South-east Queensland and Northern NSW Surf Forecast by James Casey (issued Friday 9th April)

Best Days: Moment of calm on Saturday. Tuesday morning for N NSW and Mid N Coast. 

Outlook:

• First S change bringing moderate 3ft S swell for N NSW and Mid N Coast 
• Second stronger S change to move through on Sunday with larger S swell peaking around Tuesday. With light offshore winds for most of the day 
• Easing into the Wednesday/Thursday with offshore winds tending N as yet another S change approaches around the middle of the day on Thursday/Friday

Recap

The run of waves continues. Yesterday the swell seemed to ease a little, around the 3-5ft mark earlier in the day before pulsing in the afternoon to reach 4-5ft in the afternoon. Winds were generally out of the S, more S/SW in some spots and more SE further north. Southern points, coves, bays and corners were the pick.

This morning winds were light and generally offshore. Waves were generally 3-5ft, a little bigger around the Mid N Coast up around the 4-5ft mark and a little smaller on the Sunny Coast more like 3ft. Winds built out of the N as the day went on creating a bit of bump for the southern ends of beaches but opening up other spots that have been a mess for most the week. 

The weekend and into next week

The nice waves on Friday morning will get a little funky in the afternoon as a NE breeze builds across the region. While it’ll make southern ends a bit bumpy it will open up a few more exposed locations.

Winds will swing back offshore early tomorrow as a weak S change moves in for the Mid N Coast but doesn’t quite make it up the coast and gets stuck around Yamba, becoming E/SE into the afternoon. North of Yamba winds will strengthen out of the N with a hint of W in it. This will mean northern ends of beaches will be the pick. The main thing this S change will do is push the low away from our coastline.

The swell will peter out tomorrow with just 3ft waves on offer from what’s left of the low, more like 2ft for the Sunny Coast and 2-3ft for the Gold Coast. Meanwhile a moderate S swell will begin to fill in for the Mid N Coast during the afternoon, reaching southern parts of N NSW by the evening. This swell, generated from the weak S change, won’t pack much of a punch, reaching 3-4ft on dark.

Sunday and Monday will see a stronger S swell begin to fill in across the region with another, stronger S change will move through and cool the air temperature down.

This larger S swell will originate from S winds to the east of Tassie and up the entire east coast. 

It’ll hit the Mid N Coast first but the trend will be similar for N NSW just a few hours delayed. The swell will arrive on Sunday reaching 3-4ft by the afternoon for the Mid N Coast, more like 2ft for N NSW. 

It will continue to build into Monday to a 4-6ft peak late in the day for the Mid N Coast, more like a Tuesday morning peak for N NSW. For the Mid N Coast Tuesday will still see plenty of size early but it will gradually ease throughout the day to 4ft by the afternoon, N NSW will see plenty of size for most the day on Tuesday. 

For the Mid N Coast, Wednesday will just see remnants of the swell left, around 3ft easing to 2ft by the afternoon. N NSW will see 3-4ft early easing to 2-3ft by the afternoon. Thursday will only see 2ft of swell easing throughout the day. 

SE QLD will have a similar trend to N NSW but overall it’ll be a bit smaller as is always the case for S swells. I’d expect a 3ft peak on Tuesday for S swell magnets on the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast missing out on most of the action. 

Conditions wise, the first day of this swell I’d expect to be stuck in a southern corner or at least a southern end of a beach as fresh to strong S/SW winds look to persist for most of Monday. 

Winds will ease on Tuesday and be light and offshore early before strengthening out of the NE into the afternoon, more E/NE for SE QLD. This will allow you to hit a S swell magnet as N winds keep things clean at S facing beaches. 

On Wednesday, winds will strengthen out of the N/NW allowing you to hit the exposed open beaches and make the most of what is left of the swell. 

The end of next week

Yet another S change will make it’s way up the coast on Thursday. Winds will be light and offshore early though and with a 2-3ft swell hanging around there’ll be smaller but fun waves on offer early. 

By the early afternoon on Thursday the S change will have reached both the Mid N Coast and N NSW, while an infeed of N winds ahead of the change will create some bumpier conditions for SE QLD.

The S change will have filled in across the entire region by Friday morning as a mid period S swell fills in as well. This mid period swell will be whipped up by a front moving up from Tassie and along the east coast. 

Unfortunately winds look like they’ll be fairly onshore out of the E/SE and fresh to strong meaning you’ll need to stick to protected southern corners. 

Later in the weekend winds look to become more light and variable on Saturday before strengthening out of the W as yet another strong S change moves through at the start of the following week. More on that next week when I update the forecast.