The Heads 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Lat Long: 34.07° S 23.06° E

Issued: 1 am 16 Oct 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in hr min

Today's The Heads sea temperature is

16.7°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 Oct):

Morning surf: Morning surf (16 Oct, local time) - 7ft (2.1m), 13s period with SW swell.
Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (16 Oct, local time) - 6ft (1.8m), 13s period with SW swell.
Evening surf: Evening surf (16 Oct, local time) - 5ft (1.6m), 12s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for The Heads at 8AM is: 2.2m 13s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.5m 8s secondary swell from a East direction (forecast issued at 01:00am October 16). The wind direction is predicted to be glassy and the swell rating is 4.

Time (SAST) & Date	Wave Height	Wave Period
Morning (16 Oct)	7ft (2.1m)	13s
Afternoon (16 Oct)	6ft (1.8m)	13s
Evening (16 Oct)	5ft (1.6m)	12s

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

	Short Range Forecast Heavy rain (total 41mm), heaviest during Sun night. Warm (max 25°C on Fri morning, min 13°C on Sun night). Winds increasing (calm on Fri morning, fresh winds from the WSW by Sun night).
	Friday 16								Saturday 17								Sunday 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)	4	4	4	3	2	1	2	3	3	3	3	1	2	2	2	3	3	2	3	3	1	1	2	0
Swell Height Map See all maps
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 14	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 14	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SSW 13	SW 13	SW 13
Wave Graph
kJ	2221	2035	1594	1279	1103	925	841	683	672	792	928	997	1968	1945	1818	1721	1539	1524	1626	1860	1860	2257	1677	1778
Wind (km/h)	ENE	NE	E	S	SSW	SW	W	NNW	NW	WNW	WNW	SW	WSW	SSW	SSW	S	SE	ESE	ESE	SSE	SSE	SSE	SW	WSW
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	cross-off	cross-off	glassy	glassy	cross-on	cross-on	cross	off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-on	cross-on	on	on	on	cross-on	cross-on	cross-on	cross-on	on	on	cross-on	cross-on
High Tide			6:02AM1.34m				6:10PM1.31m				6:39AM1.21m				6:47PM1.17m				7:46AM1.09m					8:11PM1.05m
Low Tide	11:51PM0.42m				12:00PM0.54m				00:25AM0.55m				12:39PM0.68m				1:16AM0.67m				1:56PM0.80m


	—	5:45	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:43	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:43	—	—	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	—	6:40	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:42	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:43	—	—
mm	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	6	11
Temp °C	17	17	21	25	24	21	18	18	17	18	18	18	16	16	14	14	15	15	15	16	16	15	15	14
Feels °C	16	16	21	24	23	20	18	17	16	18	18	17	15	15	13	13	15	14	15	16	14	13	14	9
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 14	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 14	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SSW 13	SW 13	SW 13
kJ	2221	2035	1594	1279	1103	925	841	683	672	792	928	997	1968	1945	1818	1721	1539	1524	1626	1860	1860	2257	1677	1778
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	SW 16	E 8	E 9	E 8	E 9	S 6
kJ	35	35	35	22	22	22	22	21	21	12	12	12	12	12	5	5	5	5	193	13	13	6	6	170
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	WSW 11	—	—	—	—	E 8	—	—	—	—	E 8	E 8	—	—	—	—	E 9
kJ	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	24	—	—	—	—	12	—	—	—	—	12	13	—	—	—	—	6
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	ESE 4	ESE 4	S 6	S 6	—
kJ	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	17	36	163	225	—
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	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	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	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	Keurbooms Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Buffalo Bay Wildside Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Oyster Bay Eastern Cape (S)	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Ding Dangs Garden Route
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	2
Distance (km)	0	0	0	0	7	7	7	0	0	0	0	7	7	7	7	33	26	8	26	26	163	26	7	88
Best forecast wave conditions in Garden Route	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Goukamma River Mouth	Buffalo Bay	Keurbooms	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Goukamma River Mouth	Goukamma River Mouth	Gerickes Point	Buffalo Bay	Groenvlei	The Wreck	Buffalo Bay	Keurbooms	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point		Gerickes Point	The Wreck	Santos Reef
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4		4	4	3
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa	Periwinkles Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Hout Bay Cape Town	Sea Vista Eastern Cape (S)	Leftovers Eastern Cape (S)	Hout Bay Cape Town	Hout Bay Cape Town	Hout Bay Cape Town	Hout Bay Cape Town	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Cape St Martin West Coast	The Hoek Cape Town	Sollys Cape Town	Kamer Van Cape Town	Super Tubes Eastern Cape (S)	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Van Stadens Mouth Eastern Cape (S)	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Super Tubes Eastern Cape (S)	Heaven West Coast
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Header Global	Sea Vista South Africa	Albatross South Africa	Viri Inga O Tuki Chile	Viri Inga O Tuki Chile	Ahijedero Mexico	Ahijedero Mexico	Bocock's Bay Namibia	Papatowai New Zealand	Ahijedero Mexico	Afife Portugal	Kaka Point New Zealand	Dunedin - Bobs Beach New Zealand	Ahijedero Mexico	Injidup Carpark Australia	Ahijedero Mexico	Pascuales Mexico	Albatross South Africa	Dunedin - Bobs Beach New Zealand	Dunedin - Bobs Beach New Zealand	Nugget Point New Zealand	Albatross South Africa	Ahijedero Mexico	Ahijedero Mexico	Krui Indonesia
Rating (10 max)	5	4	5	5	4	4	4	5	4	4	5	5	4	5	5	5	4	5	7	5	4	4	4	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 Oct):

Short Range Forecast

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