Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Surf Report & Ideal Conditions
See your personalized forecast for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
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Download LazySurfer →Best conditions for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is most often good on a 4–6 ft medium-period (8–16s) swell from the E, with glassy / no wind from the N, on a low incoming tide — the conditions LazySurfer surfers have logged and rated highest here.
| Ideal wave height | 4–6 ft |
| Ideal period | medium-period (8–16s) |
| Best swell direction | E |
| Best wind | glassy / no wind from the N |
| Best tide | low & incoming |
These best-conditions estimates come from real sessions LazySurfer users rated highly at this break — not an editorial guess (moderate-confidence read). In the app, LazySurfer's custom deep-learning model predicts your own 1–5★ rating at about 90% exact-match accuracy (97.6% within one star). How LazySurfer works →
Current conditions
Latest reading from the nearest NOAA buoys (UTC 2026-10-18 12:56 UTC). LazySurfer reads this same public NDBC data directly — no proprietary smoothing. New to buoy data? See how to read a NOAA buoy.
| Wave height | 16.1 ft |
| Dominant period | 13s |
| Swell direction | ENE (61°) |
| Wave buoy | NDBC station 41120 (13 mi away) |
| Wind | 30 kt from the NNE — NDBC HCGN7 (11 mi away) |
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 7-day surf forecast
Model wave & wind outlook for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from NOAA's GEFS-Wave model, refreshed daily. Heights are open-water swell (face heights at the break are typically larger).
| Day | Swell height | Period & direction | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Oct 18 | 9–10 ft | 12s E | 34 kt NNE |
| Mon Oct 19 | 9–11 ft | 13s E | 35 kt NNE |
| Tue Oct 20 | 8–9 ft | 11s E | 29 kt N |
| Wed Oct 21 | 8–9 ft | 12s E | 27 kt N |
| Thu Oct 22 | 5–8 ft | 11s E | 23 kt N |
| Fri Oct 23 | 5–6 ft | 10s E | 21 kt NNE |
| Sat Oct 24 | 6–7 ft | 9s E | 24 kt NE |
Tide
Predicted tide for the next two days from NOAA station 8654467 (Hatteras (ocean)), the nearest tide station (11 mi away). Times local.
- 2026-06-06 02:02 — High 0.286 ft
- 2026-06-06 08:32 — Low 0.013 ft
- 2026-06-06 14:09 — High 0.144 ft
- 2026-06-06 20:08 — Low -0.045 ft
- 2026-06-07 02:40 — High 0.272 ft
- 2026-06-07 09:13 — Low 0.002 ft
Frequently asked
Is Cape Hatteras Lighthouse working right now?
As of the latest buoy reading (2026-10-18 12:56 UTC), Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is marginal: the live 6 ft+ medium-period swell from the NE is off its ideal E direction and is bigger than usual, and the wind is strong from the NE.
Is Cape Hatteras Lighthouse good for beginners?
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is best suited to experienced surfers — it's most often good on larger 4–6 ft surf that breaks with more power than beginners should take on. Conditions change daily, so always check the live report on this page before paddling out.
What's the best tide for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse?
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse tends to be best on a low incoming tide — the tide stage LazySurfer surfers have rated highest here. Tide changes how the swell breaks, so check the two-day tide chart on this page for today's high and low times.
What swell direction is best for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse?
The best swell direction for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is from the east (E). Swell arriving from the east lines up best with how this break faces, which is when LazySurfer surfers have rated it highest.
What's the best wind for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse?
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is most often good when it's glassy, with little to no wind — the conditions LazySurfer surfers have rated highest here. Light or offshore wind keeps the wave face clean; check the live report on this page for current wind.
Where does LazySurfer's surf data for Cape Hatteras Lighthouse come from?
LazySurfer reads public data directly from NOAA's National Data Buoy Center and the National Weather Service — the nearest NDBC wave buoy (station 41120) and the nearest NOAA tide station (Hatteras (ocean)). The same raw readings NOAA publishes, with no proprietary smoothing.
Does LazySurfer predict whether Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is good for me?
Yes. LazySurfer trains a custom deep-learning model — a PyTorch neural network with per-user embeddings, retrained weekly on real logged surf sessions from the LazySurfer community — to predict the 1-to-5 star rating you personally would give, rather than a single average rating for everyone.
Nearby spots
- Lighthouse Third Groin — 0 mi
- North Buxton — 1 mi
- Buxton Coastal Hazard — 1 mi
- Billy Mitchell — 6 mi
- Avon Pier — 6 mi
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