South-east Queensland and Northern NSW Surf Forecast by James Casey (issued Monday 12th April)

Best Days: Tuesday morning for N NSW and Mid N Coast. Thursday morning with S/SE swell.

Outlook:

• S swell peaking around Tuesday. With light offshore winds for most of the day 
• Another S/SE swell to fill in on Wednesday/Thursday
• Yet another S swell to fill in on Saturday into Sunday
• Plenty of offshore winds to make the most of the swell on offer

Recap

Waves were generally small for most the forecast region over the weekend, around the 2ft mark for SE QLD and more like 3ft for N NSW. Winds were offshore most the day with a weak onshore flow puffing up in the afternoon creating some little bumps. 

Monday saw 3ft waves along N NSW early before picking up to 3-4ft by the afternoon as a new S/SE swell began to fill in. For SE QLD there were some overhead waves at S swell magnets, like Dbah, but most spots were more like 2ft.

The new week

This new S swell, generated by strong S winds east of Tassie and up the entire east coast, will peak on Tuesday around the 4-6ft mark, smaller for SE QLD. With winds light and offshore for most the morning for NSW there’ll be some decent waves around. Winds will go onshore and around to the NE later in the day opening up S facing beaches in the afternoon. 

SE QLD will have a nice land breeze early before SE winds keeping the best conditions in southern corners where there won’t be much swell wrapping in. 

The swell will ease on Wednesday morning hitting a brief low point around lunchtime before another more S/SE pulse fills in during the late afternoon/overnight. The Mid N Coast will see the swell arrive first in the evening, there’s a chance you won’t see it until Thursday early.

N NSW and SE QLD won’t see the swell until Thursday while north of the border won’t see as much size but it will fair slightly better than the previous swell on Monday due to a bit more of an easterly component in this swell. 

Size wise I’d expect Wednesday morning to be around the 3ft+ mark. Thursday morning will be around the 4-5ft mark as the swell peaks before easing into Friday.

Winds on both Wednesday and Thursday will be out of the N with a S change approaching. It’ll be more W in the morning and more E in the afternoon. Get out in the morning for the best conditions but the afternoons should still be ok in northern corners. 

Friday will see a S change move up the coast. Reaching the Mid N coast pre dawn, N NSW by lunchtime and filling into SE QLD by the evening. 

Waves will be easing on Friday, leftover 3ft S/SE swell. With the S change moving through, it’ll be better if you can get in the more exposed spots before the wind change as N NSW will have a nice offshore breeze before winds swing around to the S. 

The weekend and next week

Once the S change has moved in it looks like it’ll really settle in for the start of the weekend. Winds will remain SE for most of Saturday before easing and becoming light and variable for Sunday.

Swell wise we will have a decent S groundswell moving up the coast. Reaching 4-5ft at it’s peak on Sunday and lingering into the start of new week. This swell will originate from strong SW winds associated with the front to the south and east of Tassie. 

Monday will see the swell easing to 3-4ft in the morning 3ft by the afternoon and remain around 2ft from Tuesday.

Winds will be offshore to start the week so it’s not looking bad. 

Tuen in for an update on Wednesday.