The Heads 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Lat Long: 34.07° S 23.06° E

Issued: 7 am 22 Jul 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in hr min

Today's The Heads sea temperature is

17.4° 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 (22 Jul):

Morning surf: Morning surf (22 Jul, local time) - 7ft (2.1m), 12s period with SW swell.
Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (22 Jul, local time) - 7ft (2.1m), 12s period with SW swell.
Evening surf: Evening surf (22 Jul, local time) - 6ft (1.9m), 12s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for The Heads at 12PM is: 2.1m 12s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.9m 11s secondary swell from a East-southeast direction (forecast issued at 07:00am July 22). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-onshore.

Time (SAST) & Date	Wave Height	Wave Period
Morning (22 Jul)	7ft (2.1m)	12s
Afternoon (22 Jul)	7ft (2.1m)	12s
Evening (22 Jul)	6ft (1.9m)	12s

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

	Short Range Forecast Light rain (total 7mm), mostly falling on Thu night. Very mild (max 18°C on Thu afternoon, min 12°C on Wed morning). Wind will be generally light.
	Wednesday 22							Thursday 23								Friday 24
	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)	4	4	3	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	0	2	0	3	4	!	!	!	!	4	4	4
Swell Height Map See all maps
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SSW 13	SSW 12	SSW 12	SW 11	SW 12	SW 11	SW 11	SW 11	SW 12	SSW 17	SSW 16	SSW 16	SSW 16	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 14	SSW 14
Wave Graph
kJ	1558	1363	1240	1200	1129	1047	617	519	522	944	1208	1310	1838	1813	1968	3099	7271	6916	6053	4671	3987	3714	3257
Wind (km/h)	N	WNW	WSW	WSW	SW	WSW	W	WNW	NW	N	W	SW	W	SW	WSW	W	WNW	NNE	ENE	ESE	ESE	NE	N
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	off	cross-off	cross	cross-on	cross-on	cross	cross	cross-off	cross-off	off	cross	cross-on	cross	cross-on	cross	cross	cross-off	glassy	cross-off	cross	cross	cross-off	glassy
High Tide			9:14AM1.10m				9:54PM1.22m				10:58AM1.05m					11:34PM1.19m				12:41PM1.10m
Low Tide	3:12AM0.63m				3:07PM0.67m				4:36AM0.69m				4:43PM0.75m					6:22AM0.67m				6:36PM0.72m


	7:26	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7:26	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7:26	—	—	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	5:39	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:40	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:42	—	—
mm	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Temp °C	12	12	16	16	15	14	14	13	12	12	16	18	15	14	13	14	13	13	15	18	16	15	15
Feels °C	10	9	14	14	13	13	13	12	11	10	14	13	11	9	11	13	12	12	14	16	13	14	14
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SSW 12	SSW 12	SW 11	SW 12	SW 11	ESE 12	SW 11	SW 12	SSW 12	SSW 16	SSW 16	SSW 16	SSW 15	SSW 15	SSW 14	SSW 14
kJ	1558	1363	1240	1200	1129	1047	561	519	522	944	1208	1310	125	1813	1968	1985	7271	6916	6053	4671	3987	3714	3257
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	ESE 11	ESE 11	ESE 11	ESE 11	ESE 11	ESE 13	SSW 13	SW 12	SW 12	ESE 12	SE 12	SE 12	S 22	ESE 12	SSW 18	SSW 17	SE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 11	ESE 11	ESE 11	SE 11
kJ	186	186	186	186	190	209	617	486	455	127	147	144	36	93	1039	3099	67	53	52	50	49	48	58
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	—	—	—	SSW 15	S 15	SSW 14	ESE 13	ESE 12	ESE 12	SW 12	SE 8	—	—	S 20	ESE 12	ESE 12	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
kJ	—	—	—	121	110	207	209	196	167	37	15	—	—	198	93	91	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	—	—	—	—	—	SW 3	—	—	—	—	—	—	SW 11	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
kJ	—	—	—	—	—	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	1838	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	The Wreck Garden Route	Buffalo Bay Garden Route	Ding Dangs Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Buffalo Bay Garden Route	Fish Boma Garden Route	Fish Boma Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	4	3	4	3	5	6	8	7	7	5	5	4	4
Distance (km)	0	0	7	7	7	7	7	0	0	0	7	30	8	88	7	7	8	11	11	26	26	0	0
Best forecast wave conditions in Garden Route	Gerickes Point	Goukamma River Mouth	Brak River	Brak River	Brak River	Brak River	Gerickes Point	Goukamma River Mouth	Goukamma River Mouth	Goukamma River Mouth	Kaaimans River Mouth	Santos Reef	Santos Reef	Santos Reef	Dias Beach	Herolds Bay	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Fish Boma	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	5	7	8	8	7	5	5	5	5
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa	Periwinkles Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Periwinkles Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Kleinemonde Eastern Cape (S)	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Strandfontein West Coast	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Yellow sands Point Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Noncom (Cape Recife) Eastern Cape (S)	The Hoek Cape Town	The Hoek Cape Town	The Hoek Cape Town	Paranoia Overberg	Dolphin Point Overberg	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Fish Boma Garden Route	Yellow sands Point Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Whispering Waves Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Gerickes Point Garden Route
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	5	9	8	8	7	6	5	5	5
Header Global	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Viri Inga O Tuki Chile	Papa Tangaroa Chile	Viri Inga O Tuki Chile	Point Roadnight Australia	Point Roadnight Australia	Cobblestones Australia	Point Roadnight Australia	Albatross South Africa	Blackfellows Australia	The Hoek South Africa	Point Roadnight Australia	Dolphin Point South Africa	Dolphin Point South Africa	Boneyards South Africa	Boneyards South Africa	Sea Vista South Africa	Sea Vista South Africa	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand
Rating (10 max)	6	6	5	5	8	7	6	6	6	4	5	4	4	6	9	9	9	9	8	7	6	6	6

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

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.

The Heads 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

How big are the waves at The Heads today (22 Jul):

Short Range Forecast

Latest Updates

Summer School: The Timeline of The Boardshort

How Our WaveFinder Tool Makes Forecasting Easier Than Ever Before

The Five Best Forecasts For International Surfing Day 2026

Best Surf Travel Deals & Discounts For 2026 To Help Make Surf Travel Cheaper

Let Our Surf Alerts Do All Your Forecast Heavy Lifting

FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website