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Surf Forecasts:

El Capitan surfForecast / CAL – Santa Barbara / USA

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 3 pm Wednesday 14 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 1.9°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 6PM is: 0.8m 18s primary swell from a West-northwest direction and 1.0m 12s secondary swell from a West-northwest direction (forecast issued at 03:00pm January 14). The wind direction is predicted to be glassy and the swell rating is 3.

Time (PST) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (14 Jan)--
Afternoon (14 Jan)3.5ft (1.0m)12s
Evening (14 Jan)3.5ft (1.0m)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
Wednesday
14
Thursday
15
Friday
16
Saturday
17
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)
1
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1
WNW
0.7
WNW
0.9
WNW
1
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.5
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.4
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.2
WNW
1.1
W
1
W
1
W
0.9
WNW
0.9
WNW
0.8
WNW
Period(s) (?)121818171616151514141414131313131313131312121212
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)33433354062510511025986886850742742731539531531539531523421339319252248192
Wind
(km/h)
10
W
5
SW
5
NE
5
NE
10
NNE
5
NE
5
NNE
0
NNW
5
WSW
5
SW
5
NNW
5
N
5
N
5
N
5
NNE
0
SSE
5
SW
5
WSW
5
NNW
5
N
5
N
5
NNE
5
NNE
0
SE
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
crossglassglasscross-
off		cross-
off		glasscross-
off		glassglassglassoffglassglassoffoffglassglasscrossoffoffglassglasscross-
off		glass
High Tide
/ height (m)
8:50PM
1.39
6:51AM
2.07
9:20PM
1.42
7:29AM
2.14
9:48PM
1.45
8:06AM
2.20
Low Tide
/ height (m)
1:55PM
0.36
12:27AM
1.22
2:29PM
0.26
1:10AM
1.20
3:02PM
0.19
1:48AM
1.17
Wednesday
14
Thursday
15
Friday
16
Saturday
17
Sunrise-------7:05-------7:05-------7:05
Sunset-5:10-------5:12-------5:13------
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
cloud
Rain (mm)
------------------------
Temp. °C262321202019182325211918181717212321181817171720
Feels °C (?)242320181716152122191616161414202120161615151419
  • 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

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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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