Surf Forecasts:
The Spit surf forecast from 17 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Friday 21 Aug, 1AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 7s period, E swell with glassy winds.
- Most powerful swell: Wednesday 19 Aug, 10AM (local time) - 6ft (1.8m), 11s period, SE swell with 738 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Thursday 20 Aug, 1AM (local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 10s period with ESE swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for The Spit this week:
The surf forecast for The Spit over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Thursday (Aug 20) at 1AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.9m and 10s period with a secondary swell of 0.7m and 7s. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at The Spit in the next 16 days are 1.8m 11s and forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Aug 19) at 10AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-onshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.2m 2s period and expected on Thursday (Aug 20) at 1AM.
| Wave Type | Time (AEST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 1AM (Thu 20th Aug) | 3ft (0.9m) 10s |
| Best Surf | 1AM (Fri 21st Aug) | 3.5ft (1.1m) 7s |
| Most Powerful | 10AM (Wed 19th Aug) | 6ft (1.8m) 11s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for The Spit over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, gather 'round. Rusty here, and I've been staring at the charts for the local scene. It's a quiet stretch ahead, so don't go getting your hopes up for anything massive. We've got a long, dry spell to sit through before we see a flicker of life.
First up, we're looking at The Spit. Water temp is sitting around 68°, which is about average for this time of year, so nothing weird going on there.
For the next week and a half, it's pretty grim. The wave energy is weak to moderate at best, and the wind is mostly cross or cross-onshore, keeping things bumpy and messy. Most of those days, the combined energy is in the low hundreds or even below 100 (like 66 to 277), which tells you there's just not enough push. It's mostly blown-out chop for the first week. There are a few mornings around the 21st and 24th where it cleans up a bit with a light cross-offshore breeze, but the swell is tiny, only about 2.3ft to 3.3ft from the east with a short period of 7 to 8 seconds. Those are "surfable but ordinary" days – not worth rushing out for.
Now, as we move into the second week, things start to get a *little* more interesting, but it's still far from perfect. The real standout window looks to be the very end of the month and into early September. The morning of August 31st has a pulse of swell, 3.6ft from the SSE, but the wind is cross-shore and choppy. The afternoon that same day kicks up a bit, with swell hitting 6.6ft from the SE (combined energy at 503) but it's way too lumpy with a fresh cross-onshore wind. That's raw power, but messy as hell.
The best bet, and the only real standout in this whole 16-day forecast, is the morning of Tuesday, September 1st. We get a 6.6ft swell from the SE, and the combined energy is strong at 677. The wind is just a moderate cross-shore, which isn't perfect but is much better than the onshore junk we've been dealing with. However, at 6.6ft, this is getting into expert-only territory. It's a river break, so with that size and that direction, it could be a bit of a washing machine. But if you've got the skills and you've been waiting for something with some power, that's the session to target. Everything before that is purely for the desperate.
Short Range ForecastLight rain (total 8mm), mostly falling on Mon night. Very mild (max 19°C on Wed afternoon, min 15°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 5-7 Weather SummarySome drizzle, heaviest during Thu afternoon. Warm (max 22°C on Sat morning, min 15°C on Fri night). Wind will be generally light. | |||||||||||||||||||
Mon 17 | Tuesday 18 | Wednesday 19 | Thursday 20 | Friday 21 | Saturday 22 | Sunday 23 | ||||||||||||||
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) | ESE 7 | ESE 7 | ESE 8 | ESE 7 | ESE 8 | SE 11 | ESE 7 | ESE 10 | SE 9 | E 8 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 7 |
Wave Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 261 | 228 | 215 | 273 | 524 | 738 | 171 | 148 | 118 | 168 | 127 | 102 | 103 | 61 | 61 | 64 | 112 | 83 | 79 | 73 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross-on | cross-on | cross-off | cross-on | on | glassy | cross-off | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross | off | cross | cross-on | glassy |
High Tide | 11:27PM1.22m | 12:12PM1.23m | 00:04AM1.08m | 1:04PM1.20m | 00:45AM0.95m | 2:07PM1.18m | 1:41AM0.84m | 3:23PM1.20m | 3:04AM0.79m | 4:32PM1.25m | 4:42AM0.80m | 5:25PM1.33m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 5:28PM0.39m | 5:47AM0.27m | 6:21PM0.49m | 6:24AM0.32m | 7:28PM0.58m | 7:08AM0.37m | 8:57PM0.61m | 8:04AM0.41m | 10:29PM0.58m | 9:09AM0.42m | 11:31PM0.50m | 10:15AM0.40m | 00:13AM0.42m | |||||||
 |  |  |  |  | | |  | | | | | | |  | | | | | | |
 | — | — | 6:15 | — | — | 6:13 | — | — | 6:13 | — | — | 6:11 | — | — | 6:11 | — | — | 6:09 | — | — |
 | 5:24 | — | — | 5:24 | — | — | 5:25 | — | — | 5:25 | — | — | 5:27 | — | — | 5:27 | — | — | 5:28 | — |
mm | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
Feels °C | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 19 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 18 | E 9 | E 9 | E 15 | E 7 | E 7 | ENE 7 | ESE 10 | SE 9 | E 8 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | E 7 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 8 | ENE 7 |
| kJ | 6 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 139 | 178 | 70 | 148 | 118 | 168 | 127 | 102 | 103 | 61 | 61 | 64 | 112 | 83 | 79 | 73 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | SE 11 | — | SE 10 | ESE 11 | S 8 | ENE 7 | ENE 7 | NE 9 | SE 8 | SSE 8 | SSE 8 | SSE 8 | SE 7 | SE 7 | SE 7 | S 7 | S 9 | S 8 |
| kJ | — | — | 5 | — | 58 | 105 | 12 | 45 | 40 | 3 | 96 | 33 | 23 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 13 | — | — | — | ESE 12 | — | — | S 9 | ESE 12 | — | — | — | — | E 14 | E 11 | NE 9 | SSE 7 | S 9 | S 9 | SE 7 |
| kJ | 4 | — | — | — | 50 | — | — | 6 | 13 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ESE 7 | ESE 7 | ESE 8 | ESE 7 | ESE 8 | SE 11 | ESE 7 | SSW 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | NNE 2 | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 261 | 228 | 215 | 273 | 524 | 738 | 171 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 14 | 24 | 22 | 0 | 24 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 149 | 0 | 18 | 149 | 0 | 17 | 28 | 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 The Spit 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 The Spit Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for The Spit provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at The Spit can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our The Spit 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 (The Spit) 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 The Spit 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.
The Spit is 4 km (2 miles) from the city of Southport. If you plan a holiday in Gold Coast, look for hotels and other accommodation in Southport. Southport has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest