The Heads 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Lat Long: 34.07° S 23.06° E

Issued: 1 am 16 Sep 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in hr min

Today's The Heads sea temperature is

15.3°C

The Heads 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 The Heads today (16 Sep):

Morning surf: Morning surf (16 Sep, local time) - 8ft (2.5m), 14s period with SW swell.
Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (16 Sep, local time) - 7.5ft (2.3m), 14s period with SW swell.
Evening surf: Evening surf (16 Sep, local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 13s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for The Heads at 9AM is: 2.5m 14s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.8m 10s secondary swell from a East direction (forecast issued at 01:00am September 16). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-shore.

Time (SAST) & Date	Wave Height	Wave Period
Morning (16 Sep)	8ft (2.5m)	14s
Afternoon (16 Sep)	7.5ft (2.3m)	14s
Evening (16 Sep)	5ft (1.5m)	13s

Table - waves today at The Heads. (Swell directed towards the surf break)

	Short Range Forecast Heavy rain (total 21mm), heaviest during Wed morning. Very mild (max 16°C on Thu afternoon, min 12°C on Wed morning). Wind will be generally light.
	Wednesday 16								Thursday 17								Friday 18
	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	0	2	3	4	3	2	3	3	2	2	2	0	0	1	2	1	1	1	0	0	1	2	2
Swell Height Map See all maps
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 11	SW 14	SW 14	SW 14	SW 14	SW 14	SW 13	SW 13	SSW 13	SSW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 11	SW 11	SW 11	ESE 8	SW 13
Wave Graph
kJ	821	3154	2680	2458	2125	1991	767	1623	1920	2240	1558	1381	1220	1025	928	865	792	792	778	739	713	724	821	796
Wind (km/h)	WSW	SSW	WSW	WSW	WSW	ESE	E	E	E	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	E	E	ESE	E	ESE	E	E
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	cross	cross-on	cross-on	cross	glassy	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross-on	cross-on	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross
High Tide			5:58AM1.45m				6:11PM1.47m				6:25AM1.31m				6:38PM1.31m				6:56AM1.16m				7:13PM1.15m
Low Tide	11:54PM0.31m				11:57AM0.38m				00:21AM0.45m				12:24PM0.53m				00:52AM0.59m				12:56PM0.68m


	—	6:26	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:24	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:22	—	—	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	—	6:19	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:20	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:20	—	—
mm	—	4	6	3	2	1	—	1	1	3	1	—	—	—	1	1	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Temp °C	15	13	12	12	13	14	14	13	12	13	14	14	16	15	14	13	14	14	15	15	14	15	15	14
Feels °C	12	9	9	10	12	12	12	11	9	10	10	9	11	10	10	10	9	10	10	9	9	11	11	11
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 15	E 11	SW 14	SW 14	SW 14	SW 14	SW 13	SW 13	SSW 13	SSW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 11	SW 11	SW 11	SW 11	SW 13
kJ	763	143	2680	2458	2125	1991	767	1623	1920	2240	1558	1381	1220	1025	928	865	792	792	778	739	713	713	652	796
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	E 11	S 12	E 10	E 10	E 10	E 10	SW 9	E 10	E 10	E 10	—	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 10	E 11	—	—	—	—	—	—	SSW 18
kJ	188	3	141	106	106	106	255	76	75	75	—	56	57	56	56	78	35	—	—	—	—	—	—	30
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	S 12	S 11	—	—	—	—	S 7	SW 8	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
kJ	3	3	—	—	—	—	106	135	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 11	SW 14	—	—	—	—	—	SSE 7	—	ESE 6	SE 7	SE 7	SE 7	SE 7	SE 6	ESE 6	ESE 6	ESE 6	ESE 7	ESE 7	ESE 7	ESE 7	ESE 8	E 8
kJ	821	3154	—	—	—	—	—	132	—	138	289	347	292	255	261	286	271	325	408	498	571	724	821	736
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	The Wreck Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	Buffalo Bay Wildside Garden Route	Buffalo Bay Wildside Garden Route	Buffalo Bay Wildside Garden Route	Buffalo Bay Wildside Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	The Point (Elands Bay) West Coast	Alkantstrand KZN North	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Dumps Cape Town	Milnerton Cape Town	Guinjata Bay Inhambane	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route
Rating (10 max)	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	1	4	4
Distance (km)	7	30	7	7	0	8	8	8	8	26	26	26	483	1038	26	26	26	26	26	423	423	1640	26	26
Best forecast wave conditions in Garden Route	Brak River	The Wreck	Brak River	Brak River	Goukamma River Mouth	Gerickes Point	Fish Boma	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point			Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point				Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point
Rating (10 max)	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4			4	4	4	4	4				4	4
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa	Brak River Garden Route	The Wreck Garden Route	Dolphin Point Overberg	Brak River Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Fish Boma Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	The Point (Elands Bay) West Coast	Alkantstrand KZN North	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Cape St Martin West Coast	Cape St Martin West Coast		Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route
Rating (10 max)	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	3		4	4
Header Global	Saint Leu Reunion	Saint Leu Reunion	Etang-Sale Reunion	Etang-Sale Reunion	Etang-Sale Reunion	Aganoa Beach Samoa	Angourie Point Australia	Haapiti French Polynesia	Papatowai New Zealand	Haapiti French Polynesia	Papatowai New Zealand	Nine Mile New Zealand	Charleston New Zealand	Otago Peninsula - Allans Beach New Zealand	Weld Road New Zealand	Graveyards New Zealand	Otago Peninsula - Allans Beach New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Fox River New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Dinner Plates New Zealand	Dinner Plates New Zealand	El Huerto Spain
Rating (10 max)	6	6	5	5	5	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	5	4	8	5	7	6	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)

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The Heads 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

How big are the waves at The Heads today (16 Sep):

Short Range Forecast

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