South-east Queensland and Northern NSW Surf Forecast by James Casey (issued Wednesday 21st April)

Best Days: Saturday, Sunday morning

Outlook:

• Small waves on Thursday and Friday
• Longer period S swell to fill in on Saturday easing into Sunday
• Another S swell for to move up the coast Tuesday/Wednesday with strong S/SE winds
• Easing Thursday

Recap

N NSW and the MNC saw 3-4ft waves yesterday while SE QLD only had 1-2ft waves at exposed locations, tiny elsewhere. Winds were mainly light and offshore early before N winds increased throughout the day making it bumpy in some locations. 

Today it’s a bit smaller, 2-3ft south of the border and once again small for SE QLD more like 1-1.5ft. Winds are out of the NNW so it’s a bit bumpy for SE QLD while south of the border northern ends of beaches are cleanest and picking up the most swell.

Into the weekend

Today the swell will ease throughout the day while a S change moves up the coast reaching Port Macquarie by the middle of the day, Coffs harbour by the early afternoon and filling in out of the SE by the late afternoon for N NSW. SE QLD will see winds swing around to the SW before becoming light and variable later in the day. 

Wave wise there won’t be a lot on offer tomorrow. Just a little S wind swell from the change that moved up the coast today. South of the border will be around the 2ft mark while SE QLD will be tiny, around the 1ft mark. Tomorrow winds will be offshore early before tending NW later in the day, more of a light and variable seabreeze for MNC. 

It’s looking like a similar story for Friday, even smaller as that S windswell fades out. It’ll be small, 1-2ft waves, ahead of a longer period S swell looking to fill in over the weekend. SW winds early, becoming light and variable out of the SE later in the day. 

A longer period S swell will begin to fill in on Saturday morning for the MNC, around the middle of the day for N NSW and in the early evening for SE QLD. South of the border this swell will be up around the 4ft at swell magnets but due to the acute angle of the swell it will struggle to really fill in for most locations in SE QLD, just the more exposed S swell magnets will see 2ft of this swell. A strong front pushing up and around Tassie and a little burst of winds out of the eastern Bass Strait are the source of this energy. 

Winds will be light and variable for most of the day, mainly SW for Saturday early, swinging around to the SE later in the afternoon. 

The swell will begin to ease late on Sunday, down to 2-3ft by the afternoon, and with stronger S/SE winds building following a morning of SW winds you're best off getting out earlier in the day. It will remain small for SE QLD. 

The new week

A SE windswell will fill in on Monday following the stronger winds on Sunday afternoon with 2-3ft waves continuing to start the week. This windswell will peak on Tuesday and fill in better for SE QLD, around 2ft+, providing a bit more energy than was experienced over the weekend. 

Another longer period S swell looks to fill in throughout the day on Tuesday thanks to yet another strong front pushing up to the east of Tassie. A ridge of high pressure will direct SE winds across the region meaning southern corners will be the best option for quality waves. The swell will peak on Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday around 3-4ft at S swell magnets before easing into Thursday. With the persistent S/SE winds there will be a fair bit of windswell added to the mix as well so don’t expect anything too special from this swell event. 

On Monday I mentioned a bit of tropical activity that could materialise as swell for us. It has shifted with just the chance of some E swell at this stage but let’s keep an eye on it. Tune in on Friday for an updated forecast.