Best Places to get your Wave Forecasts

As a surfer, learning the ins and outs of the sources of wave information is like a samurai training with his sword before battle. Like the sword, the information becomes an extension of a surfers body that they can wield without thought. To really get the best out of each surf session, the complete surfer needs to learn these tools so you can tease out the right spots and the right times, just like the samurai heading confidently onto the battlefield.

There are lots (and lots) of resources to look up wave forecasts, nowcasts, and hindcasts. It can be confusing with all of the information flying around with global wave models, wave measurements, surf cams, and surf forecasts for practically every spot on the globe. We're going to review four of the top resources to obtain all of this informational power. It will be up to you to find which suits you best for your future surf adventures.

The first piece of information is what we call the nowcast. The nowcast gives us the most important information on what's happening right now from wave buoys, surf cameras, and other real-time observing systems. You can have the best forecast (a prediction of what will happen in the future) in the world, but it's of limited use in telling you what's going on right now.

The premier resource for real-time wave information in North America is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Yes .. this is going to be a North American and USA-centric article, so I will apologize in advance to our brother and sister surfers in other countries, but I trust you may find some useful tidbits in here. So our first source of information is going to be the NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC).

NOAA NDBC
NOAA maintains buoys across the globe that feed real-time information via satellite and radio to the NDBC. Most everyone is familiar with this system and which wave measurement buoys are closest to them. Check out the previous blog post on how wave measurements are made to learn about what these buoys show. The NDBC website

The NOAA NDBC website has worldwide wave and weather stations to give hourly data. If you are in North America, this should be your goto source for real-time wave information.

Great, but I want to know what's happening tomorrow or next week so I can plan my day! Turns out NOAA also runs one of the most widely used global wave models, WaveWatch III (WW3).  The WW3 model looks at weather systems, winds, and even ice cover across the globe to most accurately simulate how waves are generated, propagate, and finally end up at your spot. Check out the site here. The Navy also maintains similar models for their operations; however, the NOAA modeling generally form the base of all surf forecasts out there.

One final site maintained under primarily public funding is the Coastal Data Information Program hosted (CDIP) by SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography.  The CDIP site is full of great directional wave measurements, nowcast models based on those measurements, and focused forecasts primarily in California. The group does outstanding work maintaining these real-time resources and its worth a browse around.

The CDIP site maintains real-time data coupled with nowcast and forecast models. The site primarily focuses on the Pacific; however, there is real-time information available at many locations along the United States coasts.

Now let's talk about the dedicated surfing nowcast and forecast sites.  There are literally hundreds of sites out there with one forecast or another claiming to be the best for you. Many are also trying to cram lots ads and products into each page. Let's take a look at a few key ones (in no order of rating) and see what they have to offer for you.

Surfline
Surfline is the big boy of the surf forecast websites, so we'll start there. If you haven't heard about or seen it in one way or another then you're lucky enough to live in the hinterlands of surfing where mass media isn't inundating you. Surfline is evident at almost every contest and surf related event worldwide. They provide updates every few hours predicted for spots all over the USA and many of the top spots on the globe.

Everyone knows Surfline. They provide consistent and reliable surf reports and forecasts.

So how good are they? Surfline runs global and local models similar to WW3 (or modified version thereof) and then run higher resolution models for each cluster of surf spots. For example they will run a forecast for the the Pacific and then use the results offshore of San Diego to model the San Diego coast. The nesting of models provides higher resolution to get a better forecast of how those waves will look at local wave spots.  Based on the directions and periods of the swell, they can provide a forecast for each location. It's a tried and true technique which they back up with local observers to calibrate the forecast.

To top it all off, they have one of the largest surf camera networks on the globe. Its truly and impressive undertaking to get your forecast, real-time, and camera information for your spot all on one page. They employ some top meteorologists and oceanographers to keep it all running.

All praises? Well the downside is you gotta pay for subscription unless you want to watch lots of surf commercials and liberally sprinkled advertisements. Additionally, they tend to be focused on North American surf spots. It's a trade-off, but its made a good resource for a one-stop shopper that just wants to pay and have it on their desktop or smartphone.

Stormsurf 
In a sense, Stormsurf is the opposite end of the spectrum from the biggest "pay" website.  I love these guys because it's clear they have built this site over the years out of a passion for waves. The have setup a completely free resource with minimal advertising that gives you all of the information you need. It is definitely no frills, but the most important building blocks are here including tutorials on how to develop your own forecasts!

Stormsurf offers a compilation of information from real-time sources and QuickCASTs that give an easily viewed daily description of what's on the horizon.  Combined with other free resources, Stormsurf is one of my key "go to" sites.

Stormsurf has a nice coherent presentation of all of the buoys, models, forecasts, and analysis in almost any format you could want. Their "detailed reports" provide excellent commentary on the types of swell in the water and what's coming soon. I've been extremely impressed by the astute discussions of the present El Nino conditions. They have also put together fantastic tutorials on topics from wave and weather basics to how to put together your own surf forecast. All around Stormsurf is an excellent free resource with minimal ads and a large amount of information.  It's not force fed to you like other sites, but the information is also complete. If you spend enough time with their resources, you'll be building your own forecasts in no time.

WetSand

UPDATE  -  WetSand is sadly no longer with us.
WetSand has undergone numerous transformations from simple bar graph forecasts that were elegant in their simplicity to a much fancier "3D" system that was a little slow.  I think they were teamed with, or spawned SwellWatch. Frankly I don't really know, but the 3D system was slow and confusing even to the discerning surfer. Surfing Magazine and Swellwatch have teamed up to maintain that and I am not reviewing it here. However, WetSand  has gone to a very "Hip" format that focuses on their online surf shop and a simple forecast. The forecast is clean and easy to read with only the necessary information.  Even with their online shop, they tend not of overwhelm you with ads.

WetSand has a nice simple interface. It has a "hipster surfer" feel combined with their online shop, but overall is a nice easy interface with basic information. 

The WetSand format for their forecasts is elegant in its simplicity. I personally love their data display, but honestly I don't use it as my primary source as I'm not sure really what's behind their forecast engine. Their online surf shop does have some fun innovative and stylish items that are worth browsing through.

Magicseaweed
UPDATE  -  Magicseaweed has been purchased by Surfstitch, but will remain separate.

For a good comprehensive global view, Magicseaweed must be mentioned.  These guys have done an admirable job with more forecast spots worldwide from anyone else I have found. The format is similar to Surfline and WetSand, and they even have links to some free webcams. Overall, the list of forecasts are less comprehensive in USA than others, but its where I go for the international picture. For a minor monthly fee (a few bucks), they offer all kinds of updates and forecasts.

Magicseaweed has one of the more comprehensive lists of sites internationally.  Their forecasts feature the standard range of information in a simple interface.

The Round Up

All of these folks have great services.  It's really up to you where you want to go. For me, I use free resources like the NOAA websites and Stormsurf for a good analysis. It takes a little more time, but as a surfer it pays to have a better understanding of the ocean through these comprehensive resources. If you're willing to pay for cams, slick interfaces coupled with professional analysis, Surfline is hard to beat.

   

As an aside, the La Jolla Surfing Weather website has been around since the start of good wave information on the web. These guys have a outstanding compilation of links to public and private sources of information. They have links to everything above as well as many sources of information.  It's California centered, but a comprehensive list!

Remember the best source of real-time information is from the NOAA buoys piped straight to your desk on a WaveClock

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