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The Heads Surf Forecast
/ Garden Route (22 surf breaks) /
Surf Forecasts:
The Heads surfForecast / Garden Route / South Africa
48hr Weather and Surf, issued 7 am Tuesday 26 May 2026 SASTForecast 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
19.2° C
(Which is slightly warmer than usual)How big are the waves at The Heads today?
The current surf forecast for The Heads at 2PM is: 1.6m 12s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.4m 7s secondary swell from a East-southeast direction, 1.1m 6s secondary swell from a Southwest direction (forecast issued at 07:00am May 26). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-shore.
| Time (SAST) & Date | Wave Height | Wave Period |
|---|---|---|
| Morning (26 May) | 6ft (1.8m) | 13s |
| Afternoon (26 May) | 5ft (1.6m) | 12s |
| Evening (26 May) | 5.5ft (1.7m) | 12s |
Table - waves today at The Heads. (Swell directed towards the surf break)
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Very mild (max 19°C on Wed morning, min 15°C on Tue morning). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday 26 | Wednesday 27 | Thursday 28 | Fri 29 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 | 2 AM | |
Swell Height Map |    |    |    |    | ||||||||||||||||||||
SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 14 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SSW 18 | SW 18 | SW 18 | SW 17 | SW 17 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 15 | SW 15 | |
1326 | 1127 | 932 | 736 | 645 | 761 | 819 | 723 | 1572 | 1380 | 1643 | 1819 | 5133 | 5344 | 5389 | 4621 | 3937 | 4107 | 5081 | 5655 | 5714 | 5788 | 5441 | 4684 | |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
cross | cross-off | cross | cross | cross | cross-off | off | off | glassy | glassy | glassy | on | glassy | glassy | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | glassy | on | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | |
High Tide | 12:47PM1.28m | 1:01AM1.50m | 1:32PM1.35m | 1:40AM1.54m | 2:09PM1.42m | |||||||||||||||||||
Low Tide | 6:48AM0.46m | 6:43PM0.50m | 7:30AM0.39m | 7:28PM0.45m | 8:05AM0.33m | 8:06PM0.41m | ||||||||||||||||||
 |  | | | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  | | | | | | | |
 | 7:20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7:20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7:20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7:22 |
 | — | — | — | — | 5:28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5:28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5:27 | — | — | 5:27 |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Temp °C | 15 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 |
13 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 14 | |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 14 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 18 | SW 18 | SW 17 | SW 17 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 15 | SW 15 |
 kJ | 1326 | 1127 | 932 | 736 | 645 | 761 | 819 | 723 | 1572 | 1380 | 1643 | 1109 | 5133 | 5344 | 5389 | 4621 | 3937 | 4107 | 5081 | 5655 | 5714 | 5788 | 5441 | 4684 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 10 | SE 10 | ESE 6 | ESE 7 | SW 6 | SSW 16 | SW 16 | SW 15 | E 7 | E 9 | SE 12 | SSW 18 | ESE 11 | ESE 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 33 | 24 | 14 | 15 | 79 | 175 | 302 | 479 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1819 | 12 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 10 | E 10 | SE 9 | SSE 9 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | ESE 12 | SE 12 | E 9 | ESE 11 | ESE 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 7 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WSW 4 | WSW 5 | SW 6 | SW 6 | SW 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 17 | 66 | 98 | 98 | 97 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Garden Route | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
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