The Heads 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Lat Long: 34.07° S 23.06° E

Issued: 1 pm 15 Jul 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in hr min

Today's The Heads sea temperature is

17.3° 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 (15 Jul):

Morning surf: Morning surf (15 Jul, local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 9s period with E swell.
Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (15 Jul, local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 8s period with SW swell.
Evening surf: Evening surf (15 Jul, local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 16s period with SW swell.

The current surf forecast for The Heads at 7PM is: 2.2m 9s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 1.8m 10s secondary swell from a Southwest direction, 1.2m 17s secondary swell from a Southwest direction (forecast issued at 01:00pm July 15). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-offshore and the swell rating is 4.

Time (SAST) & Date	Wave Height	Wave Period
Morning (15 Jul)	3.5ft (1.1m)	9s
Afternoon (15 Jul)	3.5ft (1.1m)	8s
Evening (15 Jul)	5ft (1.5m)	16s

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

	Short Range Forecast Mostly dry. Very mild (max 19°C on Wed afternoon, min 13°C on Wed night). Wind will be generally light.
	Wed 15					Thursday 16								Friday 17								Sat 18
	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	5 AM	8 AM
Rating (10 max)	1	0	1	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	2	2	3	3	2	2	2
Swell Height Map See all maps
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s)	E 9	SW 8	SW 9	SW 16	SW 16	SW 15	SW 14	SW 14	SW 14	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 11	SW 11	SW 11	SW 10	SW 10	SW 10	SW 10
Wave Graph
kJ	176	163	822	964	1513	3241	3171	3126	2633	2158	1862	1514	1299	1173	1392	1499	1448	1053	884	749	627	478	388	273
Wind (km/h)	W	WSW	SW	WNW	W	WNW	NW	NW	WSW	SW	WSW	WNW	WNW	NW	NNW	N	ESE	SE	ESE	NE	NE	WNW	WNW	WNW
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	cross	cross-on	cross-on	cross-off	cross	glassy	glassy	glassy	glassy	cross-on	cross-on	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	off	glassy	glassy	cross-on	cross	cross-off	cross-off	glassy	cross-off	cross-off
High Tide			4:37PM1.83m				4:50AM1.77m					5:18PM1.85m				5:30AM1.70m				5:58PM1.81m				6:09AM1.60m
Low Tide	10:24AM0.00m				10:48PM0.10m					11:03AM0.00m				11:31PM0.12m				11:41AM0.05m				00:12AM0.20m


	—	—	—	—	—	—	7:30	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7:30	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7:30	—
	—	—	5:36	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:36	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:37	—	—	—	—	5:37
mm	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Temp °C	18	19	16	15	15	14	13	13	16	17	16	15	14	14	14	14	18	19	17	15	16	16	15	15
Feels °C	15	15	13	14	15	14	13	13	16	16	16	14	13	13	13	14	17	18	16	14	15	15	13	13
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	E 9	SW 8	SW 11	SW 9	SW 11	SW 15	SW 14	SW 14	SW 14	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 13	SW 12	SW 12	SW 12	SW 11	SW 11	SW 11	SW 10	SW 10	SW 10	SW 10
kJ	176	163	745	606	745	3241	3171	3126	2633	2158	1862	1514	1299	1173	1392	1499	1448	1053	884	749	627	478	388	273
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 7	E 9	SW 17	SW 16	SW 16	E 10	E 10	E 10	E 10	E 10	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 11	E 10	E 10	E 10	S 14	S 13	S 13	S 12
kJ	75	142	594	964	1513	69	71	72	51	76	82	84	82	82	81	55	55	53	51	51	93	119	206	268
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SW 18	SW 12	E 9	E 9	E 10	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	S 15	S 14	E 10	E 10	E 10	E 10
kJ	79	135	113	87	92	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	17	37	51	51	51	50
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	WSW 7	—	SW 9	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
kJ	138	—	822	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Murphys (Buffalo Bay Beach) Garden Route	Lookout Beach Garden Route	The Heads 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	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Buffalo Bay Wildside Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route	The Heads Garden Route
Rating (10 max)	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	2
Distance (km)	7	7	29	0	7	0	0	0	0	7	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	8	0	0	0	0	0
Best forecast wave conditions in Garden Route	Dias Beach	Dias Beach	Lookout Beach	Goukamma River Mouth	Dias Beach	Fish Boma	Gerickes Point	Fish Boma	Gerickes Point	Brak River	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	Goukamma River Mouth	Goukamma River Mouth
Rating (10 max)	2	3	4	4	4	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3
Best forecast wave conditions in South Africa	Whispering Waves Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Hout Bay Cape Town	The Hoek Cape Town	Paranoia Overberg	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Fish Boma Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Fish Boma Garden Route	Whispering Waves Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Heaven West Coast	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Gerickes Point Garden Route	Whispering Waves Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Periwinkles Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Periwinkles Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Double Mouth Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast	Haga-Haga Eastern Cape - Wild Coast
Rating (10 max)	3	4	5	4	4	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3
Header Global	Anawhata Road (Oaonui) New Zealand	Anawhata Road (Oaonui) New Zealand	Shipstern Bluff Australia	Shipstern Bluff Australia	Hell South Africa	Fish Boma South Africa	Boneyards South Africa	Boneyards South Africa	Dunedin - Bobs Beach New Zealand	Easter Reef Australia	Otago Peninsula - Allans Beach New Zealand	Easter Reef Australia	Easter Reef Australia	Easter Reef Australia	Easter Reef Australia	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Catlins River Mouth New Zealand	Dunedin - Kuri Bush New Zealand	Dunedin - Kuri Bush New Zealand	Dunedin - Cob Cottage New Zealand	Otago Peninsula - Papanui Beach New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Dinner Plates New Zealand
Rating (10 max)	5	5	9	5	5	5	5	5	8	5	5	5	6	6	6	8	9	6	6	6	5	7	9	8

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 (15 Jul):

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