Victoria Surf Coast · Today

Bells Beach

Updated Wed, Sep 23, 9:40 AM GMT+10

When to go

9:42 AM–11:00 AM

Looks good · Low confidence

4.0–4.3 ft · Offshore waves · not face height

Wind: 3.7 kt · onshore

Forecast details

Light wind should keep the water smoother.

Other wind windows

Plan around the wind

The best available upcoming daylight wind sample to compare with the wave evidence. This compares wind only; wave size, tide suitability, and hazards can change your choice.

10:00 AM–12:00 PM · Australia/Melbourne
Light wind · up to 4.4 kt · reported gusts up to 13.2 kt
Offshore waves: 3.9–4.1 ft across the period. Surf height unavailable. Tide data unavailable.
Wind source time: Sep 23, 9:30 AM GMT+10. This is not the model run issue time.

How these periods are chosen

The planner prefers three consecutive hourly samples covering two daylight hours, but retains shorter one- or two-sample evidence when that is all the forecast provides. Light wind means at most 6 kt. Moderate offshore means at most 12 kt from land toward the sea when shore orientation is verified. Strong wind or known gusts of 20 kt or more remain visible as cautions instead of making the entire comparison disappear. These are comparison labels, not locally tested surf-quality or safety ratings. Missing gusts remain unknown. Terrain shelter, currents, closures, and your ability are not assessed.

Forecast confidence

Returned marine grid point is 0.9 km from the mapped spot. Provider grid resolution is not established for this response.
Reference model hour: 0 hours from now; historical residuals do not measure forecast lead-time error.
No accepted local model for these inputs: missing history, unsupported direction/period/height, or failed historical validation.
Tide unavailable: assessment incomplete, especially at shallow reef breaks.
A mapped coordinate does not establish nearshore grid resolution or terrain/shelter accuracy.

Wind ESE 2.7 kt

Tide Unavailable

Wave, wind and tide details

Offshore model swellSSW 4.1 ft @ 10sValid 2026-09-23 10:00 · Australia/MelbourneMarine grid -38.3750, 144.2917 · offshore model, not a local measurement

Offshore model sea4.1 ft @ 11.6sSignificant wave height including wind waves and swell; not breaking surfValid 2026-09-23 10:00 · Australia/Melbourne

Model windESE 2.7 ktonshoreValid 2026-09-23 10:00 · Australia/Melbourne2.5 kt onshore component

TideUnavailableunavailableNo verified local tide station connected; no tide height estimated

Surf height unavailable. Coastal and offshore waves are not breaking-wave heights.

Surf and wind

Recommended window: No recommended window

Breaking surf is not reliably resolved. Hourly offshore swell and wind inputs are listed below.

Hourly forecast

Hourly surf forecast for Bells Beach
Time	Wind	Tide	Offshore swell
12 AM	E 4.7 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 5.6 ft @ 11s
1 AM	E 3 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 5.4 ft @ 11s
2 AM	ENE 2.1 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 5.2 ft @ 11s
3 AM	E 1.2 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 5.1 ft @ 11s
4 AM	E 0.9 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 4.9 ft @ 11s
5 AM	NE 1.1 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 4.8 ft @ 10s
6 AM	NNE 0.9 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 4.6 ft @ 10s
7 AM	N 0.7 ktoffshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 4.5 ft @ 10s
8 AM	NE 1.4 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 4.3 ft @ 10s
9 AM	E 1.5 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 4.2 ft @ 10s
10 AM	ESE 2.7 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 4.1 ft @ 10s
11 AM	SE 3.7 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.9 ft @ 10s
Noon	ESE 4.4 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.9 ft @ 10s
1 PM	ESE 5 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.7 ft @ 10s
2 PM	ESE 5.4 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.6 ft @ 10s
3 PM	ESE 5.5 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.5 ft @ 10s
4 PM	ESE 4.9 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.4 ft @ 10s
5 PM	SE 4.1 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.3 ft @ 10s
6 PM	SE 2.8 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.3 ft @ 10s
7 PM	ESE 2.9 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.2 ft @ 10s
8 PM	ESE 2.8 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.1 ft @ 10s
9 PM	ESE 1.8 ktonshore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.1 ft @ 10s
10 PM	NE 1.2 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.1 ft @ 10s
11 PM	N 1.6 ktcross-shore	Unavailableunavailable	SSW 3.0 ft @ 10s

