
W
15
NW
15
NNW
15
NNW
10
NNW
5
NNW
5
WSW
10
W
20
NW
15
NW
15
NW
Wind State
glassy
cross-on
cross-on
cross-off
cross-off
off
off
glassy
cross-off
cross-on
cross-on
cross
cross-off
cross-off
cross-off
cross-off
glassy
cross-on
cross
cross-off
cross-off
cross-off
High Tide
9:08AM1.68m
8:16PM2.21m
9:37AM1.78m
9:05PM2.18m
10:06AM1.87m
9:51PM2.09m
Low Tide
2:12PM0.94m
3:12AM0.13m
3:01PM0.79m
3:47AM0.20m
3:48PM0.66m
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
cloud
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
part cloud
part cloud
clear
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunrise">Sunrise</span>
6:37
6:37
6:39
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunset">Sunset</span>
7:16
7:15
7:14
 mm
Temp °C
27
32
30
33
29
27
27
26
29
35
34
36
30
27
27
28
29
32
34
33
26
24
Feels °C
27
31
28
30
26
24
26
26
29
34
33
34
27
24
24
26
28
31
33
29
23
22
  • 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.


Nearest locationNearest