Redhead surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 2am
2 ft · sets to 3
Fair-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
- Swell1.7 ft · 8 s · SEMakes the wave: 17% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 1.1 ft · 5 s · ENESecondary: 73% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind11 mph from the NECross-shore to a shoreline facing 152°Moderate
- Tide-0.4 ft, risingNext high 0.4 ft at 4:54am · NAVD88, TICON newcastle-60310-aus-bom predicted (no observed source in AU)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 4 ft of water
- Energy24 kJHeight² × period²Marginal
- Water69° · air — · UV 0
High confidence.
Best window6–11am · also 11am–8pm
Against what Redhead likesWhy it is Fair-Good, not 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 2amMerewether, Newcastle Beach and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand under a bluff, with reef at the southern end
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand under a bluff, with reef at the southern 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 focuses it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 2am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
1.7 ft at 8s from the SE carrying 17% of the energy, plus 1.1 ft at 5s from the ENE (73%).
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 1.13 · 75% 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 4 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
11 mph from the NE, against a shoreline facing 152°.
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 Redhead worksAn open beach beneath a red bluff south of Newcastle, more…
An open beach beneath a red bluff south of Newcastle, more exposed than Merewether and correspondingly bigger. The southern corner under the headland is the shelter when the wind is up.
- Best tidemid
- Best swellS–SE swell
- Suitsintermediate
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Redhead
- What is the best tide for Redhead?
- Redhead 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 Redhead?
- S–SE swell suits Redhead 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 Redhead good for beginners?
- Redhead suits intermediate surfers, over sand under a bluff, with reef at the southern 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 Redhead?
- sand under a bluff, with reef at the southern 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 Redhead on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.