Surf Forecasts:
Crescent Head surf forecast from 18 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Tuesday 18 Aug, 10PM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.4m), 8s period, ESE swell with glassy winds.
- Most powerful swell: Wednesday 19 Aug, 10AM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.3m), 10s period, ESE swell with 367 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Tuesday 18 Aug, 10PM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.4m), 8s period with ESE swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Crescent Head this week:
The surf forecast for Crescent Head over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Tuesday (Aug 18) at 10PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.4m and 8s period with a secondary swell of 0.6m and 12s. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Crescent Head in the next 16 days are 1.3m 10s and forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Aug 19) at 10AM. Winds are predicted to be glassy at the time the swell arrives.
| Wave Type | Time (AEST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 10PM (Tue 18th Aug) | 4.5ft (1.4m) 8s |
| Best Surf | 10PM (Tue 18th Aug) | 4.5ft (1.4m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 10AM (Wed 19th Aug) | 4.5ft (1.3m) 10s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Crescent Head over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
G’day, Rusty here. Look, I won’t beat around the bush – this is a pretty lean run for Crescent Head (Crescent-Head) over the next 16 days. There’s a big gap at the start with nothing really worth paddling out for, and the few little windows we get are mostly ordinary. The water temp is sitting at 67°, pretty much spot on average for this time of year, so no worries there.
We kick off Tuesday the 18th with light rain and a cross-on breeze, waves around 5 ft from the southeast but only 8 seconds – weak and messy, no go. Wednesday morning the 19th is actually your best option in this whole first week. Glassy conditions, a little 4 ft southeast swell with a 10-second period, and the combined energy is moderate (401). That’s a decent little window for a beginner-friendly point break like this, but it’s only for the morning; by arvo the NE wind chops it up. Thursday the 20th through to Monday the 31st is a real desert – tiny waves, poor winds, and nothing above a 1 out of 10. There’s a glassy morning on Sunday the 23rd but only 2 ft, barely worth a splash. That’s over a week of flat, poor conditions.
Now, late in the window things get interesting, but it’s for experts only. On Tuesday the 1st of September, a solid 8 ft south swell rolls in with a 10-second period and combined energy of 2278 – strong, powerful stuff. But look, that’s too big for beginners, and the wind is cross-shore, so it’ll be lumpy. Then Wednesday the 2nd of September keeps that size, 8 ft to 8 ft, energy around 1660 to 1849, but again cross-shore winds and only a 10-second period. At a point break like Crescent Head, that long-period groundswell could actually set up nice lines, but the wind won’t do it any favours. This late swell is for the experienced crew only, and even then it’s not clean. Honestly, the whole outlook is a tough one – not much to get excited about.
Rusty
Short Range ForecastModerate rain (total 15mm), heaviest on Tue morning. Very mild (max 18°C on Thu morning, min 14°C on Wed night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryLight rain (total 5mm), mostly falling on Fri afternoon. Warm (max 20°C on Fri morning, min 14°C on Sat night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday 18 | Wednesday 19 | Thursday 20 | Friday 21 | Saturday 22 | Sunday 23 | Monday 24 | |||||||||||||||
AM | PM | 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 8 | ESE 8 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 9 | ESE 8 | ENE 6 | NE 6 | ENE 6 | NE 6 | NE 6 | ENE 6 | ENE 6 | ENE 9 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 | NNE 6 | NNE 7 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 248 | 267 | 230 | 367 | 318 | 194 | 107 | 97 | 104 | 28 | 52 | 33 | 22 | 15 | 42 | 37 | 35 | 31 | 37 | 105 | 237 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | on | glassy | glassy | cross-on | cross-off | cross | cross-on | cross-off | cross | cross-on | glassy | cross-off | on | off | glassy | cross-on | cross-off | cross | cross | cross |
High Tide | 11:41AM1.49m | 00:06AM1.18m | 12:38PM1.47m | 00:43AM1.03m | 1:44PM1.45m | 1:30AM0.92m | 2:59PM1.46m | 2:37AM0.86m | 4:12PM1.50m | 3:54AM0.86m | 5:14PM1.56m | 4:57AM0.92m | 6:04PM1.62m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 6:11PM0.40m | 5:57AM0.45m | 7:17PM0.56m | 6:35AM0.46m | 8:41PM0.66m | 7:25AM0.47m | 10:15PM0.69m | 8:30AM0.46m | 11:28PM0.66m | 9:43AM0.42m | 00:14AM0.62m | 10:48AM0.35m | 00:48AM0.58m | ||||||||
 |  |  | |  |  | |  |  | | | |  | | | | | | | | | |
 | 6:20 | — | — | 6:20 | — | — | 6:18 | — | — | 6:18 | — | — | 6:16 | — | — | 6:15 | — | — | 6:13 | — | — |
 | — | 5:22 | — | — | 5:22 | — | — | 5:23 | — | — | 5:24 | — | — | 5:24 | — | — | 5:25 | — | — | 5:25 | — |
mm | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 |
Temp °C | 17 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 |
Feels °C | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 15 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 8 | ESE 8 | ESE 8 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | ESE 9 | ESE 8 | SE 7 | ENE 6 | ENE 6 | ENE 6 | NE 6 | ENE 6 | ENE 6 | ENE 9 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 | NE 6 | ENE 7 |
| kJ | 248 | 267 | 230 | 367 | 318 | 194 | 107 | 79 | 66 | 28 | 24 | 33 | 22 | 15 | 42 | 37 | 35 | 31 | 37 | 56 | 83 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 12 | ESE 13 | ESE 11 | S 10 | S 10 | E 12 | SSE 7 | ENE 7 | SE 7 | SE 7 | SE 7 | SE 7 | SE 7 | S 5 | SSE 9 | SSE 8 | SSE 9 | S 9 | S 9 | S 9 | SSE 9 |
| kJ | 3 | 60 | 130 | 30 | 29 | 3 | 18 | 47 | 27 | 19 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 13 | 45 | 29 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 15 | S 12 | S 11 | S 15 | — | E 12 | NE 8 | — | S 13 | E 9 | E 9 | E 9 | S 4 | SSE 7 | S 6 | S 5 | S 7 | SSE 14 | SE 11 | S 18 | SE 15 |
| kJ | 4 | 10 | 2 | 4 | — | 11 | 3 | — | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 30 | 6 | 9 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ENE 6 | NE 6 | — | NE 6 | — | — | — | — | S 3 | — | NNE 4 | — | NNE 6 | NNE 7 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 97 | 104 | — | 52 | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 6 | — | 105 | 237 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 46 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 0 | 15 | 290 | 0 | 15 | 46 | 0 | 62 | 535 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 0 | 76 | 304 | 76 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Port Macquarie | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Crescent Head 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 Crescent Head Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Crescent Head provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Crescent Head can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Crescent Head 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 (Crescent Head) 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 Crescent Head 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.
Are you planning a holiday in Port Macquarie? If you are looking for accommodation near Crescent Head, camping, hotels and holiday cottages in Port Macquarie, consider staying in North Shore which is 25 km (16 miles) away. Other places in and around Port Macquarie where you can find information about places to rent, and car hire include Port Macquarie which is 28 km (17 miles) away, Taree and Coffs Harbour.
Nearest