Surf Forecasts:
Emerald Beach surf forecast from 16 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Wednesday 19 Aug, 4AM (local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 11s period, ESE swell with offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Wednesday 19 Aug, 4AM (local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 11s period, ESE swell with 517 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Monday 17 Aug, 1AM (local time) - 6ft (1.8m), 7s period with SE swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Emerald Beach this week:
The surf forecast for Emerald Beach over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Monday (Aug 17) at 1AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.8m and 7s period. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Emerald Beach in the next 16 days are 1.5m 11s and forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Aug 19) at 4AM. Winds are predicted to be offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.9m 7s period and expected on Sunday (Aug 16) at 7PM.
| Wave Type | Time (AEST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 1AM (Mon 17th Aug) | 6ft (1.8m) 7s |
| Best Surf | 4AM (Wed 19th Aug) | 5ft (1.5m) 11s |
| Most Powerful | 4AM (Wed 19th Aug) | 5ft (1.5m) 11s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Emerald Beach over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Right, let’s switch to feet and miles. The same story, just different numbers.
It's Rusty again. Honestly, there's nothing happening right now. It's flat and tiny at Emerald Beach for the next few days, so don't bother waxing up just yet.
The wait ends Monday morning, 17th August. Swell shows up from the ESE at 6ft with a short 7-second period. A cross-offshore wind will keep the surface clean. Combined energy is 297, which is a solid moderate push. Monday afternoon holds at 5ft with that same clean cross-off.
Tuesday, 18th August, keeps it going: 5ft from the ESE in the morning, stretching to an 8-second period, with energy rising to 328, then 377 in the afternoon. Cross-off winds again—good fun.
Wednesday morning, 19th August, is the standout. 5ft from the ESE, but now with a 10-second period, bringing in real groundswell power. Offshore wind from the S and a combined energy of 443 means some proper waves. Water temp is 19°, dead average for this time of year.
Thursday morning, 20th August, is the glassy special. Absolutely no wind, 5ft from the ESE, but only a 7-second period. Still, clean and smooth for some nice morning peaks.
From Thursday afternoon onward, the wind turns onshore. Swell stays between 4ft and 5ft, but it gets choppy—more of a kite-surf setup. Saturday afternoon, 22nd August, the wind cleans up temporarily, but the swell drops.
From Sunday, 23rd August, into the second week, we're looking at tiny waves, mostly under 2ft. Energy readings are in the 20s and 30s—very weak. There's a slight bump on Friday, 28th August, with 2ft from the SE at 8 seconds and a clean offshore wind, but it's marginal. The end of the month, 31st August, tries to build to 4ft from the NE, but onshore chop ruins it.
Bottom line: Wait for Monday 17th through Thursday 20th August. Best bets are Wednesday morning and Thursday morning. The rest is flat or messy. Forecasts can turn, but that's the call from here.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastHeavy rain (total 20mm), heaviest during Sun afternoon. Very mild (max 17°C on Sun morning, min 14°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 4-6 Weather SummarySome drizzle, heaviest during Wed morning. Warm (max 21°C on Fri morning, min 14°C on Wed night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sunday 16 | Monday 17 | Tuesday 18 | Wednesday 19 | Thursday 20 | Friday 21 | Saturday 22 | |||||||||||||||
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) | ENE 10 | ENE 10 | SE 7 | ESE 7 | ESE 7 | ESE 7 | ESE 8 | ESE 8 | ESE 9 | ESE 10 | SE 10 | SE 9 | ESE 8 | ESE 7 | E 7 | E 7 | NE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 20 | 19 | 336 | 279 | 256 | 250 | 253 | 307 | 286 | 453 | 273 | 199 | 186 | 164 | 113 | 96 | 210 | 96 | 96 | 77 | 59 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | off | cross-off | cross-off | off | cross-off | cross | cross-off | cross | off | off | cross | cross-off | glassy | on | cross-on | cross-on | on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-off | off |
High Tide | 10:29AM1.34m | 10:34PM1.42m | 11:12AM1.33m | 11:12PM1.24m | 11:58AM1.31m | 11:53PM1.08m | 12:49PM1.27m | 00:41AM0.94m | 1:49PM1.23m | 1:46AM0.84m | 2:58PM1.23m | 3:12AM0.80m | 4:07PM1.26m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 4:25PM0.20m | 4:53AM0.10m | 5:13PM0.30m | 5:26AM0.18m | 6:07PM0.41m | 6:02AM0.26m | 7:10PM0.50m | 6:44AM0.35m | 8:31PM0.55m | 7:39AM0.41m | 10:01PM0.53m | 8:51AM0.44m | 11:11PM0.47m | ||||||||
 |  |  | |  | | | |  | |  | | | |  | | | |  | | | |
 | 6:20 | — | — | 6:20 | — | — | 6:18 | — | — | 6:18 | — | — | 6:16 | — | — | 6:15 | — | — | 6:13 | — | — |
 | — | 5:22 | — | — | 5:22 | — | — | 5:22 | — | — | 5:23 | — | — | 5:23 | — | — | 5:24 | — | — | 5:25 | — |
mm | — | 5 | 4 | — | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 1 |
Temp °C | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 15 |
Feels °C | 13 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 11 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 17 | S 17 | S 14 | S 8 | S 8 | ESE 7 | SE 10 | ESE 8 | ESE 9 | ESE 10 | SE 10 | SE 9 | ESE 8 | ESE 7 | E 7 | E 7 | SSE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 |
| kJ | 99 | 154 | 104 | 108 | 69 | 250 | 87 | 307 | 286 | 453 | 273 | 199 | 186 | 164 | 113 | 96 | 10 | 96 | 96 | 77 | 59 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ENE 10 | ENE 10 | SSW 18 | S 17 | ENE 9 | S 9 | S 9 | ESE 13 | SE 12 | S 11 | ENE 6 | ENE 6 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | SSE 8 | SSE 8 | S 12 | SSE 7 | SSE 7 | S 10 | S 9 |
| kJ | 20 | 19 | 106 | 52 | 17 | 62 | 40 | 70 | 135 | 35 | 44 | 32 | 10 | 10 | 23 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ESE 8 | ESE 9 | E 10 | SSW 17 | SSW 14 | ENE 9 | E 9 | S 9 | S 11 | S 15 | S 8 | E 12 | NE 8 | — | S 14 | S 13 | S 12 | S 11 | S 10 | SE 7 | S 18 |
| kJ | 7 | 8 | 8 | 97 | 36 | 17 | 15 | 24 | 57 | 4 | 23 | 11 | 3 | — | 4 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 6 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 6 | SSE 7 | SE 7 | ESE 7 | ESE 7 | — | ESE 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | N 3 | NE 7 | NNE 6 | — | — | S 6 |
| kJ | 240 | 262 | 336 | 279 | 256 | — | 253 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 210 | 50 | — | — | 67 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 128 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 85 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 0 | 0 | 176 | 2 | 12 | 268 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 40 |
Best forecast wave conditions in North Coast - New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Emerald Beach 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 Emerald Beach Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Emerald Beach provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Emerald Beach can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Emerald Beach 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 (Emerald Beach) 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 Emerald Beach 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 North Coast - New South Wales? If you are looking for accommodation near Emerald Beach, camping, hotels and holiday cottages in North Coast - New South Wales, consider staying in Coffs Harbour which is 21 km (13 miles) away. Alternatively, find information about places to stay and car hire in South Grafton which is 53 km (33 miles) away
Nearest