A surf forecast looks like a wall of numbers — wave height, period, swell direction, wind, tide. Once you know what each one means, you can tell a great surf day from a wasted drive in about ten seconds. Here's the plain-English version. Updated for 2026.
Every forecast (including the one on this site) is built from the same five ingredients. Master these and you'll know whether to grab your board or have another coffee.
🌊 Open the live forecast and follow along →How big the waves are, usually in feet or metres. Bigger is not better — it depends on your level. Beginners want roughly 1–3ft (0.3–1m); intermediates enjoy 3–6ft; only advanced surfers should chase overhead-plus. A spot can be perfect at 3ft and dangerous at 8ft.
The period is the time in seconds between waves, and it's the single most telling number on a forecast. It separates powerful, organised waves from weak, messy slop.
| Period | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Under 8s | Weak windswell — short, choppy, disorganised |
| 8–11s | Decent — rideable, moderate power |
| 12s+ | Groundswell — powerful, clean, well-spaced sets |
A 3ft swell at 14 seconds can be far better — and more powerful — than a 5ft swell at 7 seconds. In Morocco, the long-period NW groundswells of winter are what make the point breaks fire.
Where the swell is coming from (e.g. NW, W, N). Each spot has directions it "likes". Morocco's right-hand points generally work best on NW swell, because that angle wraps cleanly into the points. If the swell direction is wrong for a spot, it may stay flat even when other spots are pumping.
Offshore wind (blowing from land out to sea) holds the wave face up and grooms it clean and glassy — this is what you want. Onshore wind (from sea to land) crumbles waves into a messy mush. Light or no wind is also great.
This is why surfers love dawn patrol: mornings are usually calm or lightly offshore, and the wind turns onshore by midday. In Morocco, a light NE wind is offshore on most of the points.
The ocean rises and falls through low, mid and high tide. Each spot works best at certain tides — some points need low tide, some beach breaks prefer mid-to-high. A spot can switch from perfect to unsurfable as the tide moves, so check the tide state alongside the swell.
For most spots, the dream combination is: a long-period groundswell (12s+), from the direction the spot likes, at a size that matches your level, with light offshore wind, on the right tide. Get those five lined up and you've found your session.
You don't have to calculate all this yourself every time. This site reads the live data for 13 Moroccan spots and turns it into a simple star rating, the wave height, the wind, and the wetsuit you'll need — so you can decide in seconds. But knowing what's behind the rating helps you understand why a day is good, and trust your own read of the ocean.
🌊 See the star ratings for every spot now →Ready to plan? Read our best time to surf guide, the beginner's guide, and the wetsuit guide.