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Surf Forecasts:

The Heads surfForecast / Garden Route / South Africa

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 7 am Tuesday 20 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 1PM is: 1.7m 10s primary swell from a South-southwest direction and 0.4m 10s secondary swell from a East direction (forecast issued at 07:00am January 20). The wind direction is predicted to be cross-onshore.

Time (SAST) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (20 Jan)5.5ft (1.7m)10s
Afternoon (20 Jan)5.5ft (1.7m)10s
Evening (20 Jan)4.5ft (1.3m)11s

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

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent 
12 DaysHourly
Print Table
Tuesday
20
Wednesday
21
Thursday
22
Fri
23
5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PM11 PM2 AM
Rating
(10 max)
2
2
0
0
0
0
1
3
3
3
1
0
0
2
3
3
3
2
1
0
0
2
1
2
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1.6
SW
1.7
SSW
1.7
SSW
1.7
SSW
1.5
SSW
1.3
SW
1.3
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.7
SSW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SW
1.6
SSW
1.6
SSW
1.6
SSW
1.6
SSW
1.6
SSW
1.7
SSW
1.8
SSW
2
SSW
2.5
SSW
3
SSW
Period(s) (?)111110101010111313121212121212121212121313151514
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)5616105325164483914068288037548166946946947227227347597849141012178727923380
Wind
(km/h)
5
NW
0
ESE
15
SE
20
SE
25
ESE
20
E
20
E
15
ENE
10
ENE
5
ENE
10
SE
15
SE
15
ESE
15
ESE
10
E
0
SE
5
NNW
5
W
15
WSW
25
SW
20
WSW
15
W
20
SW
10
WSW
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
glassglasscross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		crosscrosscross-
off		cross-
off		glasscross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		crosscross-
off		glassglasscrosscross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		crosscross-
on		cross-
on
High Tide
/ height (m)
4:41AM
1.73
4:46PM
1.71
5:11AM
1.77
5:17PM
1.70
5:42AM
1.78
5:49PM
1.65
Low Tide
/ height (m)
10:45AM
0.20
10:57PM
0.05
11:17AM
0.18
11:26PM
0.06
11:50AM
0.19
11:57PM
0.10
Tuesday
20
Wednesday
21
Thursday
22
Fri
23
Sunrise-5:35-------5:37-------5:37------
Sunset----7:39-------7:39-------7:38---
part cloud
part cloud
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
rain showers
cloud
Rain (mm)
----------------------1-
Temp. °C182022232119181717202424242019191821232321201919
Feels °C (?)182121201817161616202222222020211922222119191718
  • 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

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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

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