Stanwell Park surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 2am
1–2 ft
GoodBest today 6–11am
Swell lines up. Size 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 2am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell1.2 ft · 5 s · NESecondary: 87% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 1.0 ft · 9 s · SEMakes the wave: 5% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.7 ft · 7 s · SSESecondary: 3% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind5 mph from the NWOffshore to a shoreline facing 139°Light
- Tide-0.4 ft, risingNext high 0.3 ft at 4:49am · NAVD88, TICON port_kembla-60420-aus-bom predicted (no observed source in AU)
- BreakerPlungingBreaks in about 2 ft of water
- Energy22 kJHeight² × period²Marginal
- Water66° · air — · UV 0
High confidence.
Best window6–11am
Against what Stanwell Park likesWhy it is Good, not Epic
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 2amSandon Point, Cronulla Point and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand at the creek mouth under the escarpment
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand at the creek mouth under the escarpment
- 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 this3 swells at once, the seafloor focuses it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 2am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
3 swells at once
1.0 ft at 9s from the SE carrying 5% of the energy, plus 1.2 ft at 5s from the NE (87%), plus 0.7 ft at 7s from the SSE (3%).
The long-period train is the one building your wave. It holds the most energy and reaches deepest. The shorter ones cross it, which is what makes the surface look busy and the takeoff shift around. Why period matters more than height
The seafloor focuses it
Kr 1.06 · 20% of modelled rays break.
Contours underneath are bending wave energy together into a band. That concentration is the peak, and it's why this spot can be noticeably bigger than its neighbours on the same swell. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
Where it trips
-0.4 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 2 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
Barely any wind
5 mph from the NW, against a shoreline facing 139°.
Too light to shape the face either way. At this speed the wave's own texture wins, whatever the direction.
How Stanwell Park worksA beach at the foot of the Illawarra escarpment where a creek…
A beach at the foot of the Illawarra escarpment where a creek mouth builds the banks and the headlands at either end give shelter depending on the wind. The first good wave south of Sydney.
- Best tidemid
- Best swellS–SE swell
- Suitsintermediate
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Stanwell Park
- What is the best tide for Stanwell Park?
- Stanwell Park 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 Stanwell Park?
- S–SE swell suits Stanwell Park 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 Stanwell Park good for beginners?
- Stanwell Park suits intermediate surfers, over sand at the creek mouth under the escarpment. 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 Stanwell Park?
- sand at the creek mouth under the escarpment. 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 Stanwell Park on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.