Are there waves in Barcelona today?

Reading the sea (official data from Puertos del Estado)…

How we read these stars
  1. The wave that counts isn’t the one in the forecast, it’s the one at the shore. Period "fattens up" the wave as it reaches the beach: 0.2 m with a period of 8 breaks at almost double that, and they are very enjoyable little waves. Our stars already do that sum for you.
  2. Direction matters as much as size: with llevant (an easterly sea) Barcelona and the Maresme work; with garbí (south-westerly), Castelldefels and Sitges.
  3. The local wind decides the quality: terral (the offshore breeze off the land) grooms the waves; onshore wind flattens them. That’s why two days with the same waves can end up with different stars.
StarsOn the beach you’ll get…
☆ (0)Flat. A day for paddle surf, surfskate or training.
★ to ★½Barely there: whitewater and paddling practice.
★★ to ★★½Honest little waves: the perfect day to learn and catch your first proper faces.
★★★ to ★★★½A genuinely good day. This is when we call the whole tribe.
★★★★+A proper storm swell: power, currents and big grins for intermediate and advanced levels.

Want the real numbers (periods, degrees, swell)? Switch to pro mode up above, or read the full guide to reading the forecast.

What each row means

Our hour-by-hour read already comes in local time (the official table runs on GMT: +2 in summer, +1 in winter) and with the direction in numeric degrees. The colour of the total sea row follows our stars.

Total seaSignificant height (Hs) of all the swell put together. The big sets run to about 1.5-2× that figure.
DirectionWhere the swell comes from, in degrees: 90° = E (llevant) lights up Barcelona and the Maresme; ~180-230° (garbí) favours Castelldefels, Sitges and Vilanova.
TpPeak period: the wave’s turbo. Here 6 s is already good and 8+ s is a gift.
SwellWaves that have travelled and got themselves organised, with their direction in degrees. The row we care about most: swell in charge = faces with a shoulder.
Wind seaWaves just born from the local wind: messy, with no clear face. If it dominates, you get choppy "soup".
WindThe local wind at that moment and where it blows from. Terral (NW) grooms and opens the waves; onshore wind crumbles them.

The Mediterranean map in motion

To see where the swell is coming from and how much fetch it carries, nothing beats the model animation: you can watch the llevants being born between the Balearics and the Gulf of Lion a day or two before they touch the coast.

Official data from Puertos del Estado (PORTUS) · open full screen ↗

See the full official PORTUS table (GMT)

Official data from Puertos del Estado (PORTUS) · open full screen ↗

Want the measured figure, not the model? On PORTUS you have the Barcelona buoy in real time ("Tiempo real" menu) to confirm whether the storm has arrived yet. And the last link in the chain is always visual: the webcams.

Tell me when there are waves

The Mediterranean doesn’t give you weeks of notice: it gives you days. We write when we confirm waves in a surf class, at most once a day. No spam: waves.

Keep learning

How to read a surf forecast

Hs, Tp, swell, direction in degrees… the full Mediterranean guide, with no fluff.

Where to surf in Barcelona

From Barceloneta to El Masnou and from Castelldefels to Sitges: which spot works with each storm.

When there are waves in Barcelona

The real season, month by month: autumn llevants, a good winter and the secret of summer.

Coast webcams

From Narbonne to Valencia: every camera to confirm it with your own eyes before heading out.

Barcelona and nearby coast

The school is in Barceloneta / Somorrostro. Start with the Barcelona cameras; the other four help compare conditions along the nearby coast.

Rest of the coast

FRANCE CATALONIA Roses Blanes Arenys El Masnou BARCELONA El Prat Gavà y Castelldefels Sitges Tarragona Delta del Ebro Peñíscola Castellón Webcams de Roses (bahía, puerto, Canyelles) · Roses · LIVE 1 Cámara de Roses · El Temps (TV3) · Roses 2 Bahía de Roses · Camping Joncar Mar · Roses 3 Webcams de l'Escala (5 cámaras) · L'Escala 4 Cámara de l'Estartit · El Temps (TV3) · L'Estartit 5 Cámara de Platja d'Aro · El Temps (TV3) · Platja d'Aro 6 Bahía de Sant Pol · Hotel Barcarola · Sant Feliu de Guíxols 7 Panorámica de Tossa (playa + Vila Vella) · Tossa de Mar · LIVE 8 Playa de Lloret en directo · Lloret de Mar · LIVE 9 Puerto y bahía de Blanes · Club de Vela · Blanes 10 Estado del mar · Club Nàutic Arenys · Arenys de Mar 11 Port Masnou, junto a Ocata · El Masnou · LIVE 12 Playas de BCN: Somorrostro, Bogatell, Nova Icària… (6 cámaras oficiales) · Barcelona · LIVE 13 Playa del Prat · Centre Municipal de Vela (Ajuntament) · El Prat de Llobregat · LIVE 14 Castelldefels ↔ Gavà · 17 Nudos, Escola Garbí (directo) · Castelldefels · LIVE 15 Cámara de Vilanova · El Temps (TV3) · Vilanova i la Geltrú 16 Paseo y playa de Calafell en directo · Calafell · LIVE 17 Cámara de Calafell · El Temps (TV3) · Calafell 18 Webcams de las playas · Torredembarra 19 Salou 24h · Canal InfoSalou · Salou · LIVE 20 Playa del Fortí · Vinaròs · LIVE 21 Playa de Peñíscola (castillo Papa Luna) · Peñíscola · LIVE 22 Playa Norte · Hotel Servigroup Papa Luna · Peñíscola 23 Playa la Concha (estación meteo) · Oropesa del Mar 24 Playa Voramar · Hotel Voramar · Benicàssim · LIVE 25
Live video Image that refreshes Operator’s webcam Tap a number and the camera opens The Valencia and southern France ones are in the list, below the map

