Waves in Cabo San Lucas

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Wednesday, October 28, at 3:58 pm (GMT-7)

Now · significant height 6.5 ft

Sea state: Moderate · Douglas 4
Period: 9.8 s · SSE
Swell: 5.3 ft · 7 s
Highest expected: 13 ft

Today the sea at Cabo San Lucas is moderate: 6.5 ft waves with a period of 9.8 s from the south-southeast. The swell, 5.3 ft at 7 s, comes from the south-southeast.

Wave height, next 7 days

2.04.06.0 ft 6.6 ft Now

Significant height: the average of the highest third of the waves, what an observer would estimate by eye. Swell: waves arriving from far away, longer.

The waves you may find today

Most common3.2 ft
Significant6.5 ft
Highest expected13 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 13 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 13 ft.

The Douglas sea state scale

Degree	Name	Wave height
0	Calm (glassy)	0
1	Calm (rippled)	0.0 ft–0.3 ft
2	Smooth	0.3 ft–1.6 ft
3	Slight	1.6 ft–4.1 ft
4	Moderate · today	4.1 ft–8.2 ft
5	Rough	8.2 ft–13.1 ft
6	Very rough	13.1 ft–19.7 ft

Waves day by day

Day	Max wave	Sea state	Direction	Max period	Swell	Max wind
Today	6.6 ft	Moderate	SSE	12 s	5.4 ft SSE	8 mph NE
Thu 29	5.9 ft	Moderate	S	12 s	4.5 ft SSE	8 mph NW
Fri 30	5.1 ft	Moderate	SSW	13 s	4.6 ft SSW	7 mph WSW
Sat 31	5.0 ft	Moderate	SSW	14 s	4.8 ft SSW	6 mph WSW
Sun 1	4.9 ft	Moderate	SW	14 s	4.8 ft SSW	10 mph NW
Mon 2	4.7 ft	Moderate	SW	13 s	4.3 ft SSW	10 mph NNW
Tue 3	4.2 ft	Moderate	WSW	12 s	3.4 ft SSW	10 mph NW

Today, every 3 hours

Time	12:00 am	3:00 am	6:00 am	9:00 am	12:00 pm	3:00 pm	6:00 pm	9:00 pm
Waves	4.9 ft	5.0 ft	5.4 ft	5.8 ft	6.2 ft	6.5 ft	6.4 ft	6.1 ft
Period	11.6 s	11.5 s	11.1 s	10.6 s	10.2 s	10.0 s	9.7 s	9.8 s
Direction	S	S	SSE	SSE	SSE	SSE	SSE	SSE
Swell	3.7 ft · 8 s	3.9 ft · 8 s	4.2 ft · 8 s	4.5 ft · 8 s	4.8 ft · 8 s	5.3 ft · 7 s	5.2 ft · 7 s	4.8 ft · 7 s
Wind (mph)	6 ENE	5 NE	6 NE	5 NE	8 ENE	8 NE	7 NE	7 NNE

Previous days

The waves over the last 14 days. Tap a day to see it hour by hour.

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Tue 27	5.6 ft SSE	12 s	4.9 ft SE
Mon 26	5.6 ft SSE	12 s	5.2 ft SSE
Sun 25	5.6 ft S	12 s	5.2 ft SSE
Sat 24	5.2 ft SW	12 s	3.9 ft S
Fri 23	4.6 ft SW	13 s	3.9 ft SSW
Thu 22	4.9 ft SW	12 s	3.9 ft SSW
Wed 21	5.2 ft SW	13 s	4.6 ft S

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Tue 20	5.2 ft SSW	12 s	4.3 ft SSW
Mon 19	8.2 ft SSE	12 s	7.2 ft SSE
Sun 18	9.5 ft SSE	14 s	8.2 ft SSE
Sat 17	6.2 ft S	14 s	5.2 ft SSW
Fri 16	5.9 ft S	13 s	4.3 ft S
Thu 15	4.9 ft SSW	13 s	3.9 ft S
Wed 14	5.6 ft SSW	13 s	4.6 ft S

These are the models at the start of each day (ECMWF and GFS; waves from Météo-France), not readings from a weather station: there can be differences at specific spots.

Questions about the waves in Cabo San LucasQuestions

How are the waves today in Cabo San Lucas?

Moderate (6.5 ft with a period of 9.8 s from the south-southeast). The highest wave to expect is around 13 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Wednesday 28, with waves up to 6.6 ft (moderate).

What is the wave period?

The time, in seconds, between two crests. With long periods (over 10 s) waves come from far away, are cleaner and break harder; with short periods they are wind waves, choppier.

What is significant wave height?

The average of the highest third of the waves. One in seven is higher and, a few times a day, one comes in at almost double: today, about 13 ft.

More about Cabo San Lucas today

Waves near Cabo San Lucas

Only places with a different forecast: spots a few miles apart share the same model cell and wouldn't add anything.

Learn more

Waves: Open-Meteo with Météo-France (MFWAM, up to 10 days) and ECMWF WAM, CC BY 4.0; wave grid point 2.6 mi away. Near the shore, the seabed and the shape of the coast change the waves.

Forecast from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0) with models from ECMWF, NOAA, Météo-France, DWD, Copernicus Marine and CAMS. Updated at 3:58 pm (local time).

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