Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 2am
5–7 ft · sets to 8
Fair-GoodBest today All day (7am–7pm)
Nothing is clearly limiting, but wind is tolerable and the tide is only near its band.
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
- Swell4.7 ft · 15 s · SSWMakes the wave: 80% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 20° from SW in deep water.
- 1.6 ft · 7 s · SWSecondary: 15% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 39° from W in deep water.
- Wind8 mph from the NWCross-shore to a shoreline facing 202°Moderate
- Tide1.3 ft, risingNext high 4.2 ft at 7:40am · NAVD88, NOAA 9414131 predicted (no live sensor)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 11 ft of water
- Energy524 kJHeight² × period²Punchy
- Water60° · air 55° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (7am–7pm)
Against what Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) 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 2amDunes Beach (Half Moon Bay), Mavericks and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand + jetty rock (NW-sheltered)
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand + jetty rock (NW-sheltered)
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2022), relative to NAVD88. 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, it bends on the way in, the seafloor is neutral here
Read from the current hour (today at 2am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
4.7 ft at 15s from the SSW carrying 80% of the energy, plus 1.6 ft at 7s from the SW (15%).
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
It bends on the way in
That swell leaves deep water heading 229° and reaches the break at 209°, bent 20° 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 is neutral here
Kr 0.90 · 86% of modelled rays break.
Energy arrives roughly as it left deep water: this bottom neither concentrates the swell nor fans it out, so what the buoy sees is close to what you get.
Where it trips
1.3 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 11 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
8 mph from the NW, against a shoreline facing 202°.
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 the sets come
About one set every 3 min, roughly 9 waves in it.
Swell arrives in groups, not evenly. That spacing is what you are really timing your paddle-out to, and it's why the lineup can look flat for minutes and then produce five waves at once.
How Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) worksA mellow, wind-protected wave in the lee of Pillar Point
A mellow, wind-protected wave in the lee of Pillar Point — longboards, SUPs, learners.
- Best tidemid
- Best swellS–SW
- Suitsbeginner
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Pillar Point (Surfers Beach)
- What is the best tide for Pillar Point (Surfers Beach)?
- Pillar Point (Surfers 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 Pillar Point (Surfers Beach)?
- S–SW suits Pillar Point (Surfers 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 Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) good for beginners?
- Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) suits beginner surfers, over sand + jetty rock. 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 Pillar Point (Surfers Beach)?
- sand + jetty rock (NW-sheltered). 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 Pillar Point (Surfers Beach) on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.