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Surf Forecasts:

The Heads surfForecast / Garden Route / South Africa

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 1 pm Wednesday 18 Mar 2026 SAST
Forecast update in hr  min  s Forecast update imminent
The Heads surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.
Today's The Heads sea temperature is
21.9° C
 (Which is 1.1°C warmer than normal for this time of year)

How big are the waves at The Heads today?

The current surf forecast for The Heads at 5PM is: 1.2m 10s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.7m 14s secondary swell from a South-southwest direction, 1.4m 7s secondary swell from a South-southeast direction (forecast issued at 01:00pm March 18). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-onshore.

Time (SAST) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (18 Mar)4ft (1.2m)11s
Afternoon (18 Mar)4ft (1.2m)10s
Evening (18 Mar)4.5ft (1.4m)13s

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

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent 
16 DaysHourly
Print Table
Wednesday
18
Thursday
19
Friday
20
Saturday
21
11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM
Rating
(10 max)
1
0
0
1
1
1
3
4
3
2
4
2
3
4
1
3
2
1
1
2
3
3
3
3
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1.2
SW
1.1
SW
1.2
SW
1.4
SSW
1.5
SSW
1.6
SSW
1.7
SSW
2
SSW
2.1
SSW
2
SSW
2
SSW
2
SSW
1.9
SSW
1.8
SSW
1.7
SSW
2.5
SW
2.5
SW
2.5
SW
3
SW
3
SSW
3
SSW
2.5
SSW
2.4
SSW
2.4
SSW
Period(s) (?)101010131313131414141414141313131311121212111010
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)3162703106497117999951428161014491491151313571110908201321211744219623812191180211751198
Wind
(km/h)
5
SE
10
SE
20
ESE
15
ESE
20
E
15
E
15
ENE
10
ENE
10
E
15
SE
5
NW
20
W
10
W
5
NNW
20
WSW
15
W
15
WSW
15
SW
20
WSW
15
WSW
10
W
10
W
5
W
0
SW
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		crosscrosscrosscross-
off		cross-
off		crosscross-
on		cross-
off		crosscrossglasscrosscrosscrosscross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		crosscrosscrossglass
High Tide
/ height (m)
3:33PM
1.79
3:48AM
1.97
4:04PM
1.83
4:19AM
2.01
4:36PM
1.83
4:52AM
1.99
Low Tide
/ height (m)
9:30AM
0.03
9:36PM
-0.02
10:01AM
-0.05
10:06PM
-0.05
10:33AM
-0.07
10:38PM
-0.04
Wednesday
18
Thursday
19
Friday
20
Saturday
21
Sunrise-------6:28-------6:30-------6:31
Sunset--6:42-------6:40-------6:38-----
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
clear
part cloud
cloud
rain showers
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
light rain
rain showers
rain showers
part cloud
part cloud
rain showers
rain showers
rain showers
part cloud
part cloud
Rain (mm)
----------1---111--111--
Temp. °C222322202020202128292321202019192020201817171718
Feels °C (?)242422202020202229292520212218191918181716171719
  • 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 The Heads 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 The Heads at:
surf-forecast.com

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