Margaret River (Main Break) Swell Window
Western Australia, Australia · part of the Margaret River (Main Break) spot guide
- Swell window (from)
- 190°–300° (S–WNW)
- Best direction
- ~235° (SW)
- Period sweet spot
- 13–18 s
- Open-ocean height (Hs)
- 5–15 ft
- Resulting faces
- 4–20 ft
Open-ocean vs. the face: the heights on buoys and forecast models are significant wave height (Hs) in deep water. What you ride is the breaking face, which depends on period, direction and this break's bathymetry — that's why the two rows above differ. PierMonkey's spot ratings already do this conversion for you.
The window runs from south-southwest through west, with the core and best right around southwest to west-southwest — west-southwest is the repeatedly-cited ideal. The southern flank delivers the long-period Southern Ocean juice; west and west-northwest still light it up but are often windier. The point sits open to the storm corridor with deep water right up to the reef, so long-period energy refracts on with little loss.
Period is king: 15-to-16 seconds and up is what refracts onto the reef and gives Main Break its power and hold. The breaking face runs larger than the open-ocean height because the point focuses and jacks the energy — read the alert threshold as open-ocean height.