What is the Buoy API?
The Buoy API gives you programmatic access to real-time and historical ocean observation data from an international network of wave buoys, weather stations, and surf spots. Data is sourced from official networks including Candhis, Météo France, NOAA/NDBC, Sofar Ocean, and others. Every response uses a consistent{status, data, meta} envelope, making it easy to integrate into any stack.
Quickstart
Make your first API call in under 5 minutes.
Authentication
Understand how API key authentication works.
France Buoys Guide
Fetch all active buoys for a country in one call.
API Reference
Browse the full endpoint documentation.
Key Features
Real-time buoy readings
Real-time buoy readings
Access the latest wave height, period, direction, and water temperature from hundreds of active buoys worldwide. Readings are typically updated every 30 minutes.
Country and geographic filtering
Country and geographic filtering
Filter buoys by ISO country code (
?country=FR), geographic bounding box, or a coordinates + radius query. Each response includes pagination metadata.Historical data
Historical data
Retrieve paginated historical readings per buoy with date range filters, or search for the reading closest to a specific timestamp.
Surf spots and forecasts
Surf spots and forecasts
Access surf spot data with nearby buoy and weather station associations, plus multi-day wave and weather forecasts.
Rate limiting and tracking
Rate limiting and tracking
Every response includes
X-RateLimit-* headers. Requests exceeding your hourly quota return a 429 with a retry_after value so your client can back off gracefully.API at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Base URL | https://thesurfkit.com/api/v2 |
| Auth | Authorization: Bearer <api_key> |
| Format | JSON (application/json) |
| Default rate limit | 1,000 requests / hour |
| Version | v2 (production) |
Data Sources
| Network | Region | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Candhis | France | Wave buoys |
| Météo France | France | Wave buoys |
| NOAA / NDBC | USA | Wave & weather buoys |
| Sofar Ocean | Global | Spotter buoys |
| Vegagerðin | Iceland | Wave buoys |
API access is currently by invitation. To request access, email api-support@thesurfkit.com.