NOAA/NDBC latest observations
Primary real observation source when a station reports wave height, period and direction.
public_text_feed
United States, Pacific islands, selected international partner stations
View sourceData sources
Where SwellOracle swell readings come from
SwellOracle separates real observations from marine models. That distinction matters: a buoy measures the ocean with an instrument; a model estimates conditions where nearby measurements do not exist.
Integrated countries and buoy counts
Australia: 14; Spain: 11; Ireland: 5; New Zealand: 1; Japan: 23; Canada: 19; United States: 7. Total: 80 stations included in the real-observation catalog.
Integrated sources include AODN/IMOS, Puertos del Estado, Marine Institute Ireland, Environment Canterbury, NOWPHAS/MLIT, ECCC/DFO via NDBC and NOAA/NDBC.
Stations are now connected to their regional hubs, with new national hubs created for Japan, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.
How status is validated
A station is treated as operational only when it provides a recent reading and useful surf variables such as wave height, period or direction.
Chile, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa remain outside this count because their current sources do not yet provide a stable integrated endpoint.
Global coverage: Open-Meteo Marine
Open-Meteo Marine lets SwellOracle cover coasts without nearby buoys using named model points. Those points provide total wave, primary swell, secondary swell, wind wave, period and direction.
These readings should not be presented as real buoys. In the app they are labelled as marine model data so users know they are forecast-derived estimates.
Next real sources
The next priority is Copernicus Marine In-Situ for Mediterranean, European and global platform observations. After that, AODN/IMOS is the best candidate for Australia.
Regional national connectors can follow one by one: DHN in Peru, NOWPHAS/JMA in Japan, INCOIS in India, KHOA/KMA in Korea, Taiwan CWA, PNBOIA in Brazil, SHOA in Chile, NIWA/MetOcean in New Zealand and South African services.
How to read coverage
Availability depends on the source, station, and published variable. A page may exist even when its latest observation is old or when there is not yet enough history to draw a 24-hour series.
SwellOracle shows the source type, update time, and available variables so you can distinguish a recent measurement from a historical reference or a model estimate.
Before entering the water, compare height, period, and direction with your beach exposure and check official marine warnings. SwellOracle data supports a decision; it does not guarantee conditions or replace maritime authorities.
Editorial and search status
Editorial guides, methodology, the editorial policy and the data-corrections page are published as original content with authorship, review dates and links to relevant sources.
Station pages remain available in the app. The sitemap prioritizes an editorial selection of real references with recent readings, so a technical catalog does not compete with useful session-planning guides.
Read the applied guides for Orange County, central Chile and deciding whether to trust a surf reading before you paddle out.
The Orange County Killer Surf Links partnership pilot now connects seven breaks to their NOAA/NDBC buoy pairs and direct Surfability Score™ pages.
Connectable sources
This registry separates sources already active from candidate networks for adding real buoys in new areas.
Active now
Open-Meteo Marine
Global model fallback used for named model points where real wave buoys are sparse; Chilean coast model points are refreshed as active stations.
DHN / Naylamp Peru wave forecasts
Official Peruvian wave forecast maps and coastal products. Current public pages expose images, not reusable point observations, so SwellOracle keeps them separate from real buoy data.
Copernicus Marine point model
Backend can use this when COPERNICUS_MARINE_POINT_URL is configured.
configured_point_api
global, Mediterranean, Europe, southern hemisphere
Copernicus Marine In-Situ observations
Real in-situ wave observations are queried for configured regions, including Denmark and nearby North Sea platforms when Copernicus exposes useful wave variables.
AODN / IMOS observations
Australian wave buoy observations are loaded from AODN THREDDS/OPeNDAP for the seeded East Australia, West Australia and Tasmania stations.
Puertos del Estado oceanographic networks
Active production connector through the public Portus real-time sea-state feed. Uses explicit station mappings and keeps coastal and deep-water observations identified separately.
Marine Institute Ireland buoy observations
Irish Marine Data Buoy Observation Network. The connector reads the latest 48 hours and keeps the newest sample per buoy.
Environment Canterbury wave buoy observations
Canterbury Wave Buoy measurements from Environment Canterbury / Earth Sciences NZ.
NOWPHAS Japan wave observations
Public real-time XML map feed from Japan's MLIT NOWPHAS network.
ECCC/DFO Canada buoy observations
Canadian Pacific buoy observations are processed by ECCC and distributed through the public NDBC latest-observations feed.
Prioritized candidates
SHOA / Chile oceanographic observations
Verified public CENDHOC wave-data endpoint for Chilean observations. Integration remains gated on stable response/schema checks and confirmed reuse terms before presenting measurements as live buoy data.
DHN / Peru oceanographic observations
Candidate for Peruvian coastal observations if a public, reusable feed with wave height, period and direction can be confirmed.
Brazil PNBOIA / national buoy networks
Candidate for Brazil and South Atlantic coverage through official Brazilian marine observations.
INCOIS / India ocean observations
Candidate for India and Indian Ocean coverage if public wave feeds can be consumed reliably.
Other regional national wave networks
Use one connector per official provider once API format, license and reliability are confirmed.
provider_specific_connectors_needed
Korea, Taiwan, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay
Current model coverage
These points are not real buoys: they are named model references for coastlines without nearby instrument coverage.
New Zealand
Northland west coast model, Northland east coast model, Raglan coast model
Brazil
Para coast model, Ceara coast model, Rio Grande do Norte coast model
Chile
Arica coast model, Iquique coast model, Antofagasta coast model
Peru
North Peru coast model, Bayovar coast model, Salaverry coast model
Australia
New South Wales coast model, Queensland coast model, Victoria coast model
Spain
Galicia coast model, Canary Islands model, Balearic Islands model
Italy
Ligurian Sea model, West Sardinia model, Sicily coast model
Greece
Crete coast model, Aegean Sea model, Ionian Greece model
Indonesia
Bali coast model, Mentawai coast model, South Java model
Practical takeaway
When a good nearby buoy exists, use it as real confirmation. When it does not, a clearly labelled model point provides useful coverage without confusing measurement and estimation.