Bondi surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 8pm
3 ft · sets to 4
Fair-GoodNo window today · next tomorrow 6–11am
Wind and the tide hold it back.
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 8pm readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell2.9 ft · 5 s · ENESecondary: 55% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 2.4 ft · 8 s · SEMakes the wave: 39% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.9 ft · 10 s · ENESecondary: 6% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind16 mph from the NECross-shore to a shoreline facing 152°Strong
- Tide-1.1 ft, fallingNext low -1.4 ft at 9:28pm · NAVD88, TICON sydney_fort_denison-60370-aus-bom predicted (no observed source in AU)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 5 ft of water
- Energy88 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water68° · air — · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowNone today · next Tomorrow 6–11am
No usable window in daylight today.
Against what Bondi 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 8pmTamarama, Maroubra and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand, with rock at both ends and the Backpackers Express rip at the north
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand, with rock at both ends and the Backpackers Express rip at the north
- 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 is neutral here, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 8pm). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
3 swells at once
2.4 ft at 8s from the SE carrying 39% of the energy, plus 2.9 ft at 5s from the ENE (55%), plus 0.9 ft at 10s from the ENE (6%).
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 is neutral here
Kr 0.98 · 31% 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. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
Where it trips
-1.1 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 5 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
16 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 Bondi worksHalf a kilometre of sand between two headlands, with banks that…
Half a kilometre of sand between two headlands, with banks that shift through the year and a north end that shelters from a southerly. Not the best wave in Sydney and never claimed to be — but on a clean south swell with a bank at the south end it is a genuinely good one.
- Best tidemid
- Best swellS–SE swell
- Suitsbeginner
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Bondi
- What is the best tide for Bondi?
- Bondi 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 Bondi?
- S–SE swell suits Bondi 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 Bondi good for beginners?
- Bondi suits beginner surfers, over sand, with rock at both ends and the Backpackers Express rip at the north. 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 Bondi?
- sand, with rock at both ends and the Backpackers Express rip at the north. 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 Bondi on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.