Explore / Australia · New South Wales
Sydney.
Now
· updated 14 hours ago3-4m south swell at 10 seconds peaks Friday dawn under blown-out conditions, dropping to 2m by evening as wind eases to moderate. Weekend settles to 1-2m south at 9-10 seconds with light to moderate west-southwest wind. Early week fades to flat-1m southeast with light variable wind, before a fresh northeast pulse builds to 1-2m at 10-12 seconds by Tuesday under light west wind. Looks like Friday dawn will be the best window before the wind drops.
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About Sydney
Sydney has two surf coasts split by the harbour. The Northern Beaches run 30 km north from Manly to Palm Beach: a string of east-facing beaches and one sand-bottom peak at North Narrabeen, just inside the lagoon mouth. The Eastern Beaches run south through Bondi, Tamarama, Maroubra, and end at Cronulla, with Shark Island slab a paddle offshore. Manly hosted the first World Championships in 1964, and the Sydney Surf Pro has run on the WSL Challenger Series since 2020, settled at North Narrabeen since 2024.
June through August is most consistent. Tasman Sea lows feed long-period south to south-east swell, 12 to 20 s, that wakes the whole coast. Summer adds Coral Sea cyclone pulses from the east through north-east, shorter and quicker to fade. A working day is 1.5 to 3 m. The clean wind is west to south-west, offshore at the east-facing beaches. The north-east sea breeze fills most summer afternoons. The southerly buster, an abrupt south change with 40-knot gusts, hits roughly 32 times a year, mostly spring and summer. Dawn beats both winds.
Water sits at 18 to 19 °C in September, 23 to 24 °C in February. A 3/2 covers winter, boardies and a rashie do summer. Crowds are the headline hazard. Bondi is the most photographed lineup in the country, full of beginners on rented foamies. Maroubra is a local stronghold and not the place to drop in. Tamarama runs the highest rescue rate per bather of any patrolled NSW beach; the rips there move fast. After heavy rain, expect stormwater plumes, and skip the urban beaches for a day. When a southerly buster hits, tuck into the south corners of Dee Why or North Narrabeen. When the sea breeze blows out the rest, Bondi faces enough south to stay rideable.