Surf Forecasts:
Burleigh Heads surf forecast from 20 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Thursday 27 Aug, 10AM (local time) - 4ft (1.2m), 8s period, E swell with glassy winds.
- Most powerful swell: Wednesday 26 Aug, 1AM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.3m), 8s period, ENE swell with 212 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Friday 21 Aug, 1AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 8s period with SE swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Burleigh Heads this week:
The surf forecast for Burleigh Heads over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Friday (Aug 21) at 1AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.1m and 8s period with a secondary swell of 0.8m and 7s. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Burleigh Heads in the next 16 days are 1.3m 8s and forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Aug 26) at 1AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-shore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.4m 5s period and expected on Thursday (Aug 27) at 4AM.
| Wave Type | Time (AEST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 1AM (Fri 21st Aug) | 3.5ft (1.1m) 8s |
| Best Surf | 10AM (Thu 27th Aug) | 4ft (1.2m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 1AM (Wed 26th Aug) | 4.5ft (1.3m) 8s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Burleigh Heads over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Hey, Rusty here. This Burleigh Heads forecast is a quiet stretch, but there are two decent windows if you time it right. The best is the morning of Thursday, August 27, and the second is the morning of Sunday, August 30.
Starting now, Friday August 21 and Saturday August 22 are plain bad—tiny swell, messy winds, nothing to chase. Sunday morning the 23rd gets a bit cleaner with small 3ft waves from the east-northeast, but it’s short period and weak, not really worth it.
From Sunday afternoon through Wednesday the 26th, it’s poor. A little push to 3–4ft on Tuesday the 25th but the wind is cross-onshore and ugly. Wednesday afternoon cleans up with a light offshore breeze, but the swell is small at 3ft.
Thursday morning, August 27, is the real winner. Glassy conditions, no wind, clean as a whistle. The swell is 4ft from the east with moderate energy (309). It’s small enough to be fun for everyone, but with that offshore wind, it’ll be lined up and peeling beautifully. The water temp is about what you’d expect for late August. Burleigh is a point break, and with crowds being common here, you’ll have company, but the quality will be worth it.
Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th are poor again, but Sunday morning August 30 brings another chance—5ft from the east-northeast with clean offshore wind from the west-southwest. The energy is moderate (289). That’s a solid size for stronger surfers, and the offshore conditions will hold it open. Short period though, so it might be a bit lumpy at the takeoff, but still fun.
After that, Sunday afternoon and Monday the 31st drop off hard—almost flat—and the first week of September is just a series of small, average days. A little pulse on September 2 afternoon with 4ft east swell and a longer 12-second period, but the wind is cross-offshore, so you might find a few clean ones if you’re keen.
For the second week, it’s pretty forgettable. Small swell, no real groundswell, winds not doing us any favors.
In short: Thursday morning August 27 is your standout—glassy, 4ft, clean. Sunday morning August 30 is your backup—5ft and offshore wind. The rest is waiting for the next proper swell.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Warm (max 21°C on Sat morning, min 15°C on Fri night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryLight rain (total 5mm), mostly falling on Tue night. Warm (max 23°C on Wed afternoon, min 16°C on Sun night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||
Friday 21 | Saturday 22 | Sunday 23 | Monday 24 | Tuesday 25 | Wednesday 26 | ||||||||||||||
Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 8 | ESE 7 | SSE 8 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 7 | E 8 | E 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 9 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | E 8 | E 8 | ENE 8 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 140 | 59 | 43 | 82 | 68 | 72 | 84 | 105 | 81 | 62 | 76 | 105 | 167 | 158 | 171 | 212 | 118 | 90 | 96 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | glassy | cross-on | on | cross-off | cross | cross | glassy | cross-off | cross | cross-off | cross | cross-on | off | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross | cross-off | cross-off |
High Tide | 1:30AM0.88m | 3:04PM1.21m | 3:06AM0.83m | 4:14PM1.27m | 4:29AM0.86m | 5:09PM1.36m | 5:26AM0.92m | 5:52PM1.46m | 6:08AM1.00m | 6:29PM1.56m | 6:45AM1.08m | 7:03PM1.64m | |||||||
Low Tide | 7:39AM0.42m | 10:02PM0.59m | 8:58AM0.44m | 11:12PM0.50m | 10:11AM0.40m | 11:58PM0.40m | 11:06AM0.33m | 00:34AM0.31m | 11:50AM0.25m | 1:06AM0.22m | 12:29PM0.17m | 1:37AM0.14m | |||||||
 |  | |  |  | |  |  | |  | | | | | | |  | | | |
 | — | 6:11 | — | — | 6:11 | — | — | 6:09 | — | — | 6:09 | — | — | 6:07 | — | — | 6:07 | — | — |
 | — | — | 5:25 | — | — | 5:27 | — | — | 5:27 | — | — | 5:28 | — | — | 5:28 | — | — | 5:29 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | — |
Temp °C | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 16 |
Feels °C | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 12 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 8 | ESE 7 | NE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 7 | E 8 | E 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 9 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | E 8 | E 8 | ENE 8 |
| kJ | 140 | 59 | 47 | 82 | 68 | 72 | 84 | 105 | 81 | 62 | 76 | 105 | 167 | 158 | 171 | 212 | 118 | 90 | 96 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ENE 7 | NE 7 | ESE 7 | SSE 8 | SE 8 | SE 7 | SSE 7 | SSE 9 | SSE 9 | NE 10 | NE 7 | SSE 7 | S 10 | SSE 10 | SSE 9 | SSE 9 | NE 8 | NE 8 | NE 8 |
| kJ | 59 | 47 | 43 | 22 | 15 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 49 | 31 | 28 | 16 | 73 | 107 | 69 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSE 9 | SSE 8 | SSE 8 | E 13 | E 11 | ESE 10 | ESE 9 | SE 7 | NE 10 | S 4 | S 9 | SSE 11 | S 16 | SSE 5 | S 17 | NE 16 | S 9 | S 9 | NE 13 |
| kJ | 9 | 34 | 41 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 27 | 40 | 21 | 2 | 23 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 7 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | NW 2 | — | WNW 2 | SSW 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | SSW 3 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 0 | 14 | 194 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 639 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Gold Coast | |||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in Australia | |||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Burleigh Heads surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Burleigh Heads Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Burleigh Heads provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Burleigh Heads can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Burleigh Heads surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Burleigh Heads) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Burleigh Heads may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Burleigh Heads is 10 km (6 miles) from the city of Surfers Paradise. If you plan a holiday in Gold Coast, look for hotels and other accommodation in Surfers Paradise. Surfers Paradise has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest