In this week's beach report, Craig Holden says swimming conditions should be absolutely perfect on Friday morning before getting choppy over the weekend.
Important note: Remember there are UPDATED COVID-19 restrictions, if you are at the beach, please maintain the social/physical distancing minimum guidelines and abide by the current group gathering guidelines as well.
Weather: It has been a mixed week of weather and beach conditions gone by, with gusty winds and cooler temperatures early in the week replaced by warm temperatures and lighter winds over the past day or so.
But looking ahead to a long weekend and also the last weekend of the Queensland school holidays, it looks as though those gusty onshore winds are coming back – hopefully not too strong, but certainly enough to cause choppy and sloppy conditions on most beaches.
Friday will again be very warm and there will be almost nil to very light N/NE winds through the morning, which will provide sensational swimming and beach conditions through until about midday.
By the afternoon though we will see around 10 to 15 knots of N/NE winds, which will then give way to a stronger E/SE wind change overnight.
Saturday morning will then deliver 10 to 15 knots of E/SE winds early before they increase to 15 to 20 knots by late morning and remain that way on Sunday as well, before we see a slight decrease on Monday with 10 to 15 knots of easterly winds.
There is also the slight chance of a scattered shower about the coast by Sunday and Monday as well.
Swimming: Swimming conditions should be absolutely perfect through Friday morning with the N/NE winds expected to drop out to almost nothing, so make the most of the mid-morning high tide to hit your favourite beach while the conditions are so perfect!
After that, we can expect slightly choppy ocean conditions by the afternoon as those afternoon sea breezes kick in from the N/NE, but beaches such as Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads will not be affected as much.
However, for Saturday and Sunday, we are expecting quite choppy and slightly messy ocean conditions to develop and these will be more pronounced on those more open and exposed beaches, so across the weekend, the pick of the beaches for swimmers will be locations such as Hervey Bay, Agnes Water (adjacent to the headland) and to a lesser extent, Moore Park Beach and Nielson Park.
Fingers crossed though that by Monday we should see the ocean start to settle and clam down a lot more!
For swimmers, the best time to hit the beach over the coming days will be from early to mid-morning through until late morning/midday.
Don’t forget though, please check with the lifeguard or lifesavers on duty, read any safety signage or messages, and most importantly please swim only at patrolled beaches, only between the red and yellow flags, and only during patrol times – remember, if we can’t see you, we can’t save you!
Beach Patrols: Friday – 9am to 5pm at Elliott Heads, Kellys Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water, plus a roving lifeguard operating in the Bundaberg Region.
Saturday, Sunday And Monday – 9am to 5pm at Elliott Heads, Kellys Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water, plus a roving lifeguard operating in the Bundaberg Region.
Weekdays (Next week) – 9am to 5pm at Kellys Beach and Agnes Water only
Surfing: The surf conditions have not been great during this past week, with mostly choppy and sloppy conditions prevailing, however there have bene small windows of opportunity along the way to find a few small, fun waves.
Looking ahead to the weekend and we should start to see an increase in wave heights across local beaches by Saturday afternoon and into Sunday and Monday, which should provide enough size to entice the board riders out for some fun.
Hopefully the onshore winds don’t make things too messy and sloppy, and if so there should be waves about to enjoy, with the mornings (an hour or two either side of high tide) looking to be best around the Bundaberg Region, whilst Agnes Water should start to improve as the tide drops a little later through the mornings.
Top picks will likely be Agnes Water, Nielson Park, Mon Repos and Moore Park, although Kellys Beach and Elliott Heads could be worth a sneaky look on Friday.
Once again, the forecast conditions do not look like providing much fun for the SUP and kayak/ski paddlers, with the ocean expected to be quite choppy and messy across the weekend – if so, it will be best to stay in the sheltered and protected creeks and bays for a paddle.
Although, Friday morning, will present an opportunity to hit the ocean while the winds are very light and the ocean calm.
Events: Nil.
- Last week's beach report with Craig Holden: Enjoy the warm weather
