Massive Swells to Hit Thousands of Kilometres of Australian Coastline

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Big waves are coming — and if you're planning to hit the beach in NSW this week, you might want to rethink that.

Boaters, rock fishers, surfers and swimmers are being strongly warned to stay out of the water, with massive swells and hazardous surf expected to pound the coastline.

According to Weatherzone, a combination of storm-force winds, a low in the Tasman Sea, and a cold front is driving waves up to 10 metres high over large parts of the sea today.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a hazardous surf warning covering a huge stretch — around 2500km of the NSW coast, from Byron Bay all the way down to Eden. That’s almost the entire coast.

Closer to shore, waves are expected to reach up to five metres early today, and with high tides from yesterday and today, that means some coastal erosion is likely, especially in vulnerable spots.

Now for the good news: things will start to ease a bit from late today, with swell heights dropping to around two metres, and they’ll continue to decrease tomorrow and into Saturday.

But there’s still a catch — forecasters say the wave period (basically, the time between waves) will be around 18 seconds at its peak. That means even if the ocean looks relatively calm, every 10 minutes or so, a sudden set of huge, powerful waves could roll in. These are known as "rogue sets", and they can easily catch people off guard.

To make it even trickier, these waves can stir up stronger rips, so even experienced swimmers and surfers should be extra cautious.

It’s a great week for storm-watching from a safe distance, but not a good time to be in the water. Stay safe and keep an eye on weather alerts if you’re near the coast.

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