El Capitan 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Lat Long: 34.46° N 120.02° W

Issued: 4 am 20 Jul 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in hr min

Today's El Capitan sea temperature is

18.9° C

El Capitan surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.

Surf Forecasts:

How big are the waves at El Capitan today (20 Jul):

Morning surf: Morning surf (20 Jul, local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 12s period with S swell.
Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (20 Jul, local time) - 2.5ft (0.7m), 16s period with SW swell.
Evening surf: Evening surf (20 Jul, local time) - 2.5ft (0.7m), 16s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for El Capitan at 9AM is: 1.0m 12s primary swell from a South direction and 0.7m 16s secondary swell from a Southwest direction (forecast issued at 04:00am July 20). The wind direction is predicted to be onshore.

Time (PDT) & Date	Wave Height	Wave Period
Morning (20 Jul)	3.5ft (1.0m)	12s
Afternoon (20 Jul)	2.5ft (0.7m)	16s
Evening (20 Jul)	2.5ft (0.7m)	16s

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

	Short Range Forecast Mostly dry. Warm (max 33°C on Wed afternoon, min 20°C on Wed night). Wind will be generally light.
	Monday 20								Tuesday 21								Wednesday 22
	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	2 PM	5 PM	8 PM	11 PM
Rating (10 max)	2	2	2	1	0	1	2	2	2	2	3	2	0	0	1	2	2	2	2	1	0	1	1	2
Swell Height Map See all maps
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s)	S 12	S 12	S 12	SW 16	SW 16	SW 16	SW 16	SSW 16	SW 16	SSW 16	SSW 13	SSW 14	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 14	SSW 14	SSW 14	SSW 14	SSW 14
Wave Graph
kJ	285	278	278	255	248	255	255	229	261	339	372	542	283	283	353	358	362	353	339	325	321	325	325	394
Wind (km/h)	NNE	NNW	SSE	SSW	WSW	W	NNW	N	N	NW	SSW	SW	WSW	W	NW	NW	NNW	NNW	NW	W	W	WNW	NW	NW
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	glassy	glassy	glassy	on	cross-on	cross	cross-off	glassy	glassy	glassy	glassy	cross-on	cross-on	cross	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross	cross	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off
High Tide		2:46AM1.43m				3:41PM1.86m				4:23AM1.26m				4:28PM1.87m					6:27AM1.22m				5:18PM1.89m
Low Tide				8:42AM0.78m				10:47PM0.83m				9:21AM0.96m					00:08AM0.71m			10:09AM1.11m


	—	6:01	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:01	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:03	—	—	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	—	—	8:09	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	8:09	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	8:08	—
mm	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Temp °C	21	20	23	28	28	31	27	23	21	21	22	28	28	31	27	24	23	21	25	31	33	32	26	22
Feels °C	20	19	22	27	26	28	24	21	20	20	21	26	26	28	24	21	20	18	23	29	30	30	25	21
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	S 12	S 12	S 12	S 11	S 11	S 11	S 11	S 11	SW 16	SSW 16	SSW 13	SSW 14	SSW 12	SSW 12	SSW 11	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 14	SSW 14	SSW 14	SSW 14	SSW 14
kJ	285	278	278	255	246	242	146	144	261	339	372	542	250	237	198	358	362	353	339	325	321	325	325	394
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 16	SW 15	SW 16	SW 16	SW 16	SW 16	SW 16	SSW 13	S 10	S 10	SSW 17	SSW 17	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 10	SSW 9	SSW 9	SSW 8	SSW 8	SSW 8	SSW 8	S 14	S 13
kJ	208	239	251	251	248	255	255	154	96	98	249	166	283	283	353	94	84	77	53	50	45	32	136	130
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	WNW 15	WNW 15	WNW 4	WNW 9	WNW 14	WNW 14	WNW 14	SSW 16	SSW 13	SSW 13	WNW 14	WNW 13	WNW 13	WNW 13	WNW 13	WNW 13	WNW 13	WNW 13	SSE 12	WNW 13	SSE 15	S 15	SSW 7	SSW 7
kJ	126	121	13	44	81	81	81	229	131	147	61	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	31	33	77	109	21	20
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	WNW 5	WNW 4	NW 5	WNW 5	WNW 8	WNW 4	WNW 4	WNW 4	WNW 4	WNW 8	WNW 8	WNW 8	WNW 3	WNW 4	WNW 4	NW 4	NW 4	NW 4	NW 4	WNW 4	WNW 4	WNW 5	NW 5	NW 4
kJ	27	17	33	15	41	28	25	15	14	39	38	26	8	34	28	24	18	22	24	25	50	59	49	40
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	Hendry's Beach CAL - Santa Barbara	Campus Point CAL - Santa Barbara	Tajiguas CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	Cojo CAL - Santa Barbara	Campus Point CAL - Santa Barbara	Point Loma CAL - San Diego County	Sandspit CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara	Campus Point CAL - Santa Barbara	Point Mugu CAL - Ventura	Rincon - Rivermouth CAL - Ventura	Sandspit CAL - Santa Barbara	El Capitan CAL - Santa Barbara
Rating (10 max)	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	1	2	1	1	2
Distance (km)	0	0	0	26	17	9	0	0	0	0	0	38	17	326	31	0	0	0	0	17	93	51	31	0
Best forecast wave conditions in Santa Barbara	Government Point	Government Point	Government Point	Hendry's Beach	Campus Point	Campus Point	El Capitan	St Augustine Point	Government Point	Government Point	Government Point	Government Point	Campus Point		Sandspit	El Capitan	El Capitan	St Augustine Point	Cojo	Campus Point			Sandspit	El Capitan
Rating (10 max)	3	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	2		1	2	2	2	2	1			1	2
Best forecast wave conditions in United States	Ghost Tree CAL - Monterey	Ghost Tree CAL - Monterey	Tijuana Sloughs Baja Norte	Kahuku Ranch HAW - Big Island	Gale Point CAL - Humboldt	Super Tubes CAL - Ventura	Ghost Tree CAL - Monterey	Boners CAL - San Luis Obispo	Boners CAL - San Luis Obispo	Boners CAL - San Luis Obispo	Magics HAW - Big Island	Boners CAL - San Luis Obispo	Gale Point CAL - Humboldt	The Patch CAL - Marin County	Ghost Tree CAL - Monterey	Ghost Tree CAL - Monterey	Boners CAL - San Luis Obispo	Magics HAW - Big Island	Boners CAL - San Luis Obispo	Magics HAW - Big Island	Super Tubes CAL - Ventura	Outside Shoals Maryland	Elbow Ledge Rhode Island	Elbow Ledge Rhode Island
Rating (10 max)	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	3	3
Header Global	Ning Nong Point and Reef New Zealand	Last Chance New Zealand	Last Chance New Zealand	Diners Beach New Zealand	Diners Beach New Zealand	Asu Indonesia	Asu Indonesia	Aganoa Beach Samoa	Aganoa Beach Samoa	Bruces Beauties South Africa	Chameau Mauritius	Sea Vista South Africa	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Gas Bay Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cow Bombie Australia	Papa Tangaroa Chile	Cathedral Rock Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cyclops Australia	Cyclops Australia
Rating (10 max)	6	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	6	6	5	5	6	8	5	5	5	5

Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)
Wind Speed (km/h)

Latest Updates

Ben Mondy

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El Capitan 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

How big are the waves at El Capitan today (20 Jul):

Short Range Forecast

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