Snow-ForecastSnow-ForecastMountain-ForecastMountain-ForecastTide-ForecastTide-ForecastWeather-ForecastWeather-Forecast
Search by country, region, or break
Search by country, region, or break

Quick Links

Surf Forecasts:

The Heads surfForecast / Garden Route / South Africa

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 1 am Wednesday 21 Jan 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
22.2° C
 (Which is normal for this time of year)

How big are the waves at The Heads today?

The current surf forecast for The Heads at 8AM is: 1.6m 12s primary swell from a Southwest direction and 1.0m 6s secondary swell from a Southeast direction, 1.1m 5s secondary swell from a East direction (forecast issued at 01:00am January 21). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-offshore and the swell rating is 3.

Time (SAST) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (21 Jan)5ft (1.6m)12s
Afternoon (21 Jan)5ft (1.6m)12s
Evening (21 Jan)5ft (1.6m)12s

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

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent 
12 DaysHourly
Print Table
Wednesday
21
Thursday
22
Friday
23
11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM
Rating
(10 max)
1
3
3
3
1
0
0
2
3
3
3
2
0
0
0
2
1
2
!
!
!
!
!
!
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1.3
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.9
SSW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.5
SSW
1.7
SSW
1.6
SSW
1.7
SSW
1.7
SSW
1.8
SSW
2
SSW
2.3
SSW
3
SSW
3.5
SSW
3.5
SSW
3.5
SSW
3.5
SSW
3.5
SSW
3.5
SSW
Period(s) (?)111313121212121212121212121313151515141414141414
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)40681680375410166946946946946478167598859141012178722723753440743464468465147664263
Wind
(km/h)
20
E
15
ENE
10
ENE
5
ENE
10
SE
15
SE
15
ESE
10
E
5
E
0
ENE
5
NW
10
WSW
20
WSW
25
WSW
25
WSW
20
WSW
20
SW
15
WSW
10
WSW
10
WSW
15
SW
15
SW
10
SW
5
SW
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
crosscross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		crosscross-
off		glassglasscrosscross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		crosscross-
on		cross-
on		crosscross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on
High Tide
/ height (m)
5:11AM
1.77
5:17PM
1.70
5:42AM
1.78
5:49PM
1.65
6:15AM
1.76
6:24PM
1.56
Low Tide
/ height (m)
10:57PM
0.05
11:17AM
0.18
11:26PM
0.06
11:50AM
0.19
11:57PM
0.10
12:26PM
0.24
Wednesday
21
Thursday
22
Friday
23
Sunrise---5:37-------5:37-------5:39----
Sunset------7:39-------7:38-------7:38-
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
cloud
part cloud
light rain
cloud
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
part cloud
clear
Rain (mm)
----------------1-------
Temp. °C181717202424242019191821232221201919191920201918
Feels °C (?)161616202322222020211922221918181718181718181817
  • Map Icons:
  • Break
  • Live Wave Height (m)
  • Live Wind Speed (km/h)
  • Surf Rating (10 Max)
  • Ocean Swells (m)
  • Wind Speed (km/h)
Map placeholder

Latest Updates

The World’s Most Inconsistent Waves
Ben Mondy

The World’s Most Inconsistent Waves

Huntington, Dribbleton, Virginia, Holland and the Superbank! We recently had a look at the world’s most consistent waves. This was based on the combination of swells and wind directed at 7,000 surf spots, as compiled from our data since 2006. Those stats, represented in easy-to-read graphics, are located under each wave’s spot guides, with historical swell and wind breakdowns available by month, season, and year. There is also an offshore filter, which shows how often the swells come with clean

Read more

Read more

Discover more articles and updates in the Greenroom.

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.

View detailed surf forecast for The Heads at:
surf-forecast.com

Nearest locationNearest
Nearest locationNearest
Nearest locationNearest