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Surf Forecasts:

The Heads surfForecast / Garden Route / South Africa

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 7 pm Tuesday 20 Jan 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
22.2° C
 (Which is normal for this time of year)

How big are the waves at The Heads today?

The current surf forecast for The Heads at 1AM is: 1.6m 13s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.7m 6s secondary swell from a South direction, 1.1m 5s secondary swell from a East direction (forecast issued at 07:00pm January 20). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-offshore.

Time (SAST) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (21 Jan)5ft (1.6m)12s
Afternoon (21 Jan)5ft (1.6m)12s
Evening (21 Jan)5ft (1.6m)12s

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

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent 
12 DaysHourly
Print Table
Tuesday
20
Wednesday
21
Thursday
22
Friday
23
5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM
Rating
(10 max)
0
1
1
3
3
3
1
0
0
2
3
3
3
2
0
0
0
2
1
2
!
!
!
!
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1.6
SSW
1.3
SW
1.3
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.9
SSW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.5
SSW
1.6
SSW
1.6
SSW
1.7
SSW
1.7
SSW
1.8
SSW
2
SSW
2.3
SSW
3
SSW
3.5
SSW
3.5
SSW
3.5
SSW
3.5
SSW
Period(s) (?)101011131312121212121212121212131315151514141414
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)500391406816803754101669469469469464773475987191410121787227237534346434642274405
Wind
(km/h)
20
ESE
20
ESE
20
E
15
ENE
10
ENE
5
ENE
10
SE
15
SE
15
ESE
10
E
10
E
5
SE
5
NW
10
WSW
20
SW
25
WSW
25
WSW
20
W
20
SW
10
WSW
10
WSW
10
WSW
15
SW
15
SSW
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
cross-
on		crosscrosscross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		crosscross-
off		glassglasscross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		crosscross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on
High Tide
/ height (m)
4:46PM
1.71
5:11AM
1.77
5:17PM
1.70
5:42AM
1.78
5:49PM
1.65
6:15AM
1.76
Low Tide
/ height (m)
10:57PM
0.05
11:17AM
0.18
11:26PM
0.06
11:50AM
0.19
11:57PM
0.10
12:26PM
0.24
Tuesday
20
Wednesday
21
Thursday
22
Friday
23
Sunrise-----5:37-------5:37-------5:39--
Sunset7:39-------7:39-------7:38-------
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
light rain
cloud
cloud
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
Rain (mm)
------------------1-----
Temp. °C211918171720242424201919182023222120191918192020
Feels °C (?)181716161620232222202021192122191918171817181818
  • 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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