Palm Beach surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 1pm
4–5 ft · sets to 7
FairBest available today All day (1–6pm)
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 1pm readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell6.0 ft · 6 s · ESEMakes the wave: 78% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 3.2 ft · 10 s · SESecondary: 22% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 28° from SSE in deep water.
- Wind14 mph from the ESECross-shore to a shoreline facing 56°Strong
- Tide1.6 ft, fallingNext low -1.2 ft at 7:39pm · NAVD88, TICON gold_coast_southport-60051-aus-bom predicted (no observed source in AU)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 9 ft of water
- Energy174 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water72° · air — · UV 9
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (1–6pm)
No strong window today. Best available: All day (1–6pm), fair.
Against what Palm Beach likesWhy it is Fair, not Fair-Good
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 1pmBurleigh Heads, Currumbin Alley and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand over the artificial reef and the natural banks either side of it
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand over the artificial reef and the natural banks either side of it
- 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 1pm). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
6.0 ft at 6s from the ESE carrying 78% of the energy, plus 3.2 ft at 10s from the SE (22%).
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 0.70 · 92% 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
1.6 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 cross-shore
14 mph from the ESE, against a shoreline facing 56°.
Running across the face rather than into or against it. Less destructive than a straight onshore, but it puts a texture on the wall and can make the peak harder to read.
How Palm Beach worksA long open beach that holds a swell the points are too small…
A long open beach that holds a swell the points are too small for, with banks that shift through the season and an artificial reef at the north end. Works through the tide and takes the overflow when the Superbank is crowded.
- Best tidemid
- Best swellE–SE swell
- Suitsintermediate
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Palm Beach
- What is the best tide for Palm Beach?
- Palm 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 Palm Beach?
- E–SE swell suits Palm 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 Palm Beach good for beginners?
- Palm Beach suits intermediate surfers, over sand over the artificial reef and the natural banks either side of it. 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 Palm Beach?
- sand over the artificial reef and the natural banks either side of it. 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 Palm Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.