Craig Holden reports the mornings will be the best time to spend at local beaches, especially for swimming, in the coming days.
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: Well, it has generally been a reasonably nice week across the local region this past week, with the odd shower or two here and there, along with some gusty winds but mainly through the afternoons.
Looking ahead to the next few days and the forecast is for mostly sunny and very warm conditions through today and tomorrow, before we see some slight relief on Sunday with a wind direction change forecast.
Today’s winds will be quite variable starting this morning from the S/SE before eventually swinging from the E/NE by this afternoon, but they will be only light to moderate at around 10 to 15 knots.
Tomorrow will then bring N/NW winds early at around 10 knots before they increase to 10 to 15 knots (and even slightly stronger) through the day and into the afternoon.
Sunday will then bring an E/SE wind change at 10 to 15 knots through the morning before increasing to 15 to 20 knots through the afternoon.
Swimming: Swimming conditions have been quite okay through the mornings this past week with those large high tides presenting plenty of water across all of our beaches before those winds started to gust by late morning.
There have even been some turtle hatchlings across the local beaches to keep the beach-goers occupied!
As we look ahead to the coming days, swimming conditions will be a little mixed, but generally the best swimming conditions will be found through the mornings – any time up until about late morning to midday while the tide is high and the winds lighter.
The afternoons will likely provide choppier conditions to contend with once the winds increase.
This morning and then again on Sunday, the better beaches for swimmers will be Agnes Water, Moore Park Beach, Nielson Park Beach and Hervey Bay, but for this afternoon and throughout tomorrow, Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads will be better options.
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: Weekdays – 8am to 6pm at Kelly’s Beach and Agnes Water; 9am to 5pm at Elliott Heads, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach and Moore Park Beach plus a roving lifeguard operating in the Bundaberg Region
Tomorrow and Sunday – 8am to 6pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water, plus a roving lifeguard operating in the Bundaberg Region.
Early morning RWC surveillance patrols are also operating each morning around the Bargara and Mon Repos areas – with times of operation being from 6am to 8am or 9am, depending on the day of the week.
Surfing: The local beaches have been throwing up plenty of fun-sized waves over the past week, with clean conditions through the morning and then messier conditions through the afternoons.
This trend should continue across the weekend as well, but the wave heights will likely drop slightly too, so pick and choose your beaches carefully along with the stage of the tide to find the best results.
Agnes Water, Nielson Park, Moore Park and Mon Repos will all be worth a look today and on Sunday, but through tomorrow, don’t be afraid to have a look at locations such as Kelly’s Beach and even Elliott Heads. Good luck.
For the SUP and ocean ski/kayak paddlers, the early mornings will be the best time to hit the ocean to try and find more gentle conditions to enjoy because the afternoons will likely provide rather choppy conditions when those winds increase.
Sunday, in particular, will likely see the ocean become quite choppy and messy, so unless you are chasing a downwind paddle, the protected creeks and waterways may be better options by then.
Events: Good luck to local surf lifesavers that will be competing at Hervey Bay tomorrow in the 2021 WBC Branch Surf Rescue Championships.
- Last week’s beach report: Strong wind warning for local beaches