The Heads 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Lat Long: 34.07° S 23.06° E

Issued: 1 am 17 Sep 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in hr min

Today's The Heads sea temperature is

14.2°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 (17 Sep):

Morning surf: Morning surf (17 Sep, local time) - 7ft (2.1m), 13s period with SW swell.
Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (17 Sep, local time) - 7ft (2.1m), 12s period with SW swell.
Evening surf: Evening surf (17 Sep, local time) - 6ft (1.8m), 12s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for The Heads at 10AM is: 2.1m 12s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 0.5m 11s secondary swell from a East direction, 2.0m 7s secondary swell from a Southeast direction (forecast issued at 01:00am September 17). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-shore.

Time (SAST) & Date	Wave Height	Wave Period
Morning (17 Sep)	7ft (2.1m)	13s
Afternoon (17 Sep)	7ft (2.1m)	12s
Evening (17 Sep)	6ft (1.8m)	12s

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

	Short Range Forecast Some drizzle, heaviest during Thu night. Very mild (max 18°C on Sat afternoon, min 13°C on Fri night). Winds decreasing (fresh winds from the ESE on Fri afternoon, calm by Sat night).
	Thursday 17								Friday 18								Saturday 19
	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)	3	2	2	1	0	1	1	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	2	2	4	3	4	3	2	2	3	4
Swell Height Map See all maps
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 11	SW 11	SW 11	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	E 8	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 15
Wave Graph
kJ	1346	1521	1558	1381	1220	1025	928	865	865	865	851	808	713	713	961	878	796	688	645	565	614	546	435	1020
Wind (km/h)	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	SE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	E	E	E	ESE	E	E	E	ENE	ENE	NE	SSW	SE	SE	ENE	ENE
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	cross	cross	cross	cross-on	cross-on	cross-on	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	glassy	cross-on	cross-on	cross-off	glassy
High Tide			6:25AM1.31m				6:38PM1.31m				6:56AM1.16m				7:13PM1.15m				8:00AM1.01m					9:23PM1.02m
Low Tide	00:21AM0.45m				12:24PM0.53m				00:52AM0.59m				12:56PM0.68m				1:44AM0.74m					2:09PM0.83m


	—	6:24	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:22	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:22	—	—	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	—	6:20	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:20	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6:21	—	—
mm	2	2	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Temp °C	13	14	14	14	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	16	17	16	15	14	13	13	14	17	18	18	16	16
Feels °C	11	10	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	11	11	12	11	10	11	12	16	17	16	15	15
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 11	SW 11	SW 11	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	E 8	ESE 8	SW 15
kJ	1346	1521	1558	1381	1220	1025	928	865	865	865	851	808	713	713	961	878	796	688	395	383	350	309	270	1020
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SSW 8	—	—	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 10	—	—	—	—	—	—	SSW 18	SSW 18	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	ESE 8
kJ	50	—	—	56	57	57	57	36	36	52	—	—	—	—	—	—	60	31	645	565	614	546	435	277
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	SSW 16	SW 16	SW 16	SW 15	SW 15	SW 14
kJ	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	26	127	61	33	220	482
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SE 7	SE 6	SE 7	SE 7	SE 7	SE 7	SE 7	ESE 7	ESE 7	ESE 6	ESE 6	ESE 6	ESE 7	ESE 7	E 7	E 7	E 7	E 8	E 8	—	—	—	—	—
kJ	258	284	363	363	308	263	255	244	247	271	309	329	432	600	679	636	585	504	599	—	—	—	—	—
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	Buffalo Bay Wildside Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Igoda Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Dumps Cape Town	Dumps Cape Town	Big Bay Cape Town	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads 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	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	3	3	3	4
Distance (km)	8	26	26	26	450	26	26	26	26	26	26	423	423	426	26	26	0	0	0	0	26	26	0	0
Best forecast wave conditions in Garden Route	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point		Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point				Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point	Gerickes Point
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4		4	4	4	4	4	4				4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	4
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Igoda Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Whispering Waves Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Morgans Bay Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Cape St Martin West Coast	Wedge Durban/KZN South	Beach Road Cape Town	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	4
Header Global	Grindavik Antenas Iceland	Grindavik Antenas Iceland	Haapiti French Polynesia	Papatowai New Zealand	Luna Park Australia	Easter Reef Australia	Charleston New Zealand	Fox River New Zealand	Guns Namibia	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Charleston New Zealand	Playa Aguilera Spain	El Huerto Spain	Cathedral Rock Australia	Cathedral Rock Australia	Afife Portugal	May's Point Australia	Quarantine Australia	Trial Harbour Australia	Trial Harbour Australia	Bali Village Indonesia	Asu Indonesia
Rating (10 max)	5	6	5	7	5	5	5	5	5	9	9	8	5	5	5	6	6	4	5	5	9	8	5	4

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 (17 Sep):

Short Range Forecast

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