The local’s trick: don’t look at a snapshot: watch the camera for 2-3 minutes, because the sets come in bursts. Tap a number and you’ll see the detail of that camera. Full webcam page →

Costa Brava

Maresme

Costa Daurada and the Ebro Delta

Castellón

Valencia

Bonus: southern France

Do you know a webcam on the coast that we are missing, or have you spotted one that has stopped working? Write to us at hello@bcnsurfschool.es and we’ll bring the list up to date.

Now · measured

Painting the sea…

Wave and wind field: Open-Meteo model (a ~9 km grid, recalculated every hour). The circles with a number are buoys and measured points: for the current hour that reading beats the model.

Reading the Barcelona buoy…

Real measurements from the Puertos del Estado buoys, every hour. This isn’t a forecast: it’s what the sea is doing. Read it yourself and decide.

Every buoy we read belongs to Puertos del Estado, and they come from two different networks: the coastal ones (Barcelona II and Tarragona, moored close to the shore) and the deep-water ones, still up and running and the first to see the swell coming: Cap de Begur (1,200 m deep, 75 km to the north-east), Tarragona Exterior, Dragonera and Maó. The ones that really were pulled out are the old coastal buoys: Tortosa (1994), Palamós (2012), Valencia (2013) and Capdepera (2014). Where there is no buoy, the map above uses the model and says so clearly.

How to read the buoy (important)
  1. The buoy measures, it doesn’t predict. It’s the most honest figure on this page: if the buoy and the forecast disagree, believe the buoy.
  2. The buoy sits out at sea (moored off the harbour, far from the breaking waves). At the shore the wave changes: with a long period it grows as it feels the bottom. That’s why we translate every reading into "what actually breaks on the beach".
  3. Look at the measured direction: it tells you which sea is REALLY coming in, which isn’t always the one the model painted. Cross that direction with the orientation of your beach (it’s all in the where to surf guide) and draw your own conclusions.

Measured data: Puertos del Estado: Barcelona II buoy (out at sea, off the harbour) and Tarragona buoy · one reading an hour · times in Barcelona local time.

Frequently asked questions

How often is the surf forecast updated?

The Puertos del Estado and AEMET model is recalculated several times a day, and the table shows the hour-by-hour forecast for three days. We schedule our surf lessons 3-4 days ahead following exactly this information.

Why does the forecast say 0.4 m and I see bigger waves on the beach?

The height in the forecast (Hs, significant wave height) is an average of the biggest third of the waves: the good sets can reach almost double that figure. With an Hs of 0.4 m and a decent period, perfectly surfable 60-70 cm waves can come in.

Are the times in the table local time?

No: the PORTUS table runs on GMT. In Barcelona you have to add 2 hours in summer and 1 in winter. It’s the most common slip when reading it.

Which is better for Barcelona: this table, Windguru or Surf-forecast?

They are similar models in different clothes. The advantage of the Puertos del Estado table is that it separates wind sea from swell using official data for the Barcelona point, something most sites don’t show as clearly. The ideal: read the forecast here and confirm it with the webcam.

What’s the difference between the buoy and the forecast?

The forecast is a model that works out what should happen; the Barcelona buoy measures what is actually happening, every hour, out at sea. That’s why in the Now tab we show you the live reading, translate it to the shore and compare it with the model: when they disagree, the buoy wins, and today’s stars tune themselves with that figure.

Forecast looking good? We take care of the rest

Qualified instructor, gear and transport to whichever spot works best that day. You just bring the urge to surf.

Group surf lessons Surf guide: we take you to the best peak