Sawtell surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 12am
4–5 ft · sets to 7
Fair-GoodBest today All day (6am–5pm)
The swell 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 12am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell4.5 ft · 8 s · EMakes the wave: 81% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 10° from ENE in deep water.
- 2.1 ft · 8 s · SESecondary: 17% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.7 ft · 9 s · ESESecondary: 2% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 11° from ESE in deep water.
- Wind2 mph from the WOffshore to a shoreline facing 87°Light
- Tide-1.3 ft, risingNext high 0.2 ft at 4:39am · NAVD88, TICON coffs_harbour-205470-aus-bom predicted (no observed source in AU)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 9 ft of water
- Energy132 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water71° · air — · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (6am–5pm)
Against what Sawtell 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 12amDiggers Beach, Angourie and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand over rock at the point, sand along the beach
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand over rock at the point, sand along the beach
- 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, it bends on the way in, the seafloor spreads it
Read from the current hour (today at 12am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
3 swells at once
4.5 ft at 8s from the E carrying 81% of the energy, plus 2.1 ft at 8s from the SE (17%), plus 0.7 ft at 9s from the ESE (2%).
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
It bends on the way in
That swell leaves deep water heading 75° and reaches the break at 85°, bent 10° on the way.
Shallow water slows a wave, so the end of the crest that reaches the shallows first swings around. That is refraction. It's why this spot can be working on a swell direction the open coast is missing, and why the swell angle on a buoy is never the angle at your break. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
The seafloor spreads it
Kr 0.85 · 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.
Where it trips
-1.3 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
Barely any wind
2 mph from the W, against a shoreline facing 87°.
Too light to shape the face either way. At this speed the wave's own texture wins, whatever the direction.
How Sawtell worksA right off the rocks at the southern end running into an open…
A right off the rocks at the southern end running into an open beach, with Boambee across the creek picking up more swell. It handles size better than anything else close to Coffs.
- Best tidemid to low
- Best swellS–SE swell
- Suitsintermediate
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Sawtell
- What is the best tide for Sawtell?
- Sawtell works best on mid to low 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 Sawtell?
- S–SE swell suits Sawtell 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 Sawtell good for beginners?
- Sawtell suits intermediate surfers, over sand over rock at the point, sand along the beach. 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 Sawtell?
- sand over rock at the point, sand along the beach. 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 Sawtell on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.