12 AMUnavailable

WindE 4.7 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 5.6 ft @ 11s

1 AMUnavailable

WindE 3 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 5.4 ft @ 11s

2 AMUnavailable

WindENE 2.1 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 5.2 ft @ 11s

3 AMUnavailable

WindE 1.2 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 5.1 ft @ 11s

4 AMUnavailable

WindE 0.9 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 4.9 ft @ 11s

5 AMUnavailable

WindNE 1.1 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 4.8 ft @ 10s

6 AMUnavailable

WindNNE 0.9 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 4.6 ft @ 10s

7 AMUnavailable

WindN 0.7 ktoffshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 4.5 ft @ 10s

8 AMUnavailable

WindNE 1.4 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 4.3 ft @ 10s

9 AMUnavailable

WindE 1.5 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 4.2 ft @ 10s

10 AMUnavailable

WindESE 2.7 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 4.1 ft @ 10s

11 AMUnavailable

WindSE 3.7 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.9 ft @ 10s

NoonUnavailable

WindESE 4.4 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.9 ft @ 10s

1 PMUnavailable

WindESE 5 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.7 ft @ 10s

2 PMUnavailable

WindESE 5.4 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.6 ft @ 10s

3 PMUnavailable

WindESE 5.5 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.5 ft @ 10s

4 PMUnavailable

WindESE 4.9 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.4 ft @ 10s

5 PMUnavailable

WindSE 4.1 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.3 ft @ 10s

6 PMUnavailable

WindSE 2.8 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.3 ft @ 10s

7 PMUnavailable

WindESE 2.9 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.2 ft @ 10s

8 PMUnavailable

WindESE 2.8 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.1 ft @ 10s

9 PMUnavailable

WindESE 1.8 ktonshoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.1 ft @ 10s

10 PMUnavailable

WindNE 1.2 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.1 ft @ 10s

11 PMUnavailable

WindN 1.6 ktcross-shoreTideUnavailableunavailableOffshore swellSSW 3.0 ft @ 10s

Tide

Local tide station unavailable

Tide predictions are unavailable for this period.

About this spot

Model-grid forecast requested at the mapped coordinate; reef, headland, and nearshore transformations are unresolved. Reef and point break. Published named-break coordinate; the source describes an exposed reef/point with southwest swell and northwest offshore-wind exposure. This is mainland Australia's southeast-facing Surf Coast shoreline.

Mapped spot coordinate: -38.3723, 144.2823.

Mainland · Victoria Surf Coast southeast-facing exposed reef and point coast · Ocean-facing bearing 135° · Location provenance

Model request point: Bells Beach (-38.3723, 144.2823). Model output times describe valid conditions; the provider does not expose the model run issue time in this response.

Forecast sources

Data coverage 2/5 sources

Source availability is not forecast accuracy. Where an empirical model passes historical testing, its error and interval coverage are shown above. Source count cannot increase that confidence.

Coverage tier C · AU_OTHER · spot-level model point

Australian Bureau of Meteorology Marine Forecasts/AUSWAVE
BOM publishes Central Coast waters from Cape Otway to Wilsons Promontory, but blocks application access; no forecast is scraped or presented as break-level surf.UnavailableNo source time
Australian Ocean Data Network / IMOS
AusWaves identifies VIC Waves as an official live network, but its buoy-list endpoint returned HTTP 401 with an empty response; no station identity, coordinates, timestamp, units, cadence, or same-coast exposure could be validated for assignment.UnavailableNo source time
WorldTides API
No tide prediction with verified station identity, distance, datum, timezone, and current response is connected; third-party Bancoora proximity references are not treated as a station contract.UnavailableNo source time
Open-Meteo Marine API
1 of 1 configured model points availableCurrentSep 23, 9:30 AM GMT+10
Open-Meteo Weather API
1 of 1 configured model points availableCurrentSep 23, 9:30 AM GMT+10
Surf-Forecast public pages
Spot discovery and break-specific HTML fallbackNot applicableNo source time
Surfline public spot pages
Break-specific comparison, cams, and metadataNot applicableNo source time

How best guesses are made

Best guesses combine usable wave and wind evidence, with qualitative confidence and specific limitations. A missing tide or local surf-height model does not prevent useful guidance. Tide levels use the named station datum; their effect at this break remains uncertain. Wind direction is relative to the mapped beach orientation, without calibrated terrain or shelter effects. The comparison is a heuristic, not a measured quality rating.