Freshwater surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 2pm
4–5 ft · sets to 6
Poor-FairBest available today All day (2–8pm)
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 2pm readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell4.2 ft · 9 s · SEMakes the wave: 92% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.8 ft · 14 s · SSESecondary: 4% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 26° from S in deep water.
- Wind11 mph from the ESEOnshore to a shoreline facing 104°Moderate
- Tide1.5 ft, fallingNext low -1.4 ft at 8:22pm · NAVD88, TICON sydney_fort_denison-60370-aus-bom predicted (no observed source in AU)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 8 ft of water
- Energy125 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water68° · air — · UV 9
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (2–8pm)
No strong window today. Onshore wind all day; lightest 7–8pm.
Against what Freshwater 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 2pmCurl Curl, Manly and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand, with rock at both ends
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand, with rock at both ends
- 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 2pm). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
4.2 ft at 9s from the SE carrying 92% of the energy, plus 0.8 ft at 14s from the SSE (4%).
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 0.71 · 90% 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
1.5 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 8 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
11 mph from the ESE, against a shoreline facing 104°.
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 Freshwater worksThe beach where Duke Kahanamoku gave his 1914 demonstration,…
The beach where Duke Kahanamoku gave his 1914 demonstration, and still a good, honest beachbreak held between two headlands. The southern corner shelters from a northeasterly and the middle takes the swell.
- Best tidemid
- Best swellS–SE swell
- Suitsintermediate
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Freshwater
- What is the best tide for Freshwater?
- Freshwater 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 Freshwater?
- S–SE swell suits Freshwater 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 Freshwater good for beginners?
- Freshwater suits intermediate surfers, over sand, with rock at both ends. 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 Freshwater?
- sand, with rock at both ends. 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 Freshwater on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.