Surf Forecasts:
Shelley Beach surf forecast from 3 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Monday 3 Aug, 1PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 11s period, SE swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Monday 3 Aug, 1PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 11s period, SE swell with 216 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Monday 3 Aug, 1PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 11s period with SE swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Shelley Beach this week:
The surf forecast for Shelley Beach over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Monday (Aug 03) at 1PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.0m and 11s period with a secondary swell of 0.1m and 16s. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Shelley Beach in the next 16 days are 1.0m 11s and forecast to arrive on Monday (Aug 03) at 1PM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.9m 5s period and expected on Sunday (Aug 09) at 4AM.
| Wave Type | Time (AEST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 1PM (Mon 3rd Aug) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 11s |
| Best Surf | 1PM (Mon 3rd Aug) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 11s |
| Most Powerful | 1PM (Mon 3rd Aug) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 11s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Shelley Beach over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Gap at the start, folks. Monday and Tuesday are basically a write-off – Shelley’s got nothing but dribble, and even when it’s clean, there’s no push. The first real chance to even think about paddling out is Thursday the 6th, but honestly, it’s pretty weak sauce.
Then we hit a real flat spell. From the 4th through the 10th, it’s mostly small and sloppy. A couple of mornings look glassy, but the swell’s just not there. It’s a long stretch of nothing worth getting excited about. You’d be better off doing maintenance on your boards or watching the cams and dreaming.
Now, the first standout is Saturday the 15th. That’s the one to circle. We’ve got a solid 5.9ft of south swell rolling in, and it’s glassy off the shore with a light SSW breeze. Shelley (Canterbury) is exposed and picks up that south energy well, it’s coming from the right direction. The water’s sitting at 64.2°, which is about normal for this time of year. The energy reading is 739, a solid moderate push. It’ll be a proper, clean session with some grunt. This is the best on offer. And with that 10-second period, it should have a bit of shape to it.
The day before, Friday the 14th, gets interesting too, but it’s messy. The swell jumps to 5.2ft, then 7.9ft in the afternoon, with energy readings climbing to 831 and then 2068 – that’s a strong pulse. But the wind is all over the place, cross and then onshore, so it’ll be lumpy. That’s more for the experienced locals who know the bank. 7.9ft is into the expert-only zone.
The following week drops off again. Sunday the 16th has a clean 4.3ft morning with glassy conditions, a nice little drop-in, but nothing massive. The 17th has a bit more size, around 4.6ft, but the wind is on it, so it loses points. The long-range stuff is promising, but I wouldn’t book the time off work for it yet. It’s a couple of good days, but the standout is definitely the 15th.
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Warm (max 21°C on Mon morning, min 9°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryMostly dry. Very mild (max 15°C on Sat afternoon, min 9°C on Thu night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Monday 3 | Tuesday 4 | Wednesday 5 | Thursday 6 | Friday 7 | Saturday 8 | Sunday 9 | |||||||||||||||
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 11 | SE 11 | SE 10 | SE 10 | SE 7 | SSW 5 | E 10 | E 9 | S 8 | S 8 | S 8 | S 9 | S 9 | S 9 | S 9 | S 8 | S 8 | S 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 254 | 187 | 84 | 25 | 12 | 8 | 31 | 27 | 60 | 84 | 80 | 164 | 132 | 103 | 96 | 65 | 92 | 65 | 81 | 78 | 92 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-off | off | cross-off | cross-off | on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on | cross-off | glassy | cross | cross-off | cross-off | on | cross-off | glassy | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | off |
High Tide | 11:16AM1.29m | 11:09PM1.35m | 12:01PM1.32m | 11:57PM1.24m | 12:52PM1.35m | 00:56AM1.12m | 1:51PM1.39m | 2:10AM1.03m | 2:58PM1.44m | 3:35AM0.98m | 4:06PM1.52m | 4:56AM1.00m | 5:11PM1.61m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 5:08PM0.40m | 5:35AM0.19m | 6:03PM0.43m | 6:16AM0.25m | 7:10PM0.45m | 7:05AM0.31m | 8:28PM0.44m | 8:05AM0.36m | 9:50PM0.38m | 9:15AM0.39m | 11:05PM0.28m | 10:25AM0.38m | 00:08AM0.16m | ||||||||
 | |  |  | | | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | |  | |
 | 6:43 | — | — | 6:43 | — | — | 6:41 | — | — | 6:41 | — | — | 6:41 | — | — | 6:39 | — | — | 6:39 | — | — |
 | — | 5:15 | — | — | 5:15 | — | — | 5:16 | — | — | 5:17 | — | — | 5:17 | — | — | 5:19 | — | — | 5:20 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 21 | 21 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 20 | 20 | 17 |
Feels °C | 17 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 12 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 11 | SE 11 | SE 10 | E 7 | SSW 6 | SSW 5 | SSW 5 | SSW 6 | S 8 | S 8 | S 8 | S 9 | S 9 | S 9 | S 9 | S 8 | S 8 | S 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 7 | ENE 8 |
| kJ | 254 | 187 | 84 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 60 | 84 | 80 | 164 | 132 | 103 | 96 | 65 | 92 | 65 | 81 | 78 | 92 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 21 | E 15 | SE 14 | SE 10 | SSE 10 | E 8 | E 10 | E 9 | E 8 | E 10 | E 9 | E 10 | ENE 7 | ENE 6 | ENE 10 | ENE 7 | E 7 | E 8 | S 7 | S 7 | ENE 10 |
| kJ | 9 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 9 | 6 | 31 | 27 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 31 | 9 | 28 | 33 | 17 | 9 | 10 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 16 | S 20 | E 15 | S 5 | NE 5 | E 6 | SE 12 | S 9 | NE 9 | NE 8 | E 16 | NE 3 | E 11 | E 10 | E 15 | E 8 | E 16 | E 15 | SE 8 | ENE 10 | E 14 |
| kJ | 5 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 18 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 4 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | NE 4 | NNE 4 | WSW 2 | — | SE 7 | W 3 | W 2 | — | W 3 | — | — | N 3 | — | — | — | — | — | NE 4 | — | NNW 3 | W 4 |
| kJ | 10 | 11 | 1 | — | 12 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | 3 | 14 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 275 | 43 | 8 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 3 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Newcastle | |||||||||||||||||||||
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)
Latest Updates
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 Shelley 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 Shelley Beach Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Shelley Beach provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Shelley Beach can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Shelley 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 (Shelley 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 Shelley 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 Newcastle? If you are looking for accommodation near Shelley Beach, camping, hotels and holiday cottages in Newcastle, consider staying in Central Coast which is 20 km (12 miles) away. Other places in and around Newcastle where you can find information about places to rent, and car hire include Catherine Hill Bay which is 24 km (15 miles) away, Dee Why, Newcastle and Hornsby.
Nearest