The Heads Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Garden Route, South Africa)

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Spot Information

The Heads Surf Guide

The Heads in Garden Route is a reasonably exposed beach break that has reasonably consistent surf, although summer tends to be mostly flat. Offshore winds are from the north. Tends to receive distant groundswells and the ideal swell direction is from the south southeast. The beach break provides left and right handers. When it's working here, it can get crowded. Hazards include and rips.

The Heads Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Sandbar	2	fairly consistent	19.2°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing The Heads:

The best conditions reported for surf at The Heads occur when a South-southeast swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the North.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

What's the best time of year to surf The Heads (for consistent clean waves)?

juneBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing The Heads with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Winter and most often the month of June. Clean surfable waves are typically found 17% of the time in June while 36% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 47% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

17%

Surfable waves that hold up well for longer rides in prevailing cross-offshore, offshore or light wind conditions.

blown out

36%

Surfable sized waves that are of poorer quality due to prevailing onshore, cross-onshore or windy conditions (may be preferable for kitesurfing).

too small

47%

Waves usually considered too small for good surf. Some wave-magnet breaks may still work though if conditions are right (on occasion).

Explore The Heads Location Map

Interactive The Heads surf break location map. View information about nearby surf breaks, their wave consistency and rating compared to other spots in the region. Current swell conditions from local buoys are shown along with live wind speed and direction from nearby weather stations. Click icons on the map for more detail. The nearest passenger airport to The Heads is George Airport (GRJ) in South Africa, which is 63 km (39 miles) away (directly). The second closest airport to The Heads is Oudtshoorn Airport (DUH), also in South Africa, 96 km (60 miles) away.

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

Please note that some surf spot locations are approximate to protect their exact location while others are not shown at close zoom level.

The Heads Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Wednesday, 6 May 2026, 01:47 Local Time

m, °C	Tue	Wednesday 06
ft, °F	11PM	2AM	5AM	8AM
Wave (m)	S	S	S	SSE
Period (s)	11	11	11	11
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	on	on	on	on

What does The Heads look like?

Latest photos from The Heads. Upload your own or view all photos on the gallery page.

Credit: –

Tides at The Heads

Current tide and informaton

For Knysna, 4 km from The Heads.

Next High Water: 05:39am | 1.45m

Next Low Water: 11:53am | 0.39m

NEXT	IS AT (local time)	remaining
high tide
low tide

The Heads Sea Temperature

The The Heads water temperature is reasonably warm (19.2 °C) but the air temperature will feel a few degrees cooler (14.0 °C). A good quality spring wetsuit would be ideal.

Today, many surfers would wear a spring wetsuit.

Current Temp*: 19.2°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite