Waves in Burleigh Heads

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Thursday, October 29, at 8:55 am (GMT+10)

Now · significant height 2.4 ft

Sea state: Slight · Douglas 3
Period: 6.8 s · ESE
Swell: 1.7 ft · 6 s
Highest expected: 5.0 ft

Today the sea at Burleigh Heads is slight: 2.4 ft waves with a period of 6.8 s from the east-southeast. The swell, 1.7 ft at 6 s, comes from the southeast. Biggest waves: Sunday 1, with waves up to 3.7 ft (slight).

Wave height, next 7 days

1.02.03.04.0 ft 3.7 ft Now

Significant height: the average of the highest third of the waves, what an observer would estimate by eye. Swell: waves arriving from far away, longer.

The waves you may find today

Most common1.2 ft
Significant2.4 ft
Highest expected5.0 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 5.0 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 5.0 ft.

The Douglas sea state scale

Degree	Name	Wave height
0	Calm (glassy)	0
1	Calm (rippled)	0.0 ft–0.3 ft
2	Smooth	0.3 ft–1.6 ft
3	Slight · today	1.6 ft–4.1 ft
4	Moderate	4.1 ft–8.2 ft
5	Rough	8.2 ft–13.1 ft
6	Very rough	13.1 ft–19.7 ft

Waves day by day

Day	Max wave	Sea state	Direction	Max period	Swell	Max wind
Today	2.8 ft	Slight	ESE	7 s	2.4 ft SE	9 mph SSE
Fri 30	3.3 ft	Slight	SE	9 s	3.2 ft SE	8 mph ESE
Sat 31	3.2 ft	Slight	SE	9 s	2.8 ft SE	11 mph N
Sun 1	3.7 ft	Slight	NE	7 s	2.8 ft ESE	15 mph N
Mon 2	3.2 ft	Slight	E	6 s	2.8 ft NE	9 mph NNE
Tue 3	2.6 ft	Slight	E	6 s	1.8 ft ENE	14 mph NNW
Wed 4	3.1 ft	Slight	NNE	5 s	2.7 ft NE	13 mph N

Today, every 3 hours

Time	12:00 am	3:00 am	6:00 am	9:00 am	12:00 pm	3:00 pm	6:00 pm	9:00 pm
Waves	2.6 ft	2.6 ft	2.5 ft	2.4 ft	2.4 ft	2.4 ft	2.5 ft	2.7 ft
Period	7.0 s	7.0 s	6.7 s	6.8 s	6.6 s	6.6 s	6.8 s	6.6 s
Direction	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	SE	SE
Swell	1.8 ft · 5 s	1.6 ft · 5 s	1.6 ft · 7 s	1.7 ft · 6 s	1.7 ft · 6 s	1.6 ft · 5 s	1.8 ft · 6 s	2.2 ft · 6 s
Wind (mph)	2 W	5 SW	6 SW	4 S	7 ESE	8 ESE	5 ESE	1 S

Previous days

The waves over the last 14 days. Tap a day to see it hour by hour.

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Wed 28	3.3 ft ESE	7 s	2.3 ft ESE
Tue 27	3.6 ft ENE	7 s	3.0 ft NE
Mon 26	5.9 ft NE	7 s	3.9 ft ENE
Sun 25	5.9 ft NE	6 s	4.6 ft ENE
Sat 24	5.6 ft ENE	7 s	4.9 ft ENE
Fri 23	5.9 ft ENE	7 s	5.2 ft ENE
Thu 22	6.2 ft ENE	7 s	5.2 ft ENE

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Wed 21	5.6 ft E	8 s	5.6 ft E
Tue 20	5.9 ft E	8 s	5.6 ft E
Mon 19	6.6 ft E	8 s	6.2 ft E
Sun 18	5.6 ft E	7 s	4.3 ft E
Sat 17	5.2 ft ESE	7 s	3.9 ft E
Fri 16	5.2 ft ESE	7 s	3.9 ft ESE
Thu 15	5.6 ft SE	7 s	3.6 ft SE

These are the models at the start of each day (ECMWF and GFS; waves from Météo-France), not readings from a weather station: there can be differences at specific spots.

Questions about the waves in Burleigh HeadsQuestions

How are the waves today in Burleigh Heads?

Slight (2.4 ft with a period of 6.8 s from the east-southeast). The highest wave to expect is around 5.0 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Sunday 1, with waves up to 3.7 ft (slight).

What is the wave period?

The time, in seconds, between two crests. With long periods (over 10 s) waves come from far away, are cleaner and break harder; with short periods they are wind waves, choppier.

What is significant wave height?

The average of the highest third of the waves. One in seven is higher and, a few times a day, one comes in at almost double: today, about 5.0 ft.

More about Burleigh Heads today

Waves near Burleigh Heads

Only places with a different forecast: spots a few miles apart share the same model cell and wouldn't add anything.

Learn more

Waves: Open-Meteo with Météo-France (MFWAM, up to 10 days) and ECMWF WAM, CC BY 4.0; wave grid point 11 mi away. Near the shore, the seabed and the shape of the coast change the waves.

Forecast from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0) with models from ECMWF, NOAA, Météo-France, DWD, Copernicus Marine and CAMS. Updated at 8:55 am (local time).

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