Free cams, open data, clear math
SwellFeed brings public surf cams and open forecast data together. Cams use their owners’ YouTube players or open on the owners’ sites. Checks run daily to identify offline and restarted streams.
The model score
Every hour gets a 0–10 estimate of surf quality from forecast wave size, swell period and wind relative to the beach. These are automated model scores; no human surf observation is included. A high score means the forecast ingredients line up. Use the cam and local conditions to decide whether to go.
Quality and size fit. Surf Finder uses the same quality score for every skill level. Its separate size note only describes wave size for the selected level; it does not assess currents, access, crowds or whether a session will be worthwhile.
Spot-specific and estimated profiles. Some breaks have a curated ideal swell direction and size range. Other breaks use defaults based on their type and orientation. The “What makes it fire” box identifies which profile is used. Its swell-window guide is separate from the base score, which estimates exposure using the direction the beach faces.
What the base score includes. Spot pages and Surf Finder use ocean-model swell, a breaking-height estimate, beach orientation, a size profile and forecast wind. Tide is displayed separately. Local sandbars, reefs, jetties, currents and the detailed seafloor chart do not change this score; they can change what you find at the beach.
What Epic means. Epic is a model category: size near the top of the break profile, long-period groundswell from one dominant direction, and light or offshore wind. It describes those forecast ingredients lining up, without confirming the waves on camera.
Why Swell Lens can show a different score
Lens applies the seafloor model to estimated surf height where suitable data is available, then recalculates the model score. Spot pages and Surf Finder do not apply that adjustment. Where fine seafloor data is unavailable, Lens uses the base forecast. Neither score includes tide or human observations.
Seafloor detail varies by location. The chart identifies its source and marks coarse coverage. Small reefs and changing sandbars may be missing, so the chart is a guide to how swell bends rather than a measurement of the waves breaking today.
Where the data comes from
- Swell and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
- US tide predictions: NOAA CO-OPS. Wave observations: NOAA National Data Buoy Center.
- Seafloor charts: NOAA NCEI coastal elevation models and ETOPO 2022, plus EMODnet Bathymetry in Europe and the Mediterranean.
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