Well, it has been another beautiful week of weather across the local region and the local beaches, with great beach conditions and ideal swimming conditions too – and even a brief run of swell for the board-riders too earlier in the week!
As we look ahead to the weekend, and the start of the school holidays, the weather forecast is looking mostly good too, with light to moderate winds, mild temperatures, and pretty much sunny skies – with just the very slight chance of a shower today.
This morning’s winds will be from the S/SE at only around 10 knots early before they swing more from the E/SE during the day and just increase up to around 15 knots through this afternoon.
Tomorrow will be quite similar too, with S/SE to E/SE winds at 10 to 15 knots, before Sunday brings winds from E/SE to E, but also at around 10 to 15 knots.
The general trend with the winds will be light in the early mornings, then increasing during the day and into the afternoons – so hit the beach early for the best conditions.
Swimming: The swimming conditions have again been sensational during this past week, with plenty of people out and about enjoying the great conditions – and no doubt these numbers will grow during the upcoming school holidays as well!
The forecast for this coming weekend is also looking to be quite OK as well, which should mean we are in for reasonable (not great) swimming conditions for the next three days.
The best time for swimmers to hit the beach will almost certainly be from early morning through until around mid-morning – this is when the winds will be lighter and the tide higher.
The winds will creep up to around 15 knots through the afternoon, which is not too bad, but the ocean will get a little choppier through this time of day.
All beaches will give you good swimming conditions through the early mornings, but by late morning onwards, beaches such as Hervey Bay, Agnes Water, Nielson Park and Moore Park Beach will be slightly better options.
Please check with the lifesavers or lifeguard 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: Today – 9am to 5pm at Kelly’s Beach and Agnes Water only
Saturday and Sunday – 9am to 5pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water, plus a rove lifeguard in the Bundaberg Region.
Weekdays (next week) – 9am to 5pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water, plus a rove lifeguard in the Bundaberg Region.
Surfing: This past week has generally been very lean in terms of waves for the board-riders, but there was a brief run of fun, clean, waves on offer through Tuesday.
Looking ahead to the weekend though, and it does appear that we are going to see more lean surfing conditions too, which is not great news for board-riders.
The early mornings could throw up a small but clean mal wave if you are desperate, before slightly choppy conditions kick-in for the afternoons.
If you are keen, have a look around the usual locations through the early mornings, or even an hour or two after the top of the tide. Good luck!
For the SUP and ocean ski paddlers, the afternoons may give you enough wind for a south to north downwind paddle, but it will not be super-slick, for those looking for a more relaxed and causal float though, hit the beaches through the very early mornings while the winds are lighter.
Events: The 2022 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships commences tomorrow, and will run over the next nine days, from Saturday 2 to Sunday 10 April, on the Gold Coast. Good luck to all of the local surf lifesavers that are competing!
The Easter school holidays commence today, with seven-day lifesaving coverage across local beaches starting tomorrow and continuing for the entire two-weeks.
- Last week's beach report: Great beach conditions before a weekend change
