How to Read a Surf Forecast: Swell, Period, Wind and Tide

A surf forecast is a table of numbers: swell height, period and direction, wind and tide. On their own they say little. Read together, and with a spot in mind, they tell you where the good waves will be tomorrow morning.

This guide goes through each number, then reads three typical forecasts for the spots around Tamraght and Taghazout. To follow along, open one of the forecasts on our surf forecast page.

Swell height

Swell is energy from storms far out in the Atlantic that travels to the coast as lines of waves. The height in a forecast is the height of that swell in open water, in metres or feet. It is not the size of the wave you will ride: the same swell can be waist high at one beach and overhead at the next point, depending on how the seabed and the coastline shape it.

For your first lessons, smaller is better. As a rough guide, a metre or less is a comfortable day to learn in the whitewater on a beach like Devil’s Rock. The point breaks need more: Anchor Point only starts working at around 1–1.5 m.

Swell period

The period is the time in seconds between two waves passing the same point. It matters as much as the height, and it is the number most people skip.

Under about 8 seconds: wind swell, made by wind not far from the coast. The waves are weak, close together and often messy.
About 8 to 12 seconds: a mix. Usually fine for the beaches, often too weak for the points.
About 12 seconds or more: groundswell from a distant storm. More energy, clean lines, and the points start to work.

A longer period carries more energy, so 1.5 m at 14 seconds breaks bigger and more powerfully than 1.5 m at 7 seconds. The long right-hand points around Taghazout need a long-period north-west groundswell.

Swell direction

The arrow shows where the swell comes from. A north-west swell travels from the north-west towards the south-east.

Direction decides which spots get waves. Most spots here are right-hand points: a north-west swell wraps around a headland and peels along it. Open beaches such as Crocro Beach also pick up straight west swells, but not every spot likes them: at Panoramas a west swell makes the wave close out.

Common mistake

Reading the arrows the wrong way round. In surf forecasts, swell and wind directions show where they come from, not where they are going.

Wind

Wind direction also shows where the wind comes from. What matters is how it blows against the beach:

Offshore wind blows from the land out to sea. It holds up the face of the wave and keeps it clean. Around Tamraght that means wind from the east.
Onshore wind blows from the sea onto the beach. It pushes the waves over early and makes them choppy.
Cross-shore wind blows along the beach and sits somewhere in between.

Strength matters as much as direction. Light wind from almost any direction is fine; strong onshore wind spoils most spots. Forecasts give wind in knots or km/h (1 knot is about 1.85 km/h).

The wind here often blows from the north-east, and it is usually lightest in the morning. Spots tucked behind a headland or cliffs, such as Banana Point, Killer Point and Panoramas, are sheltered from it and can stay clean when the open beaches are blown out.

Tide

The tide changes the depth of water over the sand or reef, and with it the shape of the wave. It comes in and goes out twice a day, so low tide is roughly 50 minutes later each day. Some spots only work on part of the tide:

Anchor Point: usually best at low tide.
Panoramas: a fast point wave at low tide, a softer beach break as the tide rises.
Devil’s Rock: most consistent around mid tide.
Hash Point: best at high tide; the paddle-out between the rocks is harder at low tide.
Crocro Beach: best at high tide.
Banana Point: works on all tides.

Surf-forecast.com and Windfinder both show the tide times next to the forecast.

Three typical forecasts

Here is how the numbers come together for the spots around Tamraght. These are rules of thumb: sandbanks move, and the same forecast can surf differently from one week to the next.

Forecast	What it means	Where to go
1 m, 10 s, north-west; light east wind in the morning	Small, clean waves	Beginners: Devil's Rock or Crocro Beach in the morning. Improvers: Banana Point, slow and forgiving on small days.
2–2.5 m, 15 s, north-west; light north-east wind	Big, powerful groundswell	The beaches close out. The points work: Anchor Point and Killer Point for experienced surfers; improvers go to a more sheltered point with a guide.
1.5 m, 7 s, west; strong onshore wind all day	Weak, messy wind swell	Choppy almost everywhere, and Panoramas closes out on a west swell. Check the next forecast: the wind may drop a day later.

Tip

A forecast is a computer model and can be off by a few hours or half a metre. Check it the evening before, then look at the water before you paddle out.

Where to check

Each spot page links to that spot’s own forecast on Surf-forecast.com. The surf forecast page compares Surf-forecast.com, Windfinder and Windy, and has a table of which swell and wind suit each spot.

You don’t have to read the forecast alone. In Tamraght, the Travel Surf Nature instructors pick the beach for each surf lesson by the day’s swell and wind, with no more than 6–8 people per instructor.