The Heads Surf Forecast

/ Garden Route (22 surf breaks) /

South Africa (276 surf breaks) / Lat Long: (34.07° S 23.06° E)

Surf Forecasts:

The Heads surfForecast / Garden Route / South Africa

48hr Weather and Surf, issued 1 am Tuesday 19 May 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 17.4° C
(Which is 1.4°C colder than average for this time of year)

How big are the waves at The Heads today?

The current surf forecast for The Heads at 10AM is: 2.5m 8s primary swell from a East-southeast direction and 1.1m 12s secondary swell from a Southwest direction, 0.4m 14s secondary swell from a South-southeast direction (forecast issued at 01:00am May 19). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-shore.

Time (SAST) & Date	Wave Height	Wave Period
Morning (19 May)	6ft (1.8m)	8s
Afternoon (19 May)	10ft (3.0m)	8s
Evening (19 May)	10ft (3.0m)	8s

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

Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent

	Short Range Forecast Light rain (total 2mm), mostly falling on Wed morning. Warm (max 25°C on Thu afternoon, min 16°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light.
	Tuesday 19								Wednesday 20								Thursday 21
	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)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	2	3	3	4	4	3	2	1	2	2
Swell Height Map See all maps
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 13	SW 13	SSE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8
Wave Graph
kJ	618	512	380	673	982	1015	1118	1152	998	809	691	821	975	1000	919	829	745	982	781	659	428	380	330	273
Wind (km/h)	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	ENE	E	E	E	E	ENE	ENE	NE	ENE	NE	NNE	NW	SW	NW	NW
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross-off	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	off	cross-off	cross-on	cross-off	cross-off
High Tide			5:04AM1.77m				5:35PM1.65m				5:52AM1.63m				6:26PM1.56m				6:44AM1.47m				7:26PM1.46m
Low Tide					11:22AM0.11m				11:42PM0.25m				12:10PM0.22m				00:38AM0.37m				1:02PM0.34m


	—	7:15	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7:16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7:16	—	—	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	—	5:31	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:30	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:30	—	—
mm	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Temp °C	17	17	17	19	19	18	17	16	17	17	16	19	22	19	18	17	16	17	19	23	25	20	17	17
Feels °C	16	16	16	17	16	15	14	13	15	15	14	17	19	17	17	16	15	15	17	21	24	19	16	16
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 13	SSE 8	SSE 8	SW 12	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	WSW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SSW 14	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8
kJ	618	365	362	386	380	330	325	202	235	231	190	120	116	94	69	68	80	627	541	475	428	380	330	273
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	S 7	SW 13	SW 12	SSE 14	SSE 14	SSE 13	SSE 13	SSE 13	SSE 13	SSE 12	SSE 12	SSE 12	SSE 12	SE 12	SSW 15	SSW 15	SW 11	SSW 14	SSW 14	SSW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12
kJ	181	512	380	81	74	102	116	111	106	104	133	127	58	37	43	84	32	78	123	118	138	134	120	116
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 9	SSE 16	SSE 15	—	—	—	—	SSW 10	—	—	SSW 9	SSW 9	SSW 9	SSW 16	SSE 12	SSW 14	SSW 9	SW 11	SW 11	WSW 11	S 8	S 14	SSW 20	SSW 20
kJ	38	24	44	—	—	—	—	19	—	—	16	17	8	24	14	82	8	31	30	11	5	14	38	75
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	E 6	E 6	E 6	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	ESE 8	E 8	E 8	E 8	—	SW 2	SW 3	SW 4
kJ	144	92	111	673	982	1015	1118	1152	998	809	691	821	975	1000	919	829	745	982	781	659	—	1	3	3
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	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	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route
Rating (10 max)	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	3	2	3	2	2
Distance (km)	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	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	Goukamma River Mouth	Gerickes Point	Dias Beach	Brak River	Goukamma River Mouth	Goukamma River Mouth
Rating (10 max)	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	3	2	2
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Koeel Bay Overberg	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Paranoia Overberg	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Goukamma River Mouth Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Vleesbaai Overberg	Van Stadens Mouth Eastern Cape (S)	Kanon Overberg	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast
Rating (10 max)	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	2	3
Header Global	Back Bommie Australia	Avalon-North Australia	Black Rock Australia	Bankvaults Indonesia	Bankvaults Indonesia	Bali Village Indonesia	Bali Village Indonesia	Boneyard Australia	Cavalos de Fao Portugal	Cavalos de Fao Portugal	Crazy Left Portugal	Arrifana Portugal	Canal Brazil	Arrifana Portugal	Trial Harbour Australia	Trial Harbour Australia	Afife Portugal	Anglet - Corsaires France	Lambe Lambe Brazil	Cathedral Rock Australia	Dunedin - Bobs Beach New Zealand	Bali Village Indonesia	Otago Peninsula - Allans Beach New Zealand	Otago Peninsula - Allans Beach New Zealand
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	4	5	4	5	5	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4

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

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The Heads Surf Forecast

The Heads surfForecast / Garden Route / South Africa

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