Report & Forecast, Analysis, Charts and Guide.
Be sure to check all the tabs on a spot page! You can also browse nearby spots and save
1. Report & Forecast is the tab with the 16-day forecast and cams (where available).
2. Analysis is a tab dedicated to detailed written regionwide insight from our team of expert meteorologists. Subject to regional availability.
3. Charts will take you to our global wave height/period, wind, pressure and temperature map platform. Where are the swell and wind charts on the website?
4. Guide is where the Surf Guide and Ideal Conditions can be found (subject to availability). We've noted the basic tide/swell/surf/wind you're looking for to score. The Surf Guide helps you figure out the spot's unique dynamics, and whether it is a suitable choice for your preferences and level. There is also a useful link to see the spot's location on Google Maps
Cams & Current Surf Conditions
If a spot has multiple cams, use the single/multi toggle to display one or all cam players available (highlighted in red below).
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If you choose single cam player, toggle through cam angles available using the list of Cam Angles to the right of the cam player.
You will see a neon icon in the thumbnail of any Cam Angle that has a Smart Cam available. Take a look at here for more information on Smart Cams.
If you have a Premium+ subscription and the spot has a Smart Cam available, you will have access to Smart Rewinds and Smart Cam Insights.
Smart Rewinds - Take a look at this article for more information on Smart Rewinds. We also have this video demo for more information on how to download your clips using Smart Rewinds:
Smart Cam Insights - Smart Cam Insights include Waves Distribution and Crowd data.
Take a look at this video demo for more information on Smart Cam Insights:
The Current Surf Conditions boxes summarize the forecast data for right now, visible while you watch the cam.
- Surf height
- Surf rating
- Underlying swell
- Live/modeled wind
- Stage of the tide
- Air/sea temperature.
16-Day Forecast
There are 2 forecast layouts you can toggle between (red in the screenshot below). To the left of the toggle is a button to view historic forecasts (blue). Learn more here:
See all 16-days of wind, surf rating and surf height are at the top of the forecast. Click any day to see the full forecast data, or use the < or > buttons (top right) to move through it a day at a time.
- Tide readings for the next 10 years are now available by clicking the link beneath the continuous tide chart
- Model run info is just above the weather.
- Advanced swell analysis can be found further down the page. Learn more about the Labs charts here: https://go.surfline.com/whatsnew-labs
- Surf rating colors bring the page to life, helping you distinguish the good from the bad. Surf Ratings & Colors.
Advanced graphs are collapsible. If the data isn't of interest, just hide it.
To the left of each graph is a ^ button you can use to clean up your spot forecast page (highlighted in the swell graph screenshot below).
Swell graph. Unsure of the difference between swell and surf? Click here.
Open the graph to see individually sorted swells that are being used to calculate surf height at the spot.
Hover your mouse over an individual line to see swell height, period and direction for that point in time.
The arrow size on these lines represents the swell period. Longer period swell = bigger arrow size. The direction the arrow points is the swell's direction of travel. The height on this graph represents swell height. New: you can toggle the Y-axis to show swell height or swell energy.
Where is the spot map?
Click the satellite image showing wind direction under Current Surf Conditions.
Or, use the links that will take you to a map of surf spots have been moved to the bottom of the Live tab. Where are the maps on Surfline? (website)
Where are the buoy pages?
Bottom of the spot page (below the daylight hours) you'll find Nearby Buoys showing a summary report. Click a View Buoy Data button in the summary box to see a full buoy report. There is a small "View Map" button that will take you to a map in which buoys have been plotted by location.
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