Broken Head surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 5pm
5–6 ft · sets to 8
FairBest available today 5–7pm
Swell lines up; 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 5pm readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell5.7 ft · 8 s · EMakes the wave: 85% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 2.4 ft · 9 s · SESecondary: 15% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind4 mph from the ENEOnshore to a shoreline facing 105°Light
- Tide1.2 ft, fallingNext low -1.3 ft at 10:56pm · NAVD88, TICON brunswick_heads-202403-aus-bom predicted (no observed source in AU)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 10 ft of water
- Energy203 kJHeight² × period²Punchy
- Water72° · air — · UV 1
High confidence.
Best window5–7pm
No strong window today. Best available: 5–7pm, fair.
Against what Broken Head likesWhy it is Fair, not Fair-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 5pmThe Pass, Lennox Head and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand over a rock shelf under the headland
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand over a rock shelf under the headland
- 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 is neutral here, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 5pm). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
5.7 ft at 8s from the E carrying 85% of the energy, plus 2.4 ft at 9s from the SE (15%).
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 0.94 · 92% 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
1.2 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 10 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
4 mph from the ENE, against a shoreline facing 105°.
Too light to shape the face either way. At this speed the wave's own texture wins, whatever the direction.
How Broken Head worksA right off the headland a few kilometres south of Byron,…
A right off the headland a few kilometres south of Byron, exposed to more swell than The Pass and considerably less busy. Works on a smaller swell than the Cape needs, because it does not rely on a long wrap to get there.
- Best tidemid to low
- Best swellE–SE swell
- Suitsintermediate
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Broken Head
- What is the best tide for Broken Head?
- Broken Head 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 Broken Head?
- E–SE swell suits Broken Head 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 Broken Head good for beginners?
- Broken Head suits intermediate surfers, over sand over a rock shelf under the headland. 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 Broken Head?
- sand over a rock shelf under the headland. 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 Broken Head on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.