Avoca Beach surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 5pm
5–6 ft · sets to 7
Poor-FairBest available today 5–8pm
Swell lines up. Wind is the limiting factor.
The wave field solved for this hour on the real seafloor, playing forward. A model, not a camera.
Loads when it comes into view.The wave field solved for this hour on the real seafloor, playing forward. A model, not a camera.
This hour
The 5pm readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell5.2 ft · 9 s · SEMakes the wave: 97% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.9 ft · 10 s · ENESecondary: 3% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind12 mph from the EOnshore to a shoreline facing 105°Moderate
- Tide-0.8 ft, fallingNext low -1.5 ft at 7:22pm · NAVD88, TICON patonga-212440-aus-bom predicted (no observed source in AU)
- BreakerPlungingBreaks in about 9 ft of water
- Energy209 kJHeight² × period²Punchy
- Water67° · air — · UV 2
High confidence.
Best window5–8pm
No strong window today. Onshore wind all day; lightest 7–8pm.
Against what Avoca Beach likesWhy it is Poor-Fair, not Fair
Preferred tide and swell are surfer-consensus notes for this spot, not yet reviewed against measurements. Wind is judged by the general rule (light or offshore helps). No percent match: these are plain states and reasons.
Nearby at 5pmNorth Narrabeen, Dee Why Point and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand, with a rock reef at the north end
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand, with a rock reef at the north end
- DepthNSW Marine LiDAR Topo-Bathy 2018 (5 m, AHD). Depth shown is below the selected hour’s tide.
- CoverageRock reef and headland shapes resolve well. Nearshore sandbars are interpolated flat in this dataset, so a beachbreak’s bar is not in the picture. A tile’s year is its publication, not the survey date.
Why it breaks like thisTwo swells at once, the seafloor spreads it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 5pm). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
5.2 ft at 9s from the SE carrying 97% of the energy, plus 0.9 ft at 10s from the ENE (3%).
The shorter, steeper train is carrying most of the energy here, so expect a choppier, less organised lineup than the longest period in the list would suggest on its own. Why period matters more than height
The seafloor spreads it
Kr 0.74 · 80% of modelled rays break.
Energy is fanning outwards over the bottom here, so the wave arrives smaller than the open-ocean swell height suggests. Nothing is wrong with the forecast. The seafloor took the difference. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
Where it trips
-0.8 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 9 ft of water.
A wave breaks when the water gets shallow enough relative to its height, so that depth is a contour on the seafloor, and the tide slides the whole break up and down it through the day. Same swell, different spot, a few hours apart. How the tide moves the break
Wind is onshore
12 mph from the E, against a shoreline facing 105°.
Pushing into the back of the wave from the sea, making it crumble and break early instead of standing up. Note this is measured against the angle THIS break faces, which is why one spot can be blown out while the one round the headland is fine.
How Avoca Beach worksA short beach between headlands with a reef at the north end…
A short beach between headlands with a reef at the north end and a lagoon mouth that moves the banks around. The most consistent and most surfed wave on the Central Coast.
- Best tidemid
- Best swellS–SE swell
- Suitsintermediate
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Avoca Beach
- What is the best tide for Avoca Beach?
- Avoca Beach works best on mid tide. Tide matters because depth is what trips a wave: as the water fills in, the break slides shoreward onto a different part of the bottom, and over a shallow bank enough water stops it breaking at all. Our forecast solves each hour at that hour's real water level rather than assuming one.
- What swell direction is best for Avoca Beach?
- S–SE swell suits Avoca Beach best. The direction that matters is the one at the break, not the one on the buoy: the seafloor bends swell on its way in, so a spot can work on an angle the open coast is missing. We model that bending for each break rather than reporting the offshore direction.
- Is Avoca Beach good for beginners?
- Avoca Beach suits intermediate surfers, over sand, with a rock reef at the north end. That is the wave this bottom makes on an average day, and it moves: the same break is a different proposition on a bigger swell or a different tide, so read the day's forecast rather than the label.
- What is the bottom like at Avoca Beach?
- sand, with a rock reef at the north end. It is the reason this break behaves the way it does: the shape of the seabed decides where the swell focuses, where it trips, and whether it spills or pitches. We model Avoca Